Chapter 5 - The Second Child
Daniel spent the next morning trying to understand how many secrets his family had been hiding.
He had learned that Diana wasn't his biological mother.
He had learned that Marcus was Victor Hale's son.
He had learned that Martin Bell might still be alive.
And now Evelyn claimed his father had another child.
“Who?” Daniel asked.
Evelyn looked at him.
“A daughter.”
“What was her name?”
“Anna.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel felt frustration rising.
“Everyone keeps saying they don't know.”
Evelyn took a breath.
“Anna was born before you.”
“Why didn't my father keep her?”
“He tried.”
“What happened?”
Victor discovered her existence.
He threatened to take her.
Your father gave Anna to a trusted family temporarily.
Then Victor found them.
They disappeared.
Daniel sat down.
“Is she alive?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“I believe so.”
They searched old records.
Nothing.
Then Lily found something.
She was playing in the study when she opened an old drawer.
“Daddy!”
Daniel looked over.
She held a small photograph.
“Who's this?”
Daniel took it.
A little girl stood beside his father.
On the back was a name.
Anna.
But beneath it was an address.
Daniel drove there with Detective Harris.
It was an old house outside the city.
An elderly woman answered.
When Daniel showed her the photograph, she started crying.
“You found her.”
“Who?”
“Anna.”
“Where is she?”
The woman looked at him.
“She changed her name.”
“To what?”
“Anna Carter.”
Daniel's heart stopped.
“Carter?”
The woman nodded.
“Her mother's surname.”
Daniel immediately called Evelyn.
“Did you have a daughter named Anna?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
“Is she alive?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn whispered:
“She has been living in San Antonio for years.”
Daniel realized what that meant.
She had been close.
Closer than anyone knew.
They found Anna at a bookstore.
She was thirty-seven.
When she saw Daniel, she immediately understood.
“You found the trust.”
Daniel stared.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come forward?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Again.
That word.
Anna explained that she had spent her life being warned not to get involved.
She had been told Daniel was dangerous.
She had believed it.
Then she learned the truth.
Victor had been manipulating everyone.
Martin had been working with him.
Marcus had been recruited to infiltrate Daniel's company.
Vanessa had been pressured into helping.
And Diana had spent decades trying to keep Daniel alive.
Daniel looked at Anna.
“Why did you come to my house?”
“I didn't.”
“Lily said she saw you.”
Anna smiled sadly.
“Maybe she saw someone else.”
Daniel remembered.
Lily had described a woman.
But children sometimes mixed memories.
Still, there was one thing Anna knew.
“Your father left something for you.”
“What?”
“A letter.”
She handed it to him.
Daniel opened it.
His father had written:
Daniel, if you're reading this, the people around you may have already started fighting over what belongs to you. Do not let them turn you into someone you aren't. The greatest inheritance I can give you is the freedom to choose your own family.
Daniel read it twice.
Then he looked at Anna.
“What happened to Victor?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
The same year Daniel's father died.
Daniel's heart tightened.
That couldn't be a coincidence.
Detective Harris entered the bookstore.
“We found Martin Bell.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?”
“Dead?”
“No.”
Harris shook his head.
“Alive.”
Daniel's heart raced.
“Where?”
“In Mexico.”
Then Harris added:
“He contacted us.”
“Why?”
“He says he wants immunity.”
Daniel stared.
“What does he want in return?”
Harris handed him a photograph.
It showed Martin Bell standing beside Victor Hale.
Victor was older.
Alive.
Daniel looked at the photograph.
May you like
On the back was a message.
Victor is coming for Lily.
