Chapter 4: The Woman Who Knew My Mother's Secret
My father's phone kept ringing.
Vanessa's name flashed across the screen again and again.
Nobody in the storage unit spoke.
I stared at the message.
*Bring Lily home. I know who her real mother was.*
I read it twice, hoping the words would somehow change.
Then I looked at Dad.
"Am I not your daughter?""
His face crumpled.
He immediately crouched in front of me.
"Lily, look at me.""
I couldn't.
"Am I adopted?""
He took both my hands.
"You are my daughter. Nothing about a document, a secret, or anything Vanessa says can change that.""
"But you haven't answered me.""
He swallowed.
"Your mother and I loved you from the moment you came into our lives. There are things I don't understand yet, but I promise we're going to find the truth.""
Rebecca stepped closer.
"Daniel, I strongly recommend that we don't respond to Vanessa's message until we understand what she's trying to accomplish.""
Michael nodded.
"She's panicking. She knows we've found the documents.""
My father stood and called his attorney.
I sat on a cardboard box, holding my mother's letter.
For the first time, I wondered whether every memory I had of her was built on a secret.
The woman who had braided my hair before school.
The woman who kissed my forehead whenever I had nightmares.
The woman who called me her little sunshine.
Could she really have hidden something so enormous from me?
We returned home shortly after three.
Vanessa's car was parked outside.
She stood on the front steps wearing a white coat, her arms folded across her chest.
When she saw us, she walked straight toward Dad.
"Finally.""
He didn't stop.
"Move, Vanessa.""
"We need to talk.""
"You've had plenty of opportunities.""
Her eyes moved toward Rebecca.
"I don't want lawyers involved in a family matter.""
Rebecca replied calmly.
"Then perhaps you should have handled your responsibilities as a family member.""
Vanessa's expression tightened.
She looked at me.
"Lily, sweetheart, come inside. I want to explain something to you.""
I stayed beside Dad.
"You said you knew who my real mother was.""
Vanessa glanced at my father.
"Daniel, have you told her?""
"There's nothing you need to tell her.""
She gave a short laugh.
"Of course. You would rather keep lying.""
Dad stepped forward.
"Don't use my daughter to threaten me.""
Vanessa reached into her handbag and removed a folded piece of paper.
"I have proof.""
Rebecca immediately extended her hand.
"May I see it?""
Vanessa pulled it away.
"Not you.""
Then she looked directly at me.
"Your mother wasn't the woman who gave birth to you, Lily.""
The world seemed to tilt.
I heard Michael whisper something behind me.
Dad's hand tightened around mine.
"That's enough," he said.
But Vanessa continued.
"Sarah raised you. She loved you. I'll give her that. But she wasn't your biological mother.""
I stared at her.
"How do you know?""
"Because I found the original records.""
"Where?""
Vanessa smiled faintly.
"In the blue folder.""
Rebecca stepped between us.
"Mrs. Carter, any document you claim to possess should be given to the attorneys.""
Vanessa ignored her.
"Your father knew there were questions about your birth. He just never wanted to tell you.""
I turned toward Dad.
"Is that true?""
He looked devastated.
"I knew Sarah had gone through a complicated process before you were born. I never knew there was a problem with your legal identity.""
Vanessa raised the folded paper.
"Because he never looked.""
Rebecca finally managed to take the document.
She unfolded it.
Her eyes narrowed.
"This is a hospital record.""
Vanessa nodded.
"Exactly.""
Rebecca examined the page.
Then she turned it over.
"Where did you get this?""
"From the original file.""
"Who gave it to you?""
Vanessa hesitated.
"That doesn't matter.""
"It matters very much.""
Vanessa looked toward Dad.
"Daniel, I can make this disappear. We can settle everything privately. You give me what I'm entitled to, and I won't expose what Sarah did.""
Dad's expression turned cold.
"You're trying to blackmail me.""
"I'm trying to protect my children.""
"By stealing from mine?""
"Your daughter has already taken enough from us!""
The words came out so violently that even Vanessa seemed surprised by them.
I stepped behind Dad.
He moved closer to her.
"Listen carefully. You are not taking another thing from Lily.""
Vanessa's eyes filled with angry tears.
"You have no idea what you're choosing.""
Dad answered without hesitation.
"I'm choosing my daughter.""
He opened the front door.
"Rebecca, please ask her to leave.""
Vanessa refused to move.
Instead, she placed the folded paper on the porch railing.
"Read the bottom section, Daniel. Especially the name.""
Then she walked toward her car.
Before getting inside, she turned around.
"And ask Sarah why she never told you about the woman who gave birth to Lily.""
The car pulled away.
I stood motionless.
Rebecca picked up the document.
"Let's go inside.""
An hour later, we sat in Dad's office.
The original hospital record lay on his desk.
Rebecca had already contacted the hospital's legal department to verify its authenticity.
"There's a problem," she explained.
"This document doesn't contain enough information to establish anything about Lily's birth. We need the original registration and the associated court records.""
Dad stared at the paper.
"Can you tell if it's been altered?""
"Not yet. The paper itself may be genuine, but that doesn't establish whether the information is complete.""
Michael leaned forward.
"What's the name at the bottom?""
Rebecca turned the page toward us.
A woman's name had been typed beneath a section labeled BIOLOGICAL MOTHER.
*Eleanor Hayes.*
I had never heard that name before.
"Who is she?"" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Dad opened an old desk drawer and removed a photograph.
It showed Mom standing beside a woman outside a hospital.
The woman had dark curly hair and a small scar near her eyebrow.
She looked familiar.
Not because I remembered meeting her.
Because something about her face reminded me of my own reflection.
Dad stared at the photograph.
"Sarah told me this was a friend from the hospital.""
Rebecca examined it.
"Do you remember her name?""
"No.""
I touched the photograph.
"Could this be Eleanor?""
Dad nodded slowly.
"Possibly.""
Then he turned the photograph over.
A message had been written on the back in Mom's handwriting.
For Daniel. If anything ever happens to me, find Eleanor. She knows the truth about Lily.
Dad's fingers trembled.
Michael looked at him.
"You never saw this before?""
"No.""
"How long has this been in the drawer?""
"Years.""
Rebecca carefully photographed the note.
"I'll arrange a formal verification of the records and try to locate Eleanor Hayes.""
I looked at the picture again.
"Does she know me?""
Dad pulled me into a hug.
"I don't know, sweetheart.""
"Does she want me?""
He held me tighter.
"Whatever the truth is, nobody gets to decide whether you're worthy of being loved.""
I closed my eyes.
Then Rebecca's phone rang.
She answered, listened, and slowly stood.
"Daniel, the hospital has responded.""
Dad looked up.
"What did they say?""
"The record Vanessa showed us is incomplete. There is a sealed court file connected to it.""
"Can you get access?""
"Not without the appropriate authorization.""
She paused.
"However, the hospital confirmed one thing.""
Dad waited.
"The woman named Eleanor Hayes was not listed as a surrogate. She was recorded as a patient who gave birth on the same day Sarah Carter completed her maternity admission.""
I looked at the photograph.
The woman in it had been standing beside my mother.
On the same day I was born.
Then Rebecca added one more detail.
"According to the hospital's archived visitor register, Eleanor Hayes specifically requested that Sarah Carter be allowed into her room.""
Dad looked at me.
And suddenly, the secret seemed much bigger than Vanessa's threats.
Because my mother hadn't simply hidden a document.
May you like
She had apparently known exactly where to find the woman who could explain my entire life.
And she had left instructions for us to find her.
