Chapter 5: The Woman Who Claimed My Daughter
For several seconds, I couldn't understand what Evelyn had just said.
She's mine.
Those two words echoed inside my head.
I stared at the woman standing in Margaret's living room.
She looked old enough to be my mother.
She looked tired.
But her eyes...
Her eyes were unmistakable.
They were Emma's eyes.
The same dark brown eyes that had looked up at me every morning for five years.
I shook my head.
“No.”
Evelyn didn't move.
“Sarah…”
“No.”
I backed away.
“You don't get to walk into this house after forty years and claim my daughter.”
“She isn't your biological daughter.”
“She is my daughter.”
My voice cracked.
“I carried her.”
“I know.”
“I gave birth to her.”
“I know.”
“I raised her.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“And I have loved her from a distance since the day she was born.”
I felt my blood run cold.
“From a distance?”
She nodded.
“Because I wasn't allowed to come near her.”
“By whom?”
Evelyn looked at Margaret.
Margaret lowered her head.
“By them.”
I turned toward Margaret.
“You knew?”
She didn't answer.
“You knew this woman was alive?”
A tear rolled down Margaret's cheek.
“Yes.”
“You knew she believed Emma was hers?”
“Yes.”
“And you let me raise her without telling me?”
Margaret whispered,
“I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
I looked at Thomas.
“You said Emma was connected to a missing child.”
Thomas nodded.
“You lied.”
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Because Emma is my granddaughter.”
I froze.
“Your granddaughter?”
She nodded.
“My daughter had her.”
“Who is your daughter?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“You.”
I felt the room disappear.
“What?”
“You are the daughter.”
My mouth went dry.
“I don't understand.”
“You were born thirty-nine years ago.”
“No.”
“You were taken from me.”
I shook my head.
“My mother raised me.”
“She wasn't your biological mother.”
I stared at her.
“That woman is dead.”
“I know.”
“My birth certificate says—”
“Your birth certificate is fake.”
The words hit like a physical blow.
I turned toward Margaret.
“Is this true?”
She didn't answer.
“Margaret!”
She finally whispered,
“Yes.”
My legs nearly gave out.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
“No.”
Thomas walked closer.
“Sarah, your entire identity was changed.”
“Why?”
“Because your birth threatened to expose everything.”
“What everything?”
Evelyn answered.
“The truth about Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“Daniel?”
“Your husband.”
My heart began pounding.
“How is my identity connected to him?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Because you and Daniel share the same biological father.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
Thomas looked down.
Margaret began crying.
“No…”
I stepped backward.
“You're saying Daniel and I are related?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Half-siblings.”
My stomach turned.
“No.”
I shook my head violently.
“No, that's impossible.”
“You married your half-brother.”
The words made me physically sick.
I covered my mouth.
Everything suddenly became unbearable.
The wedding.
The honeymoon.
The birth of Emma.
Every family gathering.
Every photograph.
Every kiss.
Every memory.
My entire marriage suddenly looked like a carefully constructed trap.
I looked at Thomas.
“Who is our father?”
He didn't answer.
Evelyn whispered,
“Richard.”
I laughed.
It came out broken.
“Richard?”
Daniel's supposed father?
“Yes.”
“But you said Richard wasn't Daniel's biological father.”
“I was wrong.”
“You said Daniel was Thomas's child.”
“No.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“Evelyn lied.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because she was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From knowing that Richard was your father.”
I stared at him.
Then everything clicked.
The old DNA report.
The blood markers.
The reason Margaret had panicked.
The reason she had said Emma didn't belong.
But one question remained.
“If Richard was my father, why was I taken?”
Evelyn looked at Margaret.
Margaret finally spoke.
“Because Richard was going to expose the family.”
“Expose what?”
“He discovered that his own father had been involved in something illegal.”
“What?”
Margaret shook her head.
“Adoptions.”
I frowned.
“Illegal adoptions?”
“Children were being moved between families.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“You were one of those children?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I was helping them.”
“Helping who?”
“Women who couldn't keep their babies.”
I felt a chill.
“And you were selling them?”
“No!”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“I was trying to save them.”
Thomas interrupted.
“That's what she believed.”
“What actually happened?”
He looked at me.
“Richard discovered that the hospital records were being falsified.”
My heart pounded.
“What hospital?”
“The hospital where you were born.”
“Who was falsifying them?”
Margaret answered.
“Richard's father.”
I stared at her.
“And the babies?”
“Some were given to wealthy families.”
“Without consent?”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“And me?”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You were supposed to be given away.”
“But you stopped it?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
She looked down.
“Someone took you before I could.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
I turned toward Thomas.
“Who took me?”
Thomas looked at Margaret.
Margaret's face went white.
I realized the answer before she spoke.
“You.”
Margaret started crying.
“Yes.”
I couldn't move.
“You took me?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard ordered me to.”
“Why would my father order you to take me?”
“Because he believed someone was going to kill you.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked at Evelyn.
“Your mother.”
I stared at Evelyn.
“You wanted me dead?”
“No!”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“I wanted to get you away from Richard.”
“Then why did he think you wanted me dead?”
“Because someone forged a letter.”
“What letter?”
“A letter that made it look like I had ordered your death.”
My head spun.
“Who forged it?”
No one answered.
Then there was a sound upstairs.
A door creaked.
Everyone froze.
Thomas looked toward the ceiling.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
He raised one finger.
“Someone is here.”
Margaret's face became terrified.
“No.”
Footsteps sounded above us.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming down the stairs.
I stepped backward.
Evelyn whispered,
“He followed me.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“The person who knows the truth about your birth.”
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared at the top of the staircase.
Then a man stepped into view.
My breath caught.
I knew him.
He had been at my wedding.
He had attended Emma's birthday party.
He had stood inside the house while my daughter was chained outside.
He was someone I had trusted.
Someone I had never once suspected.
Daniel.
He stared down at us.
His face was completely expressionless.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“You weren't supposed to come back.”
Evelyn whispered,
“You knew?”
Daniel slowly descended the stairs.
“I knew everything.”
I stared at my husband.
“You knew who I was?”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was Richard's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“You knew we were related?”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
My heart shattered.
“How long?”
Daniel stopped on the final step.
“Since before I married you.”
The room went silent.
I couldn't breathe.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you still married me?”
He looked at me.
“I didn't have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“Not when your mother is holding the only thing you have left.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“Emma.”
I felt my entire body freeze.
“What did you do to my daughter?”
He didn't answer.
“Daniel.”
Still nothing.
I stepped toward him.
“Where is Emma?”
His expression finally changed.
Fear.
Pure fear.
“She isn't here.”
My blood ran cold.
“What do you mean?”
“She was taken.”
“By whom?”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
Then Thomas.
Then Margaret.
Finally, he looked at me.
“By the same person who took you.”
I felt my knees weaken.
“Who?”
Daniel whispered:
“My father.”
I stared at him.
“Richard is dead.”
Daniel's face went pale.
“That is what they told us.”
A phone began ringing upstairs.
Nobody moved.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Richard isn't dead.”
And from the second floor came a man's voice.
“Daniel.”
I knew that voice.
I had heard it once before.
At my wedding.
The voice of the man everyone said had been dead for six years.
Richard Carter.
May you like
And he called my husband's name again.
“Bring my daughter to me.”
