Chapter 2: The Envelope My Father Left Behind
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
My father had been dead for eleven months.
Yet there it was.
Daniel.
The letters were slightly uneven, with the final stroke of the L extending beneath the name.
I picked up the envelope.
Vanessa reached for it.
“Don't open that.””
I pulled it away.
“Why?””
She wiped her cheeks.
“Because your father was sick. He wasn't thinking clearly when he wrote it.””
I looked at her.
“You knew about this?””
She didn't answer.
Maya moved closer to me.
“Dad, please open it.””
I carefully tore the envelope.
Inside was a folded sheet of paper and a small brass key.
The letter contained only a few lines.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, someone has finally made the mistake I feared they would make.
Do not trust Richard with the company records.
Do not sign anything concerning the child until you have spoken to Helen Brooks.
Most importantly, find the blue folder in my private study.
The truth about your family is not what you have been told.
Your father.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
My father had known something.
Perhaps everything.
“Who's Helen Brooks?”” I asked.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
I turned toward her.
“You know that name.””
She shook her head.
“Daniel, please. Let's go home.””
“Who is Helen Brooks?””
“She was your father's lawyer.””
“Then why did he tell me not to trust Richard?””
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“Your father didn't trust anyone. You know how paranoid he became.””
Maya suddenly spoke.
“He wasn't paranoid.””
Vanessa glared at her.
“Stay out of this.””
I stepped between them.
“That's enough.””
I folded the letter and placed it inside my jacket.
Then I called my driver.
“Bring the car around.””
Vanessa looked relieved.
“Good. We'll talk at home.””
“I'm not taking you home.””
Her expression fell.
“Daniel?””
“You're staying with the baby. My attorney will arrange somewhere safe for him until we establish what's happening.””
She tightened her arms around the infant.
“You can't take my son away from me.””
“I haven't decided anything about the baby. But I have decided that you're not getting another opportunity to sign anything in my name.””
Her voice dropped.
“You're making a terrible mistake.””
I looked at the envelope.
“Maybe. But I intend to find out.””
Two hours later, Maya and I sat in the back of my car.
Rain streaked across the windows as we drove toward my father's old estate.
Maya had been silent for most of the journey.
I finally reached for her hand.
“Why didn't you tell me earlier?””
She stared at her knees.
“I tried.””
“When?””
“Three weeks ago.””
I frowned.
“I don't remember.””
“You were in your office. Vanessa came in while I was talking.””
I remembered that afternoon.
Maya had appeared in the doorway, holding a notebook. Vanessa had followed her and explained that she was having another difficult day.
I had told Maya we would talk later.
Then I had gone to a meeting.
My daughter swallowed.
“She told me that if I kept accusing her of things, you'd send me away to boarding school.””
I felt my fingers tighten around hers.
“She said that?””
Maya nodded.
“She also said you were tired of being a father to someone else's child.””
I turned toward the window.
Outside, the city lights blurred into the rain.
I had spent years promising Maya that she would never have to compete for my love.
And somehow, I had allowed someone to convince her otherwise.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered.
Maya looked at me.
“Are you angry with me?””
“No.””
“Even if the recording is wrong?””
I squeezed her hand.
“Especially if you're scared and trying to protect us. You never have to apologize for telling me the truth.””
She leaned against my shoulder.
For the first time that night, I noticed how young she looked.
Thirteen.
She should have been worrying about homework, friends, and which dress to wear to school.
Instead, she had been investigating adults who were supposed to protect her.
My father's estate stood on a hill outside the city.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Collins, opened the door before we knocked.
Her eyes widened when she saw us.
“Mr. Daniel?””
“Hello, Margaret.””
She looked past me toward Maya.
“Is everything all right?””
“No,” I answered honestly.
“I need to see my father's private study.””
Her face changed.
“Your father asked me to keep that room locked.””
I showed her the brass key.
She stared at it.
Then she stepped aside.
“Come with me.””
The study smelled of old books and cedarwood.
My father had preserved everything exactly as it was before his death. His reading glasses rested beside a leather-bound journal. A photograph of our family stood on the desk.
I was in it.
Richard was beside me.
Our father stood behind us with one hand on each son's shoulder.
Mrs. Collins pointed toward a cabinet.
“He told me the blue folder would be behind the bottom drawer.””
I knelt and pulled the drawer outward.
There was nothing.
Then Maya noticed a small brass lock beneath the desk.
“Dad?””
I tried the key.
It turned.
A hidden compartment slid open.
Inside was a thick blue folder, several bank statements, and a sealed envelope.
My hands went cold when I saw the first page.
It was a medical document.
A DNA test.
And beneath the names of the two people tested was a result that made no sense.
*Richard Hale — 99.99% probability of biological paternity.*
I read the line again.
Then I looked at the second name.
Vanessa.
The date was nine months earlier.
Maya moved beside me.
“Dad?””
I couldn't answer.
The baby had been conceived before Vanessa gave birth.
Richard was the father.
But why had my father kept the test?
I opened the next document.
It was a bank transfer authorization for $18 million.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
Except I had never signed it.
Maya pointed at the page.
“Dad, that's your name.””
I nodded slowly.
Then Mrs. Collins spoke from the doorway.
“There's something else, sir.””
I looked up.
She was holding an old photograph.
It showed my father sitting in his garden with a young woman.
A woman I recognized.
Vanessa.
But the date written on the back was what made my blood run cold.
It was taken fourteen years earlier.
Three years before I had met her.
Mrs. Collins placed it on the desk.
“Your father told me that if Vanessa ever returned to this family, I was to give you that photograph.””
I stared at the woman beside my father.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Mrs. Collins lowered her eyes.
“Because your father made me promise.””
Maya turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten message.
To the son who deserves to know the truth before he makes the same mistake I did.
I looked at Mrs. Collins.
“What mistake?””
She swallowed.
“Your father had a relationship with Vanessa long before you met her.””
The room went silent.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
Daniel, don't trust the DNA report in your father's study. Richard knows you found it. He is already on his way.
May you like
A second message appeared.
And whatever you do, don't let Vanessa take Maya.
