Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO STOLE HIS OWN NIECERichard finally exploded.
“Enough!”
He knocked the briefcase from Howard's hands.
Papers scattered across the floor.
Guests screamed.
David stared at his father.
“Did you take her?”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“I did what was necessary.”
Sarah's voice broke.
“You stole me?”
Richard looked at her.
“You were a liability.”
The words were devastating.
Margaret stepped toward Sarah.
Richard continued.
“My family was about to lose everything. Catherine was sick. The company was drowning in debt. Investors were already leaving.”
Eleanor cried.
“You promised to protect her.”
“I did.”
“You sent her away!”
“I sent her somewhere safe.”
Margaret laughed through tears.
“Safe?”
She pointed toward herself.
“I raised her in a room above a laundromat because you threw her away.”
Richard looked at Margaret with contempt.
“You were nobody.”
Margaret nodded.
“Yes.”
She looked at Sarah.
“But I was there.”
Sarah began crying.
Richard continued:
“Catherine wanted to expose the family's financial problems. If the press learned she had a child, everything would collapse.”
David shook his head.
“So you erased her?”
“I protected this family.”
“No,” David said. “You protected yourself.”
Richard looked at his son.
“You wouldn't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
David picked up the old document.
“You paid someone to change her identity.”
Richard didn't respond.
Howard spoke quietly.
“And there is more.”
Everyone turned.
Howard pulled out another envelope.
“Catherine left a letter.”
Eleanor gasped.
“Where did you get that?”
“She gave it to me three days before she died.”
Richard whispered:
“You said you destroyed it.”
“I lied.”
Howard handed the envelope to Sarah.
Her hands trembled.
On the front were three words:
For My Daughter.
Sarah couldn't open it.
Margaret placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You don't have to.”
Sarah looked at her.
Then she opened it.
The first line made her collapse into tears.
“My precious Sarah, if you are reading this, I am sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you myself.”
Sarah pressed the letter to her chest.
Catherine's final words revealed the truth.
She had never abandoned Sarah.
She had planned to escape with her.
But Richard had found out.
He had taken the baby before Catherine could leave.
And there was one final sentence.
Sarah read it aloud.
“If the woman who raises you is Margaret Ellis, trust her with your whole heart.”
Margaret froze.
“Why would she know my name?”
Howard answered.
“Because Catherine knew you.”
Margaret stared at him.
“What?”
“She saw you working at the laundromat.”
May you like
Sarah looked at Margaret.
“She chose you.”
