Chương 5
Now they were leaving because the past had finally caught up with them.
As Daniel placed the bags into the car, his phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
He almost ignored it.
But something made him answer.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice came through the phone.
“Daniel Whitmore.”
Daniel froze.
“Who is this?”
The voice remained calm.
“You do not know me, but I know your daughter.”
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I am not calling to hurt her.”
“Then why are you calling?”
A long pause followed.
“Because you deserve to know what happened seven years ago.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
She was standing near the car, holding Victoria’s hand.
“Tell me.”
The man breathed slowly.
“Lily’s parents did not disappear because of an accident.”
Daniel felt his entire body become still.
“What are you saying?”
“They were running from someone.”
“Who?”
Another pause.
“Someone inside your own circle.”
Daniel’s eyes moved toward the mansion.
The place where they had built their lives.
The place where secrets had been hidden.
“Who?”
The man lowered his voice.
“Before I tell you, you need to understand something.”
Daniel waited.
“Lily was never the target.”
The words confused him.
“Then who was?”
The call suddenly ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
The silence around him felt overwhelming.
Victoria noticed his expression.
“What happened?”
Daniel slowly looked at her.
His face showed fear and anger mixed together.
“Someone close to us knew everything.”
Victoria’s face turned pale.
“No.”
Daniel looked toward the mansion.
The place they were leaving.
The place where every memory had been created.
And for the first time, he wondered if the greatest danger had never been outside the family.
Maybe it had been standing beside them all along.
Maybe it had been standing beside them all along.
Daniel remained beside the car, unable to move.
The phone felt heavy in his hand.
He replayed the stranger’s words again and again.
Someone close to us knew everything.
The sentence created a fear unlike anything he had felt before.
He had spent years protecting Lily from dangers he could see.
Now he had to question the people he trusted.
Victoria walked toward him slowly.
“Daniel, tell me what he said.”
Daniel looked at her.
For a moment, he wanted to believe she already knew the answer.
He wanted her to say the name.
But Victoria only looked frightened.
“He said Lily’s parents were not victims of an accident.”
Victoria became completely still.
The color disappeared from her face.
“What else?”
“He said someone inside our circle was involved.”
Victoria looked toward the mansion.
Her silence was enough to make Daniel uneasy.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel studied her carefully.
“Victoria.”
“I swear.”
Her voice cracked.
“I do not know who.”
Lily watched them from beside the car.
She could not understand the conversation, but she could feel the tension.
Daniel noticed her watching.
He immediately softened his expression.
“We are okay.”
Lily nodded slowly.
But children often noticed the things adults tried hardest to hide.
She knew something had changed.
The drive away from the mansion was quiet.
The city lights passed through the windows as Daniel drove.
Lily sat in the back seat holding her blanket.
Victoria sat beside her, unusually silent.
Ethan followed behind them in another vehicle.
He had insisted they should not travel alone.
After nearly an hour, they arrived at a private guest house outside the city.
It belonged to Ethan’s family and had remained empty for years.
The house was smaller than the Whitmore mansion.
There were no expensive decorations.
No giant rooms.
No reminders of secrets hidden behind luxury.
But Daniel felt something comforting about it.
It felt honest.
That night, Lily fell asleep on the couch while watching an old movie.
Daniel carefully carried her to the bedroom.
He placed the blanket around her and stood there for a moment.
Even asleep, she looked worried.
He hated that.
He hated that adults had created a world where a child had to wonder if she belonged.
When he returned to the living room, Ethan was waiting.
“We need to talk.”
Daniel sat down.
“What did you find?”
Ethan opened his laptop.
“I looked deeper into the old records.”
“And?”
“There was one person who accessed Lily’s files several times before they were changed.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Who?”
Ethan turned the screen.
A name appeared.
Daniel stared at it.
“No.”
Ethan nodded.
“I thought you would recognize it.”
Victoria walked into the room.
“What is happening?”
Daniel looked at her.
The name on the screen seemed impossible.
“It was your brother.”
Victoria froze.
Her brother.
Thomas Whitmore.
The man who had helped Daniel build his company.
The man who had attended Lily’s birthday parties.
The man who had called himself her uncle.
“No.”
Victoria whispered the word like she was trying to reject reality itself.
“That cannot be true.”
Ethan looked at her.
“The records show he accessed information about Lily before the adoption was finalized.”
Daniel stood up.
“Why would Thomas do that?”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
Victoria slowly sat down.
“My brother loved Lily.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Did he?”
The question hurt her.
She looked away.
“He always said she reminded him of someone.”
“Who?”
Victoria remained silent.
Daniel noticed.
“You know.”
She took a deep breath.
“I never understood what he meant.”
“Until now?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Until now.”
The next morning, Daniel woke to find a message waiting on his phone.
It was from the same unknown number.
There was only one sentence.
Ask Thomas why he was at the hospital the night Lily was born.
Daniel stared at the message.
His heartbeat increased.
The hospital.
The night Lily was born.
There was another piece of the story.
A piece nobody had told him.
He immediately called Ethan.
Within minutes, they began searching.
Victoria joined them.
She looked exhausted.
“I need to know too.”
May you like
Daniel did not respond.
He was still hurt.
