Chapter 12: The Man Emily Tried to Protect
I drove straight to Vanessa's apartment.
She opened the door before I knocked twice. Her eyes were swollen, and she'd changed out of the clothes she'd worn that morning.
For the first time since I'd known her, she looked as if she had spent the night crying rather than planning her next move.
"Who is Maya's father?"" I demanded.
Vanessa stepped aside.
"Come in.""
"No. Tell me now.""
She glanced toward the hallway.
"I can't do this at the door.""
I entered, but I remained standing.
Vanessa closed the door and leaned against it.
"Emily told me his name three years after Maya was born.""
I felt my pulse thudding in my throat.
"Who?""
She looked directly at me.
"Your brother.""
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
"My brother is dead.""
"I know.""
"David died when I was twenty-eight. Maya was born two years later.""
Vanessa nodded.
"That's what everyone believes.""
I shook my head.
"Don't do this. Don't drag my brother into your lies.""
"I'm not lying.""
"David was married. He lived in another state. He barely knew Emily.""
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Then ask yourself why Emily kept a photograph of him hidden in the same box as the hospital records.""
I stopped.
I remembered the wooden box at my mother's house. The letters, the wristband, the old photographs.
I'd searched through it twice and hadn't seen a picture of David.
But there had been an envelope I hadn't opened.
A small one, sealed with yellowed tape.
"What are you saying happened between them?""
Vanessa sat down.
"Emily told me they had a relationship before you married her.""
My stomach turned.
"That's impossible.""
"They were close friends in college. She said they had a brief relationship, and that she ended it before she started dating you.""
I stared at her.
"Even if that were true, Maya was born years later.""
Vanessa nodded.
"Emily said David came back into her life shortly before the pregnancy.""
I felt a wave of nausea.
"You're telling me my wife cheated on me with my brother?""
"I'm telling you what Emily told me.""
"And you expect me to believe you?""
"No. I expect you to ask questions.""
I turned away, trying to organize the fragments of my life into something that made sense.
David had died in a car accident when Maya was two. I'd mourned him while trying to keep my marriage intact. Emily had been devastated by his death, but I'd assumed it was because he was my brother.
I'd never questioned it.
I'd never asked why she'd insisted on attending his funeral despite being ill herself.
I'd never asked why she'd kept his watch after his belongings were distributed.
I turned back to Vanessa.
"Why would Emily tell you this?""
"Because she wanted me to understand why she was so afraid of losing Maya.""
"Explain.""
Vanessa wiped her face.
"She believed that if the hospital's records were corrected, Maya might be removed from your home. If anyone discovered that David was her biological father, there could be questions about the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy and the birth.""
"Questions from whom?""
"The hospital. The authorities. You.""
I laughed bitterly.
"She was afraid of me?""
"She was afraid of losing you.""
I couldn't look at her.
Vanessa continued.
"Emily said you loved Maya more than anything. She knew that if you learned the truth, you might still love her, but you'd never look at her the same way again.""
I felt my chest tighten.
"So she decided to keep the secret.""
"She decided to protect Maya.""
"By lying to me for eight years?""
Vanessa's voice broke.
"She believed she was protecting both of you.""
I walked to the window.
Outside, a delivery truck pulled up beside the curb. Someone carried a box into the building across the street.
The world was continuing as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, everything I believed about my marriage was dissolving.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?""
Vanessa stood.
"Because Emily made me promise not to.""
"You destroyed Maya's painting.""
"I was afraid the photograph behind it would expose everything.""
"You knew there was a photograph hidden in the painting?""
"No. I knew Emily had hidden something in the backing. She told me years ago that if Maya ever tried to show people the family portrait, I had to stop her.""
I turned sharply.
"What?""
Vanessa's eyes filled again.
"She told me the painting would lead you to the truth.""
I stared at her.
"Then why did you cut it apart?""
"Because I panicked. I thought if I destroyed the painting, the photograph would be destroyed too.""
I thought of Maya kneeling on the floor, begging me to fix the picture.
Vanessa had known there was a secret hidden in something my daughter had created with love.
And she'd destroyed it anyway.
"You're telling me Emily anticipated all of this?""
"She knew the truth would eventually come out.""
"Then why didn't she tell me herself?""
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
"Because she was waiting for one final test.""
"What test?""
"The test that would establish who fathered Maya.""
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Was David the father?""
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know.""
"Then why did you say it?""
"Because Emily believed he was. She told me she had a relationship with him. But she never showed me a DNA report.""
I stepped closer.
"So you don't know anything for certain.""
"I know Emily loved Maya. I know she was terrified that the truth would destroy your family. And I know she asked me to protect your daughter if she ever lost the ability to do it herself.""
I stared at her.
"Protect her from what?""
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, someone knocked on the door.
Three sharp knocks.
Vanessa froze.
I moved toward the entrance.
"Who is it?""
A man's voice came from the other side.
"Daniel? It's Michael. Open the door.""
I unlocked it.
Michael entered carrying a folder and a laptop.
"I've found the original hospital transfer authorization.""
He placed the folder on the table.
"Richard Cole's daughter gave me access to a second archive. It contains the original forms, including the one used to remove Grace from Rosewood House.""
I opened the folder.
The transfer authorization was dated three years after Maya's birth.
The receiving party was listed as Rebecca Cole.
The reason for transfer was marked:
*Emergency protective placement. Biological parent unavailable.*
I looked up.
"Who authorized it?""
Michael pointed to the signature.
*Emily Hayes.*
Vanessa covered her mouth.
"She signed it," she whispered.
Michael nodded.
"But there's a problem. The signature is authentic, yet the authorization was issued after Emily's medical records show she was hospitalized for severe complications.""
I stared at him.
"Could she have signed it?""
"Possibly. But there's a handwritten note indicating she was unconscious at the time the transfer was approved.""
Vanessa sat down.
"Oh, Emily.""
I looked at the document again.
My wife had apparently authorized Grace's transfer while she was too ill to sign anything.
Someone had used her name.
Someone who knew the family.
Michael opened his laptop.
"I also found a record showing that the original genetic test was canceled by a representative of the Hayes family.""
"Who?"" I asked.
He turned the screen toward me.
The authorization bore the signature of my mother.
*Linda Hayes.*
I stared at it.
"No.""
Michael's expression was grave.
"The signature appears to match other documents your mother signed.""
Vanessa began shaking her head.
"Emily told me Linda knew nothing.""
I felt a cold wave of anger.
"My mother would never do this.""
"Then we need to ask her why her signature is on the record.""
I grabbed the folder.
"We're going to her house.""
My mother was waiting in the kitchen when we arrived.
She took one look at the documents in my hand and began to cry.
I stopped in the doorway.
"Tell me it's a forgery.""
Linda lowered herself into a chair.
"Daniel—"
"Tell me you didn't cancel the genetic test.""
She pressed her hands together.
"I did.""
The words struck me like a physical blow.
Vanessa stood behind me, silent.
I approached the table.
"Why?""
My mother looked up, tears running down her face.
"Because Emily begged me to.""
"She begged you to hide the truth?""
"She begged me to protect Maya.""
"From whom?""
Linda shook her head.
"From the man who wanted to take her.""
I stared at her.
"Who wanted to take my daughter?""
My mother closed her eyes.
Then she whispered the name I had spent the entire day trying to avoid.
"David.""
I stepped backward.
"David was dead.""
Linda shook her head.
"No, Daniel. David was alive when Emily asked me to cancel that test.""
My entire body went cold.
"What are you saying?""
My mother reached into a drawer and removed a photograph.
It showed David standing outside a hospital, holding a newborn baby.
The date on the back was the day Maya was born.
Beneath it, in my brother's handwriting, were six words.
*If Daniel finds out, take her away.*
I stared at the photograph.
May you like
Then my mother looked directly at me and delivered the truth that shattered the last piece of my certainty.
"Your brother didn't die in that car accident, Daniel. We buried someone else.""
