Chapter 3 - The Secret Hidden In The Photograph
Lily barely slept that night.
At three in the morning, she sat on the edge of the guest bed staring at the photograph.
Her mother's face looked unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.
She had seen almost no photographs of Anna Carter.
After Anna died, a caseworker told Lily there were no relatives who could take her.
The photographs vanished.
The letters vanished.
Even her mother's jewelry disappeared.
For years Lily had assumed that was simply how foster care worked.
Now she understood that someone had made sure the past disappeared.
At seven, she entered the kitchen.
Roman was already there.
He had not slept.
Neither had Arthur.
"Did you find anything?"
Roman nodded.
"Your mother worked at St. Vincent's Hospital."
"I know."
"As a nurse."
"I didn't know that."
He looked at her.
"She wasn't there long."
"How long?"
"Six months."
"Why?"
"Because she disappeared."
Lily stared.
"What?"
"Her employment records end abruptly."
"Maybe she quit."
"No."
Roman slid a folder toward her.
"Someone deleted the rest."
Lily opened it.
There were hospital records.
Missing pages.
Names.
Dates.
A recurring patient code.
L-17.
She frowned.
"What's this?"
Roman shook his head.
"We don't know."
Arthur entered.
"Actually, I think we do."
He placed another photograph down.
A hospital nursery.
A newborn.
A handwritten note.
Baby girl.
Temporary name: L-17.
Lily's face went pale.
"What am I looking at?"
Arthur looked uncomfortable.
"Possibly you."
"No."
Roman reached for the file.
"Your mother was pregnant."
Lily shook her head.
"I knew that."
"You were adopted?"
"No."
She remembered something.
A woman at her last foster home had once told her that Lily had been transferred from another county after a "complicated family situation."
She had always thought that meant her mother.
Roman continued.
"Your official birth record contains inconsistencies."
"What kind?"
"The hospital listed one mother. The state record listed another."
Lily whispered:
"What does that mean?"
"It means someone changed your identity."
The room went silent.
Ava walked in.
"Daddy?"
Roman turned immediately.
"Go eat breakfast."
She looked at Lily.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Ava studied her.
Then she hugged her.
Lily nearly cried.
"Don't worry," Ava whispered.
Lily held her.
"I'll try."
Later that morning, Roman took Lily to a private archive.
It was beneath one of his offices.
Steel shelves.
Locked cabinets.
Security doors.
Lily stared.
"You keep all this?"
"Some things can't be digitized."
Arthur opened a cabinet.
Inside were old case files.
Roman found one marked:
ANNA CARTER.
Lily stood behind him.
He opened it.
The first page was a letter.
To the man who promised to protect my daughter,
If you're reading this, then you failed.
Lily's stomach turned.
Roman read the rest silently.
Then handed it to her.
The letter explained that Anna had discovered something in the hospital records.
A child had been born on the same night as Lily.
A second baby.
The two infants had been separated.
One was registered.
One disappeared.
Lily stared.
"I had a sister?"
"We don't know."
Arthur found another page.
DNA records.
One infant was identified as Lily Carter.
The other was marked unknown.
Roman looked at Lily.
"This wasn't an ordinary kidnapping."
"Then what was it?"
"Someone wanted the second child hidden."
"Why?"
The answer came from an unexpected place.
Ava.
She was standing at the doorway.
"Because she's important."
Everyone turned.
Ava held an old envelope.
"Where did you get that?"
"From Grandma."
Roman froze.
"My mother?"
Ava nodded.
"She gave it to me before she died."
Roman took the envelope.
Inside was a note.
The DeLuca family has an unfinished debt to Anna Carter.
Do not let Roman forget.
Lily stared at him.
"What debt?"
Roman's face was suddenly pale.
Arthur stepped closer.
"Sir?"
Roman didn't answer.
He read the note again.
Then he looked at Lily.
"My mother knew yours."
"How?"
"I don't know."
Lily felt overwhelmed.
"Everyone knows something about my life except me."
Roman stepped toward her.
"Then we'll find the truth."
"Together?"
"Together."
He meant it.
That night, Lily heard a noise outside the guest room.
She opened the door.
A man stood at the end of the hall.
He was wearing a black cap.
Before she could scream, he moved.
Lily backed away.
The man raised something.
Ava appeared behind him.
"Daddy!"
The man turned.
Roman came from the opposite hall like a storm.
He tackled the intruder.
Security flooded in.
Within seconds, the man was restrained.
Roman went straight to Lily.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
Ava clung to her.
The intruder laughed.
"You're wasting your time."
Roman looked at him.
"Who sent you?"
The man spit blood.
"Ask Anna."
Lily froze.
"She's dead."
He laughed again.
"Maybe."
The room went silent.
Roman's face hardened.
May you like
The man leaned back.
"Maybe your mother isn't dead."
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