Chapter 2: The Daughter He Never Knew
The ballroom exploded with whispers.
Vanessa looked from Daniel to Lily and back again.
"What kind of joke is this?"
Lily shook her head.
"It isn't a joke."
Daniel could barely breathe.
"Your mother..." he whispered.
"Emily Carter," Lily answered.
The name hit him like a train.
Twenty-five years earlier, Emily had been the love of his life.
They were young.
Poor.
And deeply in love.
Then Daniel's wealthy family intervened.
His father demanded he end the relationship and marry into another powerful family.
Daniel obeyed.
Emily disappeared shortly afterward.
What he never knew was that she had been pregnant.
Lily reached into her bag again and handed him a stack of letters.
Dozens of unopened envelopes.
Every one addressed to him.
Daniel stared at them in disbelief.
"My mother wrote to you for years," Lily said softly.
"She wanted you to know about me."
"Why didn't I get them?"
Lily looked toward Vanessa.
Then toward the older woman standing near the entrance.
Margaret Harrington.
Daniel's mother.
The elderly woman's face immediately revealed the truth.
Years ago, she had intercepted every letter.
Every photograph.
Every attempt Emily made to contact Daniel.
She had hidden them all.
Emily spent years waiting for a response that never came.
Eventually she stopped writing.
And three years ago, she died from cancer.
Without ever knowing whether Daniel had abandoned her or simply never received her messages.
Tears rolled down Daniel's face.
The realization crushed him.
He had lost the woman he loved.
Missed his daughter's entire life.
And all because someone else had made the choice for him.
Lily lowered her eyes.
"I didn't come here for money."
"Then why did you come?" Daniel asked.
She looked at him sadly.
"Because I wanted to know if the man my mother loved was real."
May you like
The question shattered him.
And for the first time in decades, Daniel couldn't find an answer.
