Chapter 2 - THE SECRET HANNAH BURIED“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Lily lowered her eyes.
“Mommy said my daddy was a bad man.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
“What did she say?”
“That he cared about money more than people.”
Ethan looked away.
That sounded like him.
The surgeon called his name.
“Mr. Parker.”
Ethan stood.
“I need to know something.”
“What?”
“Was Hannah conscious when she arrived?”
“No.”
“Did she have anything with her?”
“A purse.”
“Where is it?”
The surgeon frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if she's been hiding something from me for five years, I want to know what.”
A nurse brought the purse.
Ethan stared at it.
Cheap.
Worn.
Nothing like the luxury accessories women around him carried.
He opened it.
Inside were receipts, medication, a child's drawing, and an old photograph.
His fingers stopped.
The photograph showed Hannah holding baby Lily.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
You will never know what you lost.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then something fell from the purse.
A folded document.
He opened it.
His own name appeared at the top.
PATERNITY TEST — CONFIDENTIAL
His vision blurred.
He read the result once.
Then again.
Probability of paternity: 99.99%.
Lily was his daughter.
His knees almost gave out.
Five years.
Five years of believing Hannah had disappeared.
Five years of building a company while his child had grown up without him.
Five years of birthdays he had missed.
First words.
First steps.
First day of school.
Everything.
A nurse rushed toward him.
“Mr. Parker, the surgery isn't going well.”
Ethan looked toward the operating room.
“What do you mean?”
“There's severe swelling.”
“Can you save her?”
“We're trying.”
Lily heard them.
She ran toward Ethan.
“Is Mommy going to die?”
Ethan couldn't lie.
“I don't know.”
Lily grabbed his hand.
“Then don't let her.”
He looked down at his daughter.
His daughter.
For the first time in his life, Ethan Parker had something money could not buy.
A second chance.
And he intended to fight for it.
But when he looked at the paternity report again, he noticed something strange.
The test had been dated three months before Lily was born.
Ethan's expression changed.
Someone had known.
May you like
Someone had ordered the test.
Someone had known Lily was his daughter long before he did.
