Chapter 8 - THE OTHER CHILD
Emma barely slept that night.
The information was impossible to process.
Lily was safe.
That was all that mattered.
But the question remained.
Who was the other child?
The next morning, an investigator named Sarah Miller arrived.
She placed a folder on the kitchen table.
"We traced the original identification number."
Emma sat across from her.
Daniel stood near the window.
Sarah opened the folder.
"The other child was eventually adopted."
Emma felt a strange sadness.
"By whom?"
Sarah looked at Daniel.
"That's complicated."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Sarah continued.
"The adoption records were sealed because the family requested anonymity."
Emma looked at Daniel.
"Do you know them?"
Daniel nodded.
"I know the family."
Emma's heart sank.
"Who are they?"
Daniel looked at her.
"My father."
Emma froze.
"What?"
Daniel explained that his father had discovered the hospital error years earlier.
Instead of reporting it, he used the information to manipulate the adoption process.
He had taken control of the records.
He had buried the mistake.
And later, when Lily's existence became valuable to the family, he had begun investigating the other child.
Emma couldn't understand.
"Why would Lily be valuable?"
Daniel hesitated.
Sarah answered.
"Because the other child inherited a trust."
Emma looked confused.
"What trust?"
"A very large one."
The room fell silent.
Sarah continued.
"The trust was established before the children were born."
Emma slowly realized what Daniel's family had been hiding.
Lily's identity wasn't just a family secret.
It was connected to money.
Power.
And an inheritance worth millions.
Daniel looked at Emma.
"I'm sorry."
She stared at him.
"You should have told me."
"I was afraid."
"Of your family?"
Daniel nodded.
Emma shook her head.
"You should have been afraid of losing your daughter."
Daniel looked down.
"I was."
Sarah closed the folder.
"There's more."
Emma looked up.
Sarah placed another photograph on the table.
It showed a young woman holding a newborn.
Emma recognized the woman immediately.
May you like
It was Lily's biological grandmother.
And she was still alive.
