CHAPTER 3 – THE CHILDREN WHO WERE NEVER HIS
Emma stood frozen in the dark hallway, the phone pressed tightly against her ear.
"What do you mean they're not Daniel's children?" she whispered.
The private investigator sighed.
"According to the records I found, those two girls were adopted under sealed documents. Daniel has been paying someone every month to keep their real identity hidden."
Emma's stomach twisted.
"Who?"
There was a pause.
"Your husband has been sending money to a woman named Margaret Hale."
Emma nearly dropped the phone.
Margaret Hale was Daniel's former assistant.
The same woman who had vanished from their company eight years ago after a mysterious scandal.
Daniel had told everyone she stole money and disappeared.
But now Emma knew that was another lie.
The next morning, Emma drove to the address the investigator sent her.
It was a small house at the edge of town.
The paint was peeling.
The garden was dead.
An elderly woman opened the door.
The moment she saw Emma, her face went pale.
"You shouldn't be here."
Emma stepped forward.
"Tell me the truth. Who are those girls?"
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"They are your husband's biggest mistake... and his greatest fear."
Emma's blood ran cold.
Before she could ask another question, Margaret pulled out an old envelope from a drawer.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
A birth certificate.
And one faded photograph.
Emma stared at the photo.
It showed Daniel standing beside Margaret...
Holding a newborn baby.
But the name written on the back made Emma stop breathing.
Lily Carter.
Her own daughter.
Emma looked up slowly.
"What is this?"
Margaret covered her mouth, trembling.
"Daniel switched the babies the night your daughter was born."
Emma felt the world collapse beneath her feet.
"No..."
Margaret cried harder.
"Your real daughter is one of the girls in that other house."
Emma stumbled backward.
For eight years, she had raised Lily as her own.
Loved her.
Protected her.
Given her everything.
But if Lily wasn't her biological child...
Then where was her real daughter?
That night, Emma returned home numb.
Daniel was sitting in the living room, waiting.
For the first time, he wasn't pretending anymore.
"You went to see Margaret, didn't you?"
Emma's voice shook.
"Tell me Lily is mine."
Daniel looked away.
And that silence destroyed her more than any confession ever could.
Then he said the words Emma would never forget.
"I did it to save her."
Emma stepped closer.
"Save who?"
Daniel's eyes filled with fear.
"Your real daughter."
Before Emma could respond...
A loud knock echoed through the house.
Three police officers stood at the door.
And behind them...
Was the little girl from Daniel's secret family.
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She looked at Emma with terrified eyes and whispered...
"Mom?"
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