Chapter 1 - The Envelope on the Patio
Lily was chained to the porch railing while the birthday celebration carried on behind the glass when I found her.
My five-year-old daughter looked up at me and forced a tiny smile.
“Mommy…”
I dropped to my knees and quickly pulled the chain away from her.
“Why are you sitting out here all alone?”
Her bare hands were shaking from the cold.
“Grandma said I wasn’t allowed to come inside.”
The patio door suddenly slid open.
Margaret stepped outside without the slightest hint of guilt.
“This party isn’t for a cheater’s child.”
I was on my feet before I even realized I had moved.
My hand struck across her face.
Margaret stumbled backward and fell hard onto the patio.
“Look at these test results, and remember what you did today!”
I reached into my bag, pulled out the sealed DNA report I had picked up that morning, and tossed it beside her.
Behind the glass, Daniel, Mark, Jessica, and nearly everyone at the birthday party stood frozen, watching us.
Margaret slowly looked down at the laboratory seal.
And for the first time that day, the smile disappeared from her face.
Daniel was the first person to move.
He pushed open the patio door and stepped outside.
“What test?”
His voice was barely audible.
I stared at my husband and felt something colder than the winter air move through me.
For six months, Daniel had allowed his mother to accuse me of having an affair.
For six months, he had slept in the guest room.
For six months, he had looked at Lily as though she might belong to another man.
And now he was standing three feet away from his daughter while red marks circled her tiny wrist.
“You really want to ask me that?”
Daniel’s eyes dropped to Lily.
His face changed.
“Who put that around her?”
Margaret got back to her feet.
“Oh, don’t be dramatic.”
Daniel turned slowly toward her.
“Mom.”
“She kept trying to come inside.”
“So you chained her?”
“It was loose.”
Lily pressed herself against my coat.
Margaret reached for the envelope.
I stepped on it before her fingers could touch it.
“No.”
Everyone behind the glass was watching now.
Even the music inside had stopped.
I bent down, picked up the envelope, and handed it directly to Daniel.
“You open it.”
His fingers shook as he tore the seal.
I watched his eyes move across the page.
Then stop.
His face drained of color.
Mark appeared in the doorway.
Jessica stood behind him holding her son’s birthday cake knife.
“What does it say?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
I did.
“99.9998 percent probability.”
Jessica’s smile vanished.
Margaret looked at me.
I looked directly back at her.
“Lily is Daniel’s biological daughter.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Lily quietly tugged on my sleeve.
“Mommy?”
I looked down.
Her eyes were wet.
“Can we go home now?”
I lifted her into my arms.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Daniel stepped toward us.
“Emily, wait.”
I stopped.
But I didn’t turn around.
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Because after everything I had discovered that morning, the DNA report was not the only document inside my bag.
And Margaret Carter had no idea that her worst secret was about to come home with me.
