CHAPTER 2 — The Envelope He Was Too Afraid to Open
Five minutes after the girl disappeared down the street, Melissa noticed the envelope lying beside the welcome mat.
"Daniel..."
"You forgot this."
He stared at it without moving.
His hands began to shake.
"I don't want to see it."
Melissa picked it up anyway.
Inside was an old photograph.
A much younger Daniel stood beside a smiling young woman, holding a newborn baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Written on the back in faded ink were only six words:
"Our first family. Summer of 2010."
Melissa's heart stopped.
She slowly looked at her husband.
"You told me you never knew her."
Daniel collapsed into a chair.
His face had gone completely white.
"I thought..."
"I thought they were gone forever."
Sixteen years earlier, Daniel had fallen in love with a woman named Emily while he was struggling through college.
When Emily became pregnant, Daniel panicked.
His wealthy parents gave him an impossible choice.
"Leave them..."
"...or lose your future forever."
Terrified of disappointing his family, he walked away.
Emily vanished before he ever found the courage to return.
For years he convinced himself she'd built a better life without him.
He never imagined she'd spent sixteen years raising their daughter alone.
Now she was dead.
And his daughter had stood at his front door...
...only to be rejected by the man she'd spent her whole life searching for.
Melissa's voice cracked.
"Where is she now?"
Daniel looked out the window.
The sidewalk was empty.
The girl was gone.
Then his phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
He answered.
A police officer spoke only one sentence...
"Sir... is your daughter named Ava?"
Daniel's knees nearly gave out.
Because the officer's next words were something no parent should ever hear...
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"You need to come to Memorial Hospital immediately."
To be continued...
