Chapter 10: The Daughter My Father Hid
For a moment, nobody moved.
Naomi stood beside the conference table, holding a birth certificate that appeared to rewrite everything I had ever known about my family.
I looked at the document.
Then at her.
Then back at the document.
"Say that again.""
Naomi swallowed.
"Your father was listed as my biological father.""
"That's impossible.""
"I know how it sounds.""
"Edward Reed died believing he had one son. He never mentioned having a daughter.""
Mr. Bennett took the certificate from her.
"Where did you get this?""
"Adrian gave it to me three months ago.""
I turned sharply.
"Three months?""
She nodded.
"He said it was part of the original research investigation. He told me my family history might be connected to the patent dispute.""
"And you didn't think to tell me?""
"I didn't know what to believe.""
I laughed bitterly.
"That's becoming a familiar problem.""
Naomi placed her handbag on the chair.
"Ethan, please. I know you hate me right now, but I didn't create these documents.""
"Then who did?""
She looked at the certificate.
"Adrian said your father had an affair with my mother.""
The room became silent.
Mr. Bennett slowly removed his glasses.
"Your mother is Evelyn Carter?""
"Yes.""
"And your father was Thomas Carter?""
"That's what I was told.""
I stared at her.
"So you're saying my father had a relationship with Evelyn while she was married to Thomas?""
Naomi nodded.
"According to Adrian, yes.""
I walked toward the window.
The city below seemed strangely ordinary.
People were crossing streets. Cars were moving. Someone was carrying coffee into a nearby building.
And my entire family history was collapsing inside a lawyer's office.
Mr. Bennett examined the certificate.
"There's a problem with this document.""
Naomi looked up.
"What?""
"The hospital registration number doesn't match the archive format used during the year you're supposed to have been born.""
She went pale.
"Are you saying it's fake?""
"I'm saying we need to verify it.""
I turned toward her.
"Why would Adrian give you a fake birth certificate?""
Naomi shook her head.
"I don't know.""
"Did he tell you what he wanted?""
"He said he wanted me to help him recover the original patent.""
"Why would you help him?""
Her eyes filled.
"Because he told me your father had promised my mother something. He said your family had stolen a future that belonged to me.""
I stared at her.
"Naomi, my father never met you.""
"He might have known about me.""
"Then why did you wait until now to tell me?""
She lowered her head.
"Because I was afraid.""
"Of what?""
"Of losing everything.""
I looked at the woman I had once imagined growing old beside.
She was still beautiful.
Still intelligent.
Still capable of making me forget every sensible thing I had ever known.
But I no longer knew whether anything she said was true.
Mr. Bennett interrupted.
"Enough. We need the original records.""
He turned to Naomi.
"Who else has seen this certificate?""
"Adrian. Daniel. And my mother.""
I looked up.
"Your mother?""
Naomi nodded.
"She recognized the handwriting on the back.""
"What handwriting?""
She opened her handbag and removed a folded piece of paper.
It contained a handwritten message.
*If anything happens to me, make sure Naomi knows who her father really was.*
The signature belonged to Edward Reed.
My father.
I took the paper.
"Where did you get this?""
"From my mother's bedroom.""
"Why didn't she show it to me?""
"She was afraid.""
"Of whom?""
Naomi looked at the floor.
"Your father.""
I shook my head.
"My father?""
"He told her to stay away from you.""
I stared at her.
That didn't sound like the man who had raised me.
But then I remembered his letter.
The hidden documents.
The secret meetings.
The things he had deliberately kept from me.
Perhaps the man I remembered was only part of the story.
My phone rang.
Claire Morgan.
I answered.
"Tell me you found something.""
"I found the hospital administrator.""
"Good.""
"Her name is Margaret Lewis. She's seventy-nine and retired. She agreed to meet, but she wants to speak somewhere private.""
"Where?""
"Her home. And Ethan, she specifically asked whether Naomi would be attending.""
I looked at Naomi.
"She will.""
There was a pause.
"Then bring her. I think she has something both of you need to hear.""
Margaret Lewis lived in a quiet residential neighborhood.
Her house was small, with a white picket fence and a collection of flowerpots near the front door.
She opened the door before we knocked.
"Ethan Reed?""
"Yes.""
Her eyes moved to Naomi.
"And you must be Naomi.""
Naomi nodded.
Margaret stepped aside.
"I've waited a long time for this.""
We sat in her living room.
She brought out a thick folder containing old hospital records.
"I was the administrator at St. Mary's when both of your families were involved in a private adoption arrangement.""
I leaned forward.
"Both families?""
She nodded.
"Edward Reed and Thomas Carter were close friends. They came to the hospital together on several occasions.""
"Why?""
"Because two children were born within months of each other, and the families wanted their records kept confidential.""
Naomi gripped the edge of her chair.
"Was I one of those children?""
Margaret opened the folder.
"Yes.""
She placed two birth records on the table.
The first belonged to Naomi.
The second belonged to Adrian.
I studied them.
Naomi's biological mother was Evelyn Carter.
Her biological father was listed as Edward Reed.
Adrian's biological mother was also listed as Evelyn Carter.
His father was Thomas Carter.
I looked up.
"Then Naomi and Adrian are siblings?""
Margaret nodded.
"Biologically, yes.""
Naomi covered her mouth.
"And Ethan?""
Margaret turned another page.
"Edward Reed was your legal father. But Thomas Carter was your biological father.""
I stared at her.
"So Naomi and I share a father?""
"Yes.""
Naomi began crying.
Margaret continued.
"Edward and Thomas made an agreement. They wanted to keep the children safe from Robert Mitchell. He had become increasingly dangerous and had threatened to use the family relationships to gain control of the manufacturing patent.""
I looked at the records.
"Why did they switch the children's identities?""
"They didn't switch the children. They altered the records to conceal the biological relationships.""
"Why?""
Margaret sighed.
"Because Robert believed Edward's only heir was you. If he knew Naomi was also connected to the original agreement, he could use her as leverage.""
Naomi looked at me.
"So we're not just connected through your father?""
I shook my head slowly.
"We're both Thomas Carter's children.""
Margaret nodded.
"And that makes you half-siblings.""
I couldn't speak.
The woman I had loved for six years.
The woman whose education I had financed.
The woman I had planned to marry.
She was my half-sister.
I stood abruptly.
"No.""
Margaret looked at me sympathetically.
"I'm sorry.""
"No. There has to be another explanation.""
She opened the final folder.
"There's one more document.""
It was a letter signed by Thomas Carter.
*I leave my children, Ethan and Naomi, in the care of Edward Reed. He has agreed to raise them as his own and protect them from Robert Mitchell.*
My hands began shaking.
The date was twenty-eight years earlier.
I looked at Naomi.
She was crying silently.
Then Margaret said something that made the room even colder.
"There's a reason your father never told you.""
I turned.
"What reason?""
"Because Edward Reed knew Robert Mitchell had already discovered the arrangement.""
She opened another page.
A police report.
An attempted kidnapping.
The victim?
Naomi Carter.
The date?
May you like
Her fifth birthday.
And the suspect named in the report was Daniel Price.
