Chapter 13 - THE FILE WITH DAVID'S NAME
David didn't move.
Michael stood across the basement with a gun lowered at his side.
Rose was beside him.
Melissa stood behind Emily.
And I was staring at my husband.
The man I had slept beside for twenty-eight years.
The man who had kissed me goodnight.
The man who had watched our daughter grow up.
The man who had betrayed me.
Now I was learning that even the beginning of our marriage had been built on a lie.
“Where is the file?” Michael asked.
David's eyes never left mine.
“I destroyed it.”
My stomach tightened.
“What file?”
“The one that explains why I was assigned to your family.”
I felt numb.
“Assigned?”
David swallowed.
“Your mother knew people were watching you.”
“And you were one of them?”
“No.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“You were working for her father.”
David shook his head.
“At first.”
I turned toward him.
“At first?”
He looked down.
“I worked for your father when I was twenty-four.”
“What did you do?”
“Private security.”
Michael interrupted.
“That's what he called it.”
David looked at him.
“You weren't there.”
“I know what I found.”
Michael reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a thin folder.
“I recovered this from the Carter archives.”
He threw it onto the table.
I opened it.
The first page contained David's name.
DAVID CARTER — SECURITY OPERATIVE
Underneath:
ASSIGNMENT: PROTECT SUBJECT CLAIRE HAYES
My hands shook.
“Hayes.”
My real surname.
The name Thomas had given me.
I looked at David.
“You knew my real name.”
“Yes.”
“Before we met.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your mother told me not to.”
I turned the page.
There was another line.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE LOCATION OF HAYES TRUST ASSETS.
I stopped breathing.
“What is this?”
David closed his eyes.
“That was my original assignment.”
Michael nodded.
“Now you know.”
I looked at my husband.
“You were supposed to find the money.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
David looked at me.
“Because I fell in love with you.”
I almost laughed.
“That's supposed to make this better?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“Your mother discovered what your father had done.”
“And?”
“She threatened to expose him.”
David continued.
“She knew he would kill her.”
“He did.”
“Yes.”
“She asked you to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you stay?”
“Because I couldn't leave you.”
I stared at him.
“For twenty-eight years?”
“Yes.”
“Even after the affair?”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Then why Melissa?”
He looked at the floor.
“Because Michael came back.”
Michael stepped forward.
“I contacted David seven years ago.”
“Why?”
“To warn him.”
“About what?”
“Thomas.”
David nodded.
“Thomas had taken control of the remaining Carter assets.”
Michael continued.
“He wanted the trust.”
“And Melissa?”
“She had access to him.”
I looked at Melissa.
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“I was working undercover.”
I stared.
“You and David…”
“We really did have an affair,” she said quietly.
I closed my eyes.
“But the relationship became a cover.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with my husband to help find my brother?”
Melissa looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“That doesn't erase what happened.”
“No.”
“I know.”
I believed her.
That was almost worse.
Because there was no simple villain.
There were people who lied for money.
People who lied for protection.
People who lied because they were afraid.
And people who lied because they loved someone.
But the lies had destroyed all of us.
Then Emily spoke.
“What about the children?”
Everyone turned.
Melissa wiped her face.
“Noah was killed because he had the original trust key.”
“And Lily?”
“Lily was hidden.”
“By whom?”
Michael answered.
“Me.”
Emily stared at him.
“You're her father?”
Michael nodded.
“I am.”
“But the DNA said David.”
Michael looked at David.
“Because the DNA sample was switched.”
I turned toward David.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Michael continued.
“Thomas arranged the test.”
“And David?”
“He believed the result.”
I looked at Melissa.
“Why didn't you tell him?”
“Because Thomas was watching.”
“What about Lily's real identity?”
Michael looked at me.
“Lily isn't Michael's daughter.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Michael took a breath.
“She is yours.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He pointed toward Lily.
“Your mother had another child after you.”
I stared at the little girl.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
“She isn't my daughter.”
Michael shook his head.
“She is your biological daughter.”
I couldn't understand.
“Then who is her father?”
Michael looked at David.
My husband didn't speak.
Michael did.
“David.”
I turned toward him.
“No.”
David finally whispered:
“Yes.”
Everything went silent.
The baby.
The affair.
The DNA.
The secret.
All of it.
David had a daughter with Melissa.
But she wasn't Melissa's child.
She was mine.
My mother had taken my biological child from me before I even knew she existed.
I looked at Lily.
She stared back.
And suddenly the way she had reached for my hand made sense.
The birthmark.
The familiarity.
The feeling.
She was mine.
My daughter.
A child I had lost before I ever had the chance to know her.
I dropped to my knees.
Lily ran toward me.
I held her.
She whispered:
“I knew you were my mommy.”
I cried into her hair.
Behind us, David turned away.
Emily approached him.
“You knew she was Mom's daughter?”
He shook his head.
“Not until three months ago.”
“And you still didn't tell her.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
Emily's face hardened.
“Everyone uses that excuse.”
Then a gunshot exploded.
Thomas.
He had escaped the basement.
Michael grabbed Rose.
David pushed me down.
Another shot hit the wall.
Thomas shouted:
“Nobody leaves this house!”
The lights went out.
In the darkness, I heard him laughing.
Then his voice came from somewhere above us.
“Claire!”
I looked at David.
He whispered:
“He wants you.”
May you like
I stood.
“Then let him come.”
