CHAPTER 2 – The Secret Daniel Buried Was Finally Coming Back
Emma couldn't breathe.
She snatched the photograph from the woman's trembling hands.
"No..."
she whispered.
"This... this can't be real."
But it was.
There was Daniel.
Seven years younger.
Holding newborn Noah in his arms.
Standing beside the same elderly woman now crying quietly in the hospital doorway.
Only one thing was different.
Emma wasn't in the picture.
She had never seen it before.
She looked up.
"Who are you?"
The woman swallowed hard before answering.
"My name is Eleanor Brooks."
"I'm Daniel's mother."
Emma's entire body stiffened.
Daniel had always claimed his parents died in a car accident before they met.
He even cried while telling the story.
Emma had believed every word.
Eleanor slowly wiped away her tears.
"They're not dead."
"He told you that because he never wanted you to find us."
Emma stepped backward.
"Why?"
Eleanor's voice cracked.
"Because we disowned him."
Years earlier, Daniel had stolen nearly two million dollars from the family's charitable foundation.
Money meant for sick children.
When the theft was discovered, he blamed an innocent employee and disappeared before police could question him.
His wealthy family covered the scandal to protect the foundation's reputation.
But they never forgave him.
"He changed his last name."
"He erased us."
"And when Noah was born..."
Eleanor's tears streamed down her face.
"...he refused to let us meet our own grandson."
Emma felt physically sick.
Everything Daniel had ever told her was collapsing.
Every memory.
Every promise.
Every excuse.
They had all been lies.
Just then, Noah weakly reached toward Eleanor.
Without hesitation, she took his tiny hand.
Something incredible happened.
For the first time in weeks...
Noah smiled.
The nurse standing nearby gasped.
His heart rate, which had been dangerously unstable all day, suddenly became calm.
Even the monitor sounded different.
Steady.
Hopeful.
Minutes later, the lead physician rushed into the room after seeing Noah's monitors improve.
He stared at the screen in disbelief.
"This... doesn't make sense."
Emma looked at him desperately.
"What does that mean?"
The doctor slowly turned toward her.
"I've never seen these numbers improve this quickly."
"We need to run another round of tests."
As nurses hurried Noah toward the imaging department, Eleanor quietly leaned close to Emma.
"There is something else you don't know."
Emma looked at her through tear-filled eyes.
"What?"
Eleanor reached into her handbag one last time.
This time...
she removed a sealed envelope marked with Noah's name.
"It contains the truth Daniel was willing to let his own son die to keep hidden."
Emma slowly opened the envelope.
The first page made her blood run cold.
Because at the very top were the words:
CONFIDENTIAL DNA REPORT
And according to the document...
Daniel Carter...
May you like
was not Noah's biological father.
To be continued...
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