Chapter 6: Lily's Real Identity
I couldn't breathe.
The screen went black.
For several seconds, the only sound in the underground room was the faint hum of the machines.
Then I turned toward Lily.
She was staring at me.
Her face was pale.
“Daddy…”
I couldn't answer.
My mind kept replaying Sarah's words.
The child is not Daniel's daughter.
I looked at the screen again.
The image of Sarah holding a newborn baby was burned into my mind.
A baby.
Lily.
My daughter.
Except Sarah had just said she wasn't mine.
Behind the glass, my father smiled.
Helen stood beside him with her arms folded.
Robert was nowhere to be seen.
I grabbed the steel door.
“Open it!”
My father didn't move.
“Who is she?”
He simply watched me.
“WHO IS MY DAUGHTER?”
Helen laughed softly.
“You really don't know.”
I turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
She shook her head.
“We didn't do anything.”
“Then tell me who Lily is.”
My father finally spoke.
“She belongs to the family.”
“What family?”
“Our family.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
He stepped closer to the glass.
“Your mother stole her.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily was supposed to be killed.”
The words struck me like a bullet.
I looked at Lily.
She had heard every word.
I immediately moved in front of her.
“You're lying.”
My father shook his head.
“No.”
“You're trying to manipulate me.”
“You think I brought eight armed men into this house to manipulate you?”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because the truth is finally more useful than the lie.”
Helen stepped forward.
“Lily was born twenty years ago.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She wasn't born three years before Sarah died.”
My head spun.
Lily looked like a seven-year-old child.
Helen continued.
“She was born twenty years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“She was kept hidden.”
“By whom?”
Helen smiled.
“Your mother.”
I stared at Lily.
She looked terrified.
“Daddy…”
I knelt beside her.
“Don't listen to them.”
But even as I said it, something felt wrong.
Lily had always been unusually quiet about her childhood.
Whenever I asked about memories before she came to live with us, she would say she didn't remember.
I'd assumed it was trauma.
Now I wasn't sure.
My father pressed another button.
A new video appeared.
A hospital room.
A woman lay on a bed.
My mother.
She looked younger.
Terrified.
A doctor stood beside her.
And in her arms was a newborn baby.
Lily.
The timestamp showed twenty years earlier.
I stared.
My mother whispered into the camera:
“If you're watching this, then Daniel finally knows.”
I felt my knees weaken.
She continued.
“I took this child because your father wanted her dead.”
The video flickered.
“He believes she carries something that belongs to him.”
The doctor approached.
My mother looked toward him.
“Her bloodline is the key.”
I stared at Lily.
Bloodline?
My father laughed behind the glass.
“You still don't understand.”
I turned.
“Then explain it.”
He looked almost pleased.
“Lily is the biological daughter of the man who built the organization.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
My father's smile disappeared.
“Your grandfather.”
I stared at him.
“My grandfather?”
He nodded.
“Your father's father.”
“But he's dead.”
“He died twenty years ago.”
I looked at Lily.
“So she's his granddaughter?”
“No.”
My father paused.
“She is his daughter.”
Silence.
I felt sick.
“That means…”
“Yes.”
My father nodded.
“Lily is your aunt.”
I looked at Lily.
She was crying.
“No.”
My father continued.
“Your grandfather had another child.”
“But Lily is younger than me.”
“She was kept alive in secret.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather left everything to her.”
I stared at him.
“Everything?”
“The company.”
“The accounts.”
“The properties.”
“The offshore assets.”
“And the organization.”
I looked at the vault.
“So that's why everyone wants her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you kill her?”
My father looked at Helen.
Helen answered.
“Because we couldn't find her.”
I stared at them.
“But she was living with me.”
Helen smiled.
“That was the beauty of it.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Sarah brought her to you.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody would suspect that the daughter of Daniel Morgan was actually the missing heir.”
I looked at Lily.
My entire relationship with her suddenly felt like a puzzle with pieces I had never been given.
“Sarah knew?”
“Yes.”
“She knew Lily wasn't mine?”
“Yes.”
“And she never told me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Helen's smile vanished.
“Because she loved you.”
That answer hurt more than anything else.
I looked at the screen.
Sarah appeared again.
This time, she was crying.
“Daniel, I'm sorry.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“I wanted to tell you.”
She paused.
“But your father had already taken everything from you.”
“Your memories.”
“Your inheritance.”
“Your identity.”
“And he would have taken Lily too.”
My fists clenched.
Sarah continued:
“If you're watching this, you need to understand one thing.”
She leaned toward the camera.
“Lily is not the person they think she is.”
The video stopped.
I stared at the black screen.
“What does that mean?”
My father didn't answer.
I turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
He smiled.
“Ask Lily.”
I slowly turned.
My daughter was standing several feet away.
Her face was completely expressionless.
“Lily?”
She looked at me.
Then she said something that made the blood drain from my face.
“I remember.”
I stared at her.
“Remember what?”
“The night Mommy died.”
The room became silent.
“What happened?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“She didn't die.”
I stepped toward her.
“What?”
“She escaped.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Where is she?”
Lily pointed toward the wall behind the monitors.
“There.”
I looked.
Nothing.
“Where?”
She walked to a small metal panel.
She placed her hand against it.
A scanner lit up.
Green.
The wall opened.
Behind it was another room.
And inside that room was a bed.
A table.
Medical equipment.
And a woman sitting with her back toward us.
Long dark hair.
Thin shoulders.
Bare feet.
I couldn't move.
Lily whispered:
“Mommy.”
The woman slowly turned around.
My heart stopped.
It was Sarah.
Alive.
She looked older.
Tired.
But unmistakably Sarah.
She stared at me through the opening.
Neither of us spoke.
Then she stood.
And whispered:
“Daniel…”
I took one step toward her.
“Sarah?”
She covered her mouth.
Tears streamed down her face.
I wanted to run to her.
I wanted to hold her.
I wanted to ask a thousand questions.
But before I could move, Sarah shook her head.
“Don't come closer.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
Her eyes moved toward my father.
“Because he's not your father.”
I froze.
“What?”
Sarah pointed at the man behind the glass.
“That man isn't Daniel's father.”
My father's expression finally changed.
Sarah's voice trembled.
“He killed the real one twenty years ago.”
I stared at my father.
Then at Sarah.
Then at Lily.
Sarah whispered the final sentence:
“And Daniel…”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Your real father is still alive.”
The lights suddenly went out.
May you like
And somewhere in the darkness...
someone began applauding.
