Chapter 2 - THE CABINET MY FATHER NEVER OPENED.
We returned to the house just after midnight
Damon had been taken to the station for questioning.
Lacey had gone with him.
The house was strangely quiet.
The wedding photographs on the walls suddenly looked fake.
Everything looked fake.
My father walked directly toward his old study.
He hadn't entered that room in years.
I followed.
The key fit the cabinet.
The lock clicked.
My father opened the door.
Inside were several old folders.
He pulled out the first one.
My name was written across the front.
EMILY HAYES — CONFIDENTIAL.
I stared.
“Dad?”
He looked equally confused.
“I've never seen this.”
He opened it.
The first page was a medical record.
Mine.
From twenty-nine years ago.
The date was three weeks before I was born.
My mother was listed as the patient.
I frowned.
“Why would my medical records be in here?”
My father turned the page.
His expression changed.
There was another name.
Mara Bennett.
My mother had never mentioned her.
“Who is Mara?”
My father stared at the name.
“I don't know.”
He turned another page.
It was a photograph.
My mother stood outside a hospital.
She was holding a newborn baby.
Beside her was another woman.
A woman who looked almost identical to her.
My father sat down.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
He pointed at the photograph.
“That woman was supposed to be dead.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
“My mother's sister.”
“Your aunt?”
He nodded.
“Her name was Mara.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Why would she be with Mom at the hospital?”
“I don't know.”
Another folder fell from the cabinet.
My father picked it up.
This one contained financial documents.
Several old accounts.
Property transfers.
Trusts.
And one document dated thirty years ago.
I read the first sentence.
In the event of Eleanor Hayes's death, all assets shall pass to her biological daughter.
I looked at my father.
“Biological daughter?”
He didn't answer.
I stared at the page.
“Dad.”
He took the document.
His hands were shaking.
“My mother only had one child.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does this say daughter?”
He read the next line.
Then his face went completely white.
“It says the beneficiary is Emily.”
My heart stopped.
“Me?”
He nodded.
“But I already knew you were my daughter.”
I looked at him.
“Then why hide this?”
He shook his head.
“I didn't know.”
The door suddenly opened.
Damon stood there.
Two police officers were behind him.
He looked exhausted.
His eyes immediately went to the documents.
Then to the cabinet.
Then to my father.
“You found it.”
My father stepped forward.
“What did you know?”
Damon looked at me.
“Emily, I can explain.”
“No.”
My voice was steady.
“You can tell the police.”
Damon swallowed.
“This isn't what you think.”
“You put me in a kennel.”
“I was angry.”
“You brought another woman into my bedroom.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You stole my identity.”
His face changed.
“I didn't.”
My father held up the financial documents.
“Then why is your mother's name on the transfer?”
Damon went silent.
The police officer stepped forward.
“Mr. Hayes, you're going to answer some questions.”
Damon looked at me.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
I almost laughed.
“You already did.”
He lowered his eyes.
Then he whispered:
“Your father doesn't know everything.”
My father stepped toward him.
“Then tell me.”
Damon looked at the cabinet.
“Your mother knew.”
My father froze.
“Knew what?”
“That Emily wasn't supposed to inherit.”
I stared.
“Then who was?”
Damon shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
He looked toward the doorway.
Then his face changed.
“Lacey.”
The police took him away.
I turned toward my father.
“What does Lacey know?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he closed the cabinet.
“Tomorrow, we find out.”
At six the next morning, my father received a phone call.
His investigator had found Lacey.
She wasn't at the police station.
She had disappeared.
But she had left something behind.
A handwritten note.
My father read it.
Then handed it to me.
There were only two sentences.
Emily, you were never supposed to marry Damon.
He was supposed to marry someone else.
I looked at my father.
“Who?”
He stared at the final line.
May you like
His voice became barely audible.
“Your half-sister.”
