PART 3: THE PERSON WHO KNEW ABOUT LILY
THE GIRL BEHIND THE WALL.
Admin
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3 | PART 3: THE PERSON WHO KNEW ABOUT LILY
Officer Harris told us to stay upstairs.
I wanted to argue.
Instead, I listened.
He went down the stairs alone.
I stood beside Lily, one hand resting protectively on her shoulder.
Evelyn stayed near the bedroom door.
Nobody spoke.
Then we heard the front door open.
A man's voice floated upstairs.
“I'm looking for Daniel Mercer.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She closed her eyes.
“You know him,” I whispered.
“No.”
“You reacted before.”
She shook her head.
The man downstairs spoke again.
“I know you're here.”
Officer Harris answered.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Thomas Reed.”
Evelyn's face changed.
She whispered:
“Thomas.”
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Evelyn looked at Lily.
“Clara's attorney.”
I frowned.
“Clara never told me she had an attorney.”
“She did.”
“Why?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Footsteps approached the stairs.
Officer Harris appeared first.
Behind him stood a man in his fifties wearing a dark coat.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
His eyes moved immediately to Lily.
Not me.
Not Evelyn.
Lily.
The little girl recoiled.
“That's him.”
Thomas stopped.
“Lily.”
She buried her face against my side.
I stepped in front of her.
“Don't come closer.”
Thomas raised both hands.
“I don't want to hurt her.”
“Then why are you here?”
He looked at me.
“Because Clara asked me to find you if anything happened to her.”
My anger sharpened.
“Why didn't you contact me after she died?”
“Because Clara told me not to.”
“She told you not to tell her husband about a child hidden inside his own house?”
Thomas's expression tightened.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed you were being watched.”
“By whom?”
He glanced toward Evelyn.
She looked away.
“That's what we need to discuss.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You're all saying the same thing. Everyone knows something except me.”
Thomas reached into his coat.
Officer Harris immediately raised a hand.
“Slowly.”
Thomas removed an envelope.
“Clara left this for Daniel.”
He handed it to the officer.
The officer inspected it, then gave it to me.
My name was written on the front.
Daniel.
Nothing else.
I opened it.
Inside was a single sheet.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, Lily is still alive.
My knees weakened.
I continued.
I know what you're going to feel. Anger. Betrayal. Confusion. Maybe even hatred.
You have every right.
But please, before you decide what she means to you, remember one thing.
She never chose any of this.
I stopped.
My eyes burned.
Thomas said nothing.
I read the next paragraph.
There are things I should have told you. I was afraid. I thought I could protect her long enough to make everything right.
I was wrong.
Then came the line that changed everything.
Lily may be your daughter.
May.
I looked at Thomas.
“May?”
He nodded.
“Clara wasn't certain.”
“Why?”
“Because she never completed the test.”
“What test?”
“DNA.”
I stared at Lily.
Thomas continued.
“Clara believed the answer was in the chest.”
I looked back toward the hidden room.
“The chest?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she kept records there.”
“What records?”
Thomas took another envelope from his coat.
“Her medical records.”
I opened it.
There were appointment summaries.
Dates.
Names.
And one document that made my heart pound.
A laboratory request.
The names were partially obscured.
But I recognized Clara's handwriting.
She had requested testing.
The date was four years earlier.
I looked at Thomas.
“Why didn't she get the results?”
“She did.”
My pulse quickened.
“Then where are they?”
Thomas's face became grave.
“That's the problem.”
Evelyn suddenly spoke.
“Clara destroyed them.”
Thomas looked at her.
“No.”
Evelyn froze.
Thomas continued.
“She told you she destroyed them.”
“What are you saying?”
“I found out after her death that she kept a copy.”
“Where?”
Thomas looked at the chest.
“Somewhere in this house.”
I felt something shift inside me.
The clues had been there.
The chest.
The diary.
The wall.
The photographs.
The old hospital bracelet.
Clara had been leaving a trail.
But why?
If she wanted me to know, why hide it?
If she didn't want me to know, why preserve the evidence?
I looked at Lily.
She was watching me.
“Daddy?”
I crouched beside her.
“I don't know what the truth is yet.”
She nodded.
“But I promise you something.”
“What?”
“I won't put you back in the dark.”
She reached for my hand.
I took it.
Thomas watched us.
Then he said quietly:
“That is exactly why Clara chose you.”
I looked up.
“Chose me for what?”
He hesitated.
“To decide what happens next.”
I felt a chill.
“What happens next?”
Before he could answer, Evelyn screamed.
We all turned.
The hidden room was open.
But the chest was gone.
I stared at the empty space.
“What?”
Thomas rushed toward it.
“No.”
Officer Harris called downstairs.
A window had been broken.
Someone had entered the house while we were talking.
Someone had taken the chest.
But they had left one thing behind.
A small folded photograph.
I picked it up.
It showed Clara holding baby Lily.
On the back was a message.
HE IS NOT HER FATHER.
I stared at the words.
May you like
Then I looked at Lily.
And for the first time that night, I wondered whether the child calling me Daddy had been taught to do it for a reason.
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