CHAPTER 3 — The Daughter He Threw Away
Daniel and Melissa reached Memorial Hospital breathless.
A nurse led them to a small room at the end of the hallway.
There, sitting on the bed with a bandage on her forehead, was the girl from the doorstep.
Ava.
Her backpack was on the floor.
Her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying.
The police officer explained that Ava had fainted at the bus station. She hadn't eaten in two days. After her mother's funeral, she'd spent her last money coming to find Daniel.
Daniel stepped closer, voice breaking.
"Ava..."
She looked away.
"Please don't pretend now."
Those words cut deeper than any scream.
Daniel fell to his knees beside the hospital bed.
"I was scared. I was young. I made the worst mistake of my life."
Ava laughed bitterly.
"My mom never hated you."
"She said maybe you had a reason."
"But I guess your reason was simple..."
"You just didn't want us."
Daniel covered his mouth, unable to answer.
Then Ava pulled a small notebook from her bag.
"My mom wrote letters to you every year."
"She never sent them."
"She said one day, if I found you, you'd finally know the truth."
Daniel opened the notebook with trembling hands.
But the first page wasn't a love letter.
It was a warning.
"If Daniel ever reads this, tell him his parents lied. They never gave me a choice. They paid someone to make me disappear."
Daniel stopped breathing.
His mother and father hadn't just pressured him.
They had destroyed Emily's life.
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And now, sixteen years later...
...their secret was about to come home.
