Chapter 5 - The Daughter They Never WantedMy biological father's name was Daniel Mercer.
I had never heard it.
Not once.
My entire life, I had been told my father was the man who raised me.
He was.
Legally.
Emotionally, I had never questioned it.
But the birth certificate in my hands told another story.
Daniel Mercer was listed as my biological father.
My mother had married my father nine months after I was born.
I sat in the hospital corridor staring at the document.
“Why would they hide this?”
Detective Cole said nothing.
Mara sat beside me.
“Family secrets often become dangerous when money is involved.”
“Money?”
“We located records connected to Daniel Mercer.”
My heart stopped.
“Who was he?”
“A businessman.”
“That tells me nothing.”
“He died twelve years ago.”
“Did he have children?”
Mara looked at me.
“You.”
I couldn't breathe.
My biological father had apparently left behind a trust worth more than forty million dollars.
My mother was not the beneficiary.
My father wasn't either.
I was.
And upon my death, the trust transferred to my legal child.
Emma.
My daughter's existence gave them access to nothing.
Unless I was removed.
Or dead.
Or declared incapable of managing the trust.
Suddenly, the custody documents made perfect sense.
They weren't trying to protect Emma.
They were trying to control the inheritance attached to her.
But there was still one question.
Why had they attacked her?
Detective Cole answered before I asked.
“If they intended to create evidence that you were an unfit mother, an injury involving the child could have been part of the scheme.”
My skin crawled.
“And Vanessa?”
“Possibly an accomplice.”
“Possibly?”
“We're still building the case.”
That afternoon, Vanessa arrived at the hospital.
She was not alone.
A lawyer stood beside her.
“I want to see Emma,” she said.
“No,” I replied.
“She is my niece.”
“And you attacked her.”
“I didn't mean to hurt her.”
I stood.
“You threw a skillet.”
“It was an accident.”
“You told me she deserved boundaries.”
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what she is.”
The lawyer touched her elbow.
“Don't say anything else.”
I stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa looked at me.
For a second, I saw something in her face that wasn't anger.
Fear.
Real fear.
She leaned forward.
“Rachel, your mother lied to you about why Emma was born.”
The lawyer pulled her back.
“Enough.”
Vanessa turned away.
Then she whispered:
“She isn't who you think she is.”
They left.
I stood in the hallway.
Five minutes later, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
It was Vanessa.
“She'll kill me if she knows I called.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You need to go to the old Mercer house.”
“Where is that?”
“North Ridge Road.”
“Why?”
“Because the basement has a safe.”
“What is inside?”
She was silent.
Then:
“Proof that Emma was chosen long before she was born.”
The line went dead.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I searched old records until I found the address.
The Mercer house had been abandoned for years.
At dawn, Detective Cole and I went there.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, dust covered everything.
A hallway.
A staircase.
A dead fireplace.
We found the basement.
Behind an old shelf was a steel safe.
The combination was written on the back of a photograph.
I entered the numbers.
Click.
The door opened.
Inside was a single folder.
On the front were four handwritten words.
Project Emma Hart.
I looked at Detective Cole.
“This isn't inheritance planning.”
He slowly shook his head.
“No.”
I opened the folder.
The first page was a medical chart dated twenty-five years earlier.
The second was a photograph of my mother.
The third was a photograph of a young woman I had never seen.
May you like
And the fourth page contained a sentence that made my blood freeze.
Recipient was selected before conception.
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