Chapter 10: The Father No One Named
Daniel replayed the sentence.
Ethan’s birth certificate listed no father.
Lily had refused to identify him.
Daniel had always assumed the man had abandoned her.
The video continued.
“His father is powerful,” Lily said. “And he does not know Ethan exists.”
Claire frowned.
“If he doesn’t know, why is she afraid?”
Lily answered as though anticipating the question.
“Because Victoria knows. She has used the secret to control me.”
The video ended before Lily named the father.
A second file was encrypted.
The password hint read:
THE DAY CLAIRE SAID YES.
Daniel tried the wedding date.
It failed.
Claire looked at the plastic ring Ethan had given her.
“What day did Ethan ask me to marry him?”
Daniel entered the date.
The file opened.
Inside was a scanned letter addressed to Owen Mercer.
Claire recognized the name.
Owen was a billionaire real-estate developer, major political donor, and Victoria’s former business partner.
The letter began:
Owen, you have a son. His name is Ethan.
Before they could read the rest, the library computer shut down.
Every screen in the room went black.
The lights flickered.
A fire alarm began ringing.
Daniel removed the flash drive.
Claire grabbed Ethan.
People rushed toward the exits.
In the confusion, a woman bumped into Claire.
She wore dark glasses and a hood.
“Don’t take him to court on Monday,” the woman whispered.
Claire grabbed her arm.
“Who are you?”
The woman pulled down her glasses.
Claire recognized the scar across her wrist.
It was the woman from the wedding photograph.
But before Claire could speak, the stranger pressed a folded note into her hand.
Then she disappeared into the crowd.
May you like
The note contained only one sentence:
I am not Lily. But I know where she is.
