CHAPTER 7 The Girl Who Was Erased
The words stayed in the room like a bomb.
"My name is Emma Harrington."
Daniel stared at her.
The woman he thought was only a servant.
The woman who cleaned his family's house.
The woman who had stood in front of hundreds of people and destroyed his father's coffin...
Was carrying the same last name as him.
"No."
Daniel shook his head.
"No, that's impossible."
Emma looked at him.
"I know how it sounds."
"You're telling me you're a Harrington?"
"Yes."
"And you hid it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Emma looked toward Richard's empty chair.
"Because your father told me to."
Daniel froze.
"My father knew?"
Emma nodded.
"He knew exactly who I was."
Victoria watched silently.
Daniel turned toward his mother.
"Did you know too?"
Victoria didn't answer.
That was enough.
Daniel's face hardened.
"You all knew."
Emma stepped forward.
"I didn't want this."
"Then why come to the funeral?"
"Because Richard left me instructions."
Daniel looked at the broken coffin in the distance.
"What instructions?"
Emma reached into her apron and pulled out a small piece of paper.
The same paper she had been holding before.
"He told me that if anything happened to him, I had to open the coffin."
Daniel stared.
"He told you to destroy his coffin?"
Emma nodded.
"Not destroy it."
She looked at the broken lid.
"Reveal what was hidden underneath."
Everyone became silent.
Daniel frowned.
"Underneath?"
Emma walked back toward the chapel.
The police officers tried to stop her.
But the detective raised his hand.
"Let her."
Slowly, everyone followed.
The broken coffin was still there.
Emma knelt beside it.
She ran her fingers along the wooden frame.
Then stopped.
"There."
Daniel stepped closer.
"What?"
Emma pointed.
A small metal piece was hidden beneath the edge.
A secret compartment.
The detective carefully removed it.
Inside was a small black envelope.
No name.
No markings.
Only one sentence written on the front.
FOR THE CHILDREN I FAILED.
Daniel's expression changed.
"Children?"
Emma looked at him.
"Your father wasn't talking about one child."
The detective opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
An old photograph.
Three children standing in front of Harrington Manor.
A young Daniel.
A little girl.
And another child.
A boy.
A boy nobody recognized.
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On the back of the photograph were four words:
THE THIRD HEIR LIVES.
