Chapter 12 - My Father's SecretI couldn't move.
“My father?”
Margaret nodded.
“He knew everything.”
“No.”
“He helped me.”
“You're lying.”
She smiled.
“Ask him.”
My father had died five years earlier.
I couldn't ask him.
But Margaret knew that.
She had chosen those words deliberately.
Then she told me something that shattered the last piece of my certainty.
My father had represented Margaret during the investigation into Lily's disappearance.
He had destroyed evidence.
He had pressured witnesses.
And he had helped falsify documents.
In exchange, Margaret had transferred money into an account controlled by him.
I wanted to believe she was lying.
Then Lily showed me a document.
My father's signature was on it.
Real.
Verified.
I felt sick.
Margaret stepped closer.
“Your father knew what I was building.”
“What were you building?”
“A family that couldn't leave me.”
She looked at Evan.
“He was supposed to become my heir.”
Then at Lily.
“She was supposed to disappear.”
Then at Maisie.
“And your daughter was supposed to complete it.”
“Where is she?”
Margaret smiled.
“You'll see.”
A door opened behind her.
Maisie walked into the room.
She was holding a stuffed rabbit.
My heart shattered with relief.
“Maisie!”
I rushed forward.
Margaret stepped aside.
I grabbed my daughter.
She buried herself against me.
“Mama.”
I kissed her repeatedly.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
Then whispered:
“Grandma said Daddy is bad.”
I looked at Margaret.
“What did you tell her?”
“Only the truth.”
Evan stepped forward.
Margaret smiled.
“She knows what you did.”
“What did I do?”
Margaret looked at me.
“Ask him about the night Maisie was born.”
I turned toward Evan.
He looked horrified.
“I swear I didn't hurt her.”
“Then what happened?”
He looked at Maisie.
“I left the hospital.”
“Why?”
“My mother called.”
“And?”
“She told me if I didn't come immediately, she'd tell you the truth.”
“What truth?”
Evan's eyes filled with tears.
“She said Maisie wasn't your daughter.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“I didn't believe her.”
“Then why did you go?”
“Because she said you were in danger.”
I looked at Margaret.
She smiled.
Then the police arrived.
But Margaret was already gone.
She had slipped through a hidden door.
May you like
And when we found it, there was only one thing written on the wall.
The child is safe. The truth isn't.
