Chapter 10 - THE GIRL AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS
“Lily.”
David said the name like it was a prayer.
I couldn't move.
A little girl stood at the top of the stairs.
She looked about eight years old.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
A small blue sweater.
One hand wrapped around the wooden railing.
Her eyes were fixed on me.
Not David.
Not Emily.
Me.
“Mom?”
My heart stopped.
I looked at David.
“Why is she calling me that?”
He didn't answer.
The little girl slowly walked down the stairs.
“Mom?”
I stepped backward.
“I don't know you.”
Her face fell.
David immediately moved toward her.
“Lily, sweetheart.”
She recoiled.
“Don't.”
That single word stopped him.
Emily stared at the child.
“Dad?”
David looked at her.
“She doesn't know the truth.”
“What truth?”
He couldn't answer.
The girl reached the bottom step.
Then she looked at me again.
“My daddy said you would know me.”
“Who is your daddy?”
She pointed at David.
My stomach twisted.
“David?”
The child nodded.
“Yes.”
Emily covered her mouth.
David looked devastated.
I knelt slowly.
“What is your name?”
“Lily.”
“Your full name?”
“Lily Carter.”
I felt something cold pass through me.
“Who told you my name?”
“My daddy.”
“Which daddy?”
She looked confused.
“The one who brought me here.”
I looked at David.
“You brought her here?”
“Not tonight.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
I stood.
“You've had her for three months?”
“She was in hiding.”
“From whom?”
“Thomas.”
Lily suddenly grabbed my hand.
Her fingers were tiny.
Warm.
Real.
She pulled me toward the staircase.
“Come.”
“Where?”
“I have something for you.”
David immediately stepped forward.
“Lily, no.”
She looked at him.
“You said she needed to know.”
David froze.
The girl led me upstairs.
Emily followed.
David followed Emily.
At the end of the hallway was a small bedroom.
A child's bedroom.
There were drawings taped to the walls.
Family pictures.
A house.
A woman.
A man.
Two babies.
And one strange drawing.
A little girl standing beside another little girl.
Underneath them were the words:
ME AND MOMMY BEFORE THEY TOOK HER.
I stared at it.
“Who is the other girl?”
Lily pointed.
“My sister.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“What's her name?”
Lily shook her head.
“They never told me.”
I looked at David.
“What is happening?”
He rubbed his face.
“Lily was separated from her twin.”
“Where is the other child?”
“We've been looking.”
“How long?”
“Since she was born.”
Lily suddenly opened a drawer.
She pulled out a small metal box.
“This is yours.”
I took it.
There was a keyhole.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Young.
Holding two newborn babies.
I stared at it.
One baby had a blue bracelet.
The other had a red one.
I turned the photograph over.
There was writing.
Claire and Rose.
My hands started shaking.
“Rose.”
David nodded.
“Your sister.”
I looked at Lily.
“Why do you have this?”
“Michael gave it to me.”
My head snapped up.
“Michael?”
She nodded.
“My real daddy.”
David closed his eyes.
Emily whispered:
“Then who is David?”
Lily looked confused.
“My other daddy.”
The room went silent.
I looked at David.
“How many fathers does this child have?”
He finally answered.
“One biological father.”
“Then why does she call both of you Daddy?”
David looked at me.
“Because Michael asked me to protect her.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew he was being hunted.”
“And Melissa?”
“She helped.”
I turned toward the door.
“Where is she?”
David hesitated.
“Thomas has her.”
Lily suddenly started crying.
“He took Mommy.”
I knelt beside her.
“He took Melissa?”
She nodded.
“He said she knew where Noah was.”
I looked at David.
“What happened to Noah?”
David's face hardened.
“We found him.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
I stood.
“Where?”
He looked at me.
“Dead.”
Emily gasped.
I stared at him.
“No.”
“He was killed before we reached him.”
Lily started sobbing.
I pulled her into my arms.
She buried her face against me.
And something strange happened.
It wasn't logical.
It wasn't rational.
But holding her felt familiar.
The way she curled her fingers into my sleeve.
The way she rested her head against my shoulder.
Something inside me recognized her.
Not as my daughter.
Not as my sister.
As family.
Then I noticed a birthmark behind her ear.
A tiny crescent.
I touched it.
I had one too.
Emily noticed.
“Mom.”
I looked at her.
She pointed toward my neck.
I touched my own birthmark.
Same shape.
Same location.
My mother had once told me it was a family mark.
I had never believed her.
Now I did.
Lily looked up.
“Rose has one too.”
My heart stopped.
“Where is Rose?”
She whispered:
“She's with the man who took Noah.”
“Who?”
Lily looked toward David.
“Thomas.”
David immediately reached for his phone.
“We have to go.”
I stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“We don't run anymore.”
“What are you saying?”
I looked at Lily.
Then at Emily.
Then at the photograph of my mother holding two babies.
“Thomas wants me.”
David nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then I'll give him what he wants.”
David's face hardened.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You've spent twenty-eight years deciding what I can handle.”
I handed him the photograph.
“I'm done letting you protect me.”
Emily stepped beside me.
“I'll go too.”
David shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
Emily looked at him.
“You brought a mistress into my wedding.”
She paused.
“You don't get to tell me what family means anymore.”
David had no answer.
Then my phone rang.
Thomas.
I answered.
His voice was calm.
“Claire.”
“What do you want?”
“I want the trust.”
“You want money.”
“No.”
“What then?”
“The truth.”
I frowned.
“What truth?”
“The truth about who your father really was.”
He paused.
“And I want you to bring David.”
“Why?”
“Because he owes me twenty-eight years.”
The call ended.
I looked at David.
“What did you do?”
He whispered:
“Everything I could to keep you alive.”
May you like
I shook my head.
“Then tonight, you're finally going to tell me why.”
