Chapter 3: The Son Daniel Never Got To Meet
Chapter 3: The Son Daniel Never Got To Meet
After the funeral ended, Margaret did not go home.
She sat alone in the empty funeral room with Lucas.
The boy who was supposed to be a stranger.
But somehow felt familiar.
She studied him quietly.
“You knew my husband?”
Lucas nodded.
“He was the first person who believed I could become something.”
Margaret looked away.
“Why would he care about a boy he barely knew?”
Lucas smiled sadly.
“Because he knew what it felt like to lose someone.”
That answer hurt.
Because Edward had spent his whole life pretending he was strong.
But Margaret knew the truth.
Behind closed doors, he cried for Daniel.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every year when another reminder came that their son was gone.
“What was my son like?” Lucas asked.
Margaret looked surprised.
“You don’t know?”
Lucas shook his head.
“My mother told me stories. But stories aren’t enough.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Daniel.
Her beautiful, reckless boy.
He loved music.
He hated wearing formal clothes.
He always protected people weaker than him.
And he laughed so loudly that the neighbors complained.
“He was kind,” Margaret whispered.
Lucas smiled.
“I think I got that from him.”
A tear slipped down Margaret’s cheek.
Then Lucas reached into his bag.
He pulled out an old notebook.
“My mother kept this.”
Margaret opened it.
Inside were letters.
Letters from Daniel.
Her hands froze.
Because she recognized his handwriting immediately.
The first letter was dated two months before Daniel died.
Mom,
I know you hate Sarah.
But she isn’t what Dad thinks she is.
She is carrying my child.
Our child.
I want to tell you both.
I just need time.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Sarah.
The girl Edward hated.
The girl everyone told her had ruined Daniel’s life.
But Daniel had loved her.
He had wanted to bring her home.
The next letter was never finished.
Dad found out.
He threatened to destroy everything.
I don’t understand why he says Sarah is dangerous.
She isn’t.
She’s scared.
I’m scared too.
But I won’t leave my family.
Margaret felt the room spinning.
Her husband.
The man she loved for forty years.
The man she trusted.
Had lied.
But why?
Why would Edward separate a father from his own child?
Why would he let Daniel die believing his family was gone?
Then another piece of paper fell from the notebook.
A newspaper clipping.
A headline.
“Local Woman Killed In Mysterious Car Accident.”
Margaret looked closer.
The woman in the picture was young.
Beautiful.
And underneath the photograph was her name.
Sarah Collins.
Lucas’s mother.
Margaret whispered:
“No…”
Because suddenly everything made sense.
May you like
Sarah hadn’t disappeared.
She had been erased.
