Chapter 10 - The Room Behind the NurseryWe reached my estate before dawn.
The house was empty.
Silent.
Too silent.
Lily's room was untouched.
Her toys were still scattered across the carpet.
Her stuffed rabbit sat on the bed.
But beneath the mattress, I found a letter.
My name.
Written in Emily's handwriting.
Nathan,
If you ever find this, it means Lily was taken exactly where I feared.
I opened the wall panel behind her bookshelf.
There was a hidden staircase.
Marcus followed.
We descended into darkness.
At the bottom was a nursery.
A second nursery.
Old photographs lined the walls.
Emily.
Lily.
Me.
Victoria.
Ryan.
And one photograph that made my blood freeze.
Daniel holding baby Lily.
The date was printed beneath it.
Four years ago.
Before I had ever met Victoria.
Before Emily supposedly died.
Before any of it.
There was another photograph.
Victoria holding Lily as a newborn.
I looked at Marcus.
“She was involved from the beginning.”
Marcus nodded.
Then we heard breathing.
From behind a closed door.
I opened it.
Inside stood a woman.
Grace.
She was alive.
Weak.
Bruised.
But standing.
She looked at me.
“I knew you'd find this place.”
“What is this?”
“A witness room.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
I frowned.
Grace told me the truth.
She had worked for the Mercers for six years.
Her real job had never been housekeeping.
She had been assigned to protect Lily.
From the moment Lily was born.
“Why?”
“Because Emily knew Daniel would come.”
“Then why were you attacked?”
“Because I stopped Victoria from taking Lily.”
I stared at her.
“Victoria wasn't trying to kill her.”
Grace shook her head.
“She was trying to escape with her.”
That made no sense.
Grace handed me a file.
Inside was a medical report.
A DNA test.
Nathan Mercer.
Lily Mercer.
Probability of paternity:
99.99%.
My hands started shaking.
I looked at Grace.
“Lily is my daughter.”
She nodded.
“But Emily said she wasn't.”
“Emily was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Grace hesitated.
Then:
“From Victoria.”
I felt the room close around me.
“What did Victoria do?”
“She stole Emily's embryos.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
Grace whispered:
“Lily was born from your DNA and Emily's frozen embryo.”
My mind went blank.
Victoria had implanted the embryo in a surrogate.
She had created a child genetically tied to me.
But why?
Grace answered.
“Because she needed an heir she could control.”
Then the door behind us slowly opened.
Victoria stood there.
May you like
Holding a gun.
And she was smiling.
