Chapter 3: The Daughter Nobody Knew About
For three seconds, Darius forgot how to move.
The chapel doors stood open behind him. Guests whispered in the corridor. Somewhere near the altar, a phone continued playing the instrumental wedding music he had chosen months earlier.
But all he could hear was Naomi's final sentence.
The second baby.
He turned slowly.
“What second baby?””
Naomi wiped her cheeks with the heel of her hand.
“I shouldn't have said anything.””
“Then take it back.””
She shook her head.
“I can't.””
Tanya stepped between them.
“Don't you dare use another child to manipulate him.””
Naomi laughed bitterly.
“Manipulate him? I'm the one standing here being treated like a monster while everyone worships a woman who ran away.””
“She didn't run away,” Darius said.
“You don't know that!””
“I just spoke to her.””
Naomi's expression tightened.
“Then ask her about the twins.””
The word landed like a stone.
Darius stared at her.
“Twins?””
Maya looked up.
“Mommy never told me I had a twin.””
Naomi glanced at the child, then looked away.
“Because she didn't want you to know.””
Darius felt a wave of nausea.
He had spent eight years believing Elena had disappeared with his money. He had spent those same years building a life with Naomi, telling himself that whatever had happened in his past had happened for a reason.
Now every memory seemed to have another face.
He looked at Maya.
“Sweetheart, can you wait with Aunt Tanya for a moment?””
Maya immediately grabbed his hand tighter.
“Are you going to leave me?””
“No.”” He crouched until their eyes were level.
“I'm not going anywhere without telling you. I just need to speak to Naomi.””
Maya studied him.
“Mommy said grown-ups sometimes tell you to wait when they don't want you to hear the truth.””
Darius's heart cracked a little.
“Your mommy sounds like a very smart woman.””
“She is.””
Maya released his hand reluctantly.
Tanya guided her toward the front pew, where she wrapped the little girl in her arms and began straightening the rumpled skirt of her dress.
Darius turned back to Naomi.
“Start talking.””
Naomi glanced around the chapel.
“Not here.””
“Then we'll talk in the parking lot.””
“Darius, please. You can't seriously believe everything Elena tells you.””
“I'm not asking what I should believe. I'm asking what happened.””
Naomi lowered her voice.
“Elena gave birth to two babies. A boy and a girl. The girl was Maya. The boy—”
She stopped.
Darius stepped closer.
“The boy what?””
Naomi pressed her lips together.
“The boy was adopted.””
“By whom?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I never met the adoptive parents.””
“Then how do you know he existed?””
Naomi looked toward the chapel doors.
“Because I was there.””
The words came out so quietly that Darius almost missed them.
“You were at the hospital when Elena gave birth?””
Naomi nodded.
“Why?””
“Because she called me.””
Tanya, who had been listening from the pew, stood abruptly.
“That's a lie. You told everyone you were in Chicago.””
Naomi turned toward her.
“I was supposed to be in Chicago. Elena called me the night before she went into labor. She was frightened, and she didn't want to call Darius because she believed he had already signed the adoption papers.””
“I never signed them,” Darius said.
“I know that now!””
Naomi's voice echoed through the chapel.
For a moment, even she seemed startled by the force of her own confession.
She lowered her head.
“I didn't know what to do. Elena had no family nearby. She was alone, terrified, and convinced you didn't want the children. I went to the hospital.””
“And what happened?””
Naomi swallowed.
“The boy had complications. They took him to another unit. Elena was exhausted, and someone told her the adoption agency had arrived.””
“Someone?””
Naomi's hands began trembling.
“I don't remember.””
“You don't remember who took my son?””
“I was trying to help!””
“Help whom?””
She looked at him, and her eyes filled with tears.
“You.””
Darius stared at her in disbelief.
“You helped me by taking my son away?””
“I thought Elena would leave you anyway! I thought if the children were adopted, you would eventually move on. You would stop searching for her. You would finally see me.””
The confession was so ugly that for a moment Darius could not find words.
Then he took a step backward.
“You let me believe she stole from me.””
Naomi nodded miserably.
“You let me believe she abandoned her own daughter.””
Another nod.
“And you let me marry you while knowing I might have a son somewhere in this world who doesn't know my name.””
Naomi covered her face.
“I thought the adoption was final.””
“Was it legal?””
She did not answer.
“Naomi, was it legal?””
“I don't know!””
Tanya came closer.
“That's convenient.””
Naomi dropped her hands.
“You think I don't know what I've done? I've lived with it every single day.””
“No,” Darius said.
“You've lived with the fear of being caught. That's not the same thing.””
Naomi flinched.
He walked away from her and returned to Maya.
The little girl was sitting on the pew with her feet dangling above the floor. Tanya had found a clean tissue in her purse and was gently wiping the mascara smudges from Maya's cheek.
When Maya saw Darius, she jumped down.
“Are we going to Mommy now?””
“Yes.””
“Did you find out if you're my daddy?””
He knelt.
“I believe I am. We're going to get a test to be certain, but I already know I want to be here for you.””
Maya stared at him as though she was afraid to blink.
“Even if the test says no?””
The question nearly broke him.
He brushed a tear from her cheek.
“Even then, I won't leave you alone today. And I won't let anyone hurt you.””
Maya threw her arms around his neck.
He held her carefully, feeling the small, fierce grip of her hands against his jacket.
Behind them, Naomi spoke.
“Darius, if you go to that hospital, everything will change.””
He stood with Maya beside him.
“Everything already has.””
He took Tanya's car keys, gathered the photograph and hospital bracelet, and led Maya outside.
The autumn air hit his face like cold water. Across the parking lot, the wedding photographer stood beside his van, staring at the scene unfolding around him.
Darius ignored him.
He buckled Maya into the back seat of Tanya's SUV, then climbed into the passenger seat.
Tanya started the engine.
“St. Catherine's?”” she asked.
“Yes.””
She pulled out of the parking lot.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Maya sat in the back with the photograph resting in her lap. She kept smoothing its bent corners with her fingertips, as though she could repair the years it had spent hidden away.
Darius turned toward her.
“Did your mother tell you about your father?””
“She said he had a kind voice.””
He swallowed.
“Did she tell you why you never met him?””
Maya nodded.
“She said somebody told her you didn't want us.””
Darius looked out the window.
Eight years.
Eight birthdays he had never celebrated. Eight Christmas mornings when his daughter had opened presents without him. Eight years of believing the woman he loved had chosen money over their future.
And somewhere in that same world, a little boy might have been growing up without knowing that his father was searching for him.
If he had known to search.
At St. Catherine's, Tanya parked beside the emergency entrance. Darius helped Maya out of the car and hurried through the sliding doors.
A nurse at the reception desk looked up.
“Can I help you?””
“I'm looking for Elena Brooks.””
The nurse's expression softened.
“Are you family?””
“I'm her partner. Maya is her daughter.””
The nurse glanced at Maya and then back at Darius.
“Room 417. She's been asking whether her daughter arrived.””
Darius's chest tightened.
He took Maya's hand and followed the signs toward the elevators.
On the fourth floor, the corridor smelled of antiseptic and burnt coffee. A television murmured behind a half-closed door. Somewhere, a monitor beeped steadily.
Room 417 stood at the end of the hall.
Darius stopped outside.
He had imagined this reunion for eight years without realizing it. He had imagined Elena running toward him, furious and relieved, or slapping him for believing the lies. He had imagined a thousand things he might say.
Now he could barely breathe.
Maya squeezed his fingers.
“She's going to be happy you came,” she whispered.
He pushed the door open.
Elena lay in the hospital bed, thinner than he remembered, her dark hair spread across a white pillow. An oxygen tube rested beneath her nose. A clear plastic line ran from her arm to a bag hanging beside the bed.
When she saw Maya, she smiled.
“There you are, sweetheart.””
Maya ran to her.
“Mommy!””
Elena wrapped both arms around her daughter and kissed her forehead again and again.
“I was so worried about you.””
“I found him,” Maya said.
“I found Daddy.””
Elena's eyes lifted toward Darius.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then she began to cry.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
Darius stepped toward the bed.
“Why didn't you come back?””
Elena closed her eyes.
“Because I thought you had chosen to give them away.””
“I never signed anything.””
“I know.””
“Who showed you those papers?””
Elena's gaze shifted toward the window.
“Naomi.””
Darius gripped the bed rail.
“Tell me about the boy.””
Elena's face crumpled.
“He was born six minutes before Maya. He had your eyes, Darius. The same dark eyes. They let me hold him for less than a minute before they took him away.””
“Who took him?””
“I was told it was the adoption agency. Naomi said you'd arranged everything before I gave birth.””
Darius shook his head.
“I would never have done that.””
“I know that now.””
Elena reached toward him with a trembling hand.
He took it.
Her fingers felt painfully light in his.
“I tried to find him,” she whispered.
“I called the agency. I hired a lawyer. But the papers had your signature, and the court records said I had agreed to the adoption.””
“Then why didn't you contact the police?””
“I did. The case went nowhere. By the time my lawyer realized the signature might be forged, the agency had closed, and the records had disappeared.””
Darius's jaw tightened.
“Who was the lawyer?””
“Martin Hale.””
Tanya, standing near the door, suddenly went rigid.
Darius noticed.
“What is it?””
Tanya's face had turned white.
“Martin Hale was Naomi's family's attorney.””
Elena stared at her.
“You know him?””
Tanya nodded slowly.
“He handled the estate after our father died. He also prepared the documents for Darius's first business loan.””
Darius felt the room tilt.
The adoption papers, the missing money, the false story about Elena's disappearance—every road seemed to lead back to the same small circle of people.
Then Elena tightened her grip on his hand.
“There's something else you need to know.””
Darius leaned closer.
“What?””
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“The boy wasn't adopted by strangers.””
She reached beneath her pillow and pulled out a small, faded photograph.
It showed a toddler standing beside a woman in a red coat.
On the back, Elena had written an address.
Darius read it.
Then he looked at Tanya.
It was the address of the house where Naomi had grown up.
“The boy was raised by someone Naomi knew,” Elena whispered.
“Someone who promised to keep him safe.””
Darius stared at the photograph.
“Who?””
Elena's lips trembled.
Before she could answer, the heart monitor beside her bed began to beep faster.
A nurse hurried into the room.
“Ma'am, I need you to lie back.””
Elena gripped Darius's hand with sudden strength.
“Promise me you'll find him.””
“I promise.””
“And Darius?””
“I'm here.””
She looked directly into his eyes.
“Don't let Naomi get to him first.””
The nurse gently moved him away as Elena struggled to catch her breath.
Maya began crying.
Tanya pulled her into her arms.
Darius stood frozen beside the bed, staring at the address on the back of the photograph.
Then his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
*If you want to know what happened to your son, stop asking questions about Naomi. She's not the person you should be afraid of.*
A second message arrived before he could respond.
It contained a photograph.
A teenage boy stood outside a brick house, wearing a school uniform and carrying a backpack.
He had Darius's eyes.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were seven words that made Darius's blood run cold.
*Your son knows who you are.*
