Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Daniel wanted Emma and Noah moved somewhere safe.
Emma refused.
“I’m not disappearing because rich people have secrets.”
“This isn’t about rich people.”
“It seems to involve quite a few.”
Daniel could not argue with that.
By morning, they had made one decision.
Before confronting Ruth, they would find Lily.
The address Claire had written led them to a quiet neighborhood forty minutes outside the city.
The bookstore was small.
A bell chimed as Emma entered.
A woman stood behind the counter arranging new releases.
Daniel stopped.
Emma looked at him.
He was staring at the woman’s left hand.
There was a pale burn scar along her wrist.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
Daniel could not speak.
Emma stepped forward.
“Are you Lily?”
The woman smiled politely.
“Actually, I’m Leah.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Emma continued carefully.
“Leah, did you know a woman named Claire Bennett?”
The smile disappeared.
“How do you know Claire?”
“She was my mother.”
Leah stared.
“Emma?”
Now it was Emma’s turn to freeze.
“You know me?”
“Claire showed me pictures.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Leah looked at him.
Something changed in her expression.
Not recognition exactly.
Something deeper.
Instinct.
Daniel’s voice shook.
“My name is Daniel Carter.”
Leah’s face lost color.
She gripped the counter.
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
She backed away.
“Claire told me never to contact you.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
“She said it wasn’t safe.”
Emma felt suddenly dizzy.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Claire knew where you were?”
Leah nodded.
“She visited every few months.”
Emma struggled to process the words.
Her mother had lived a secret life.
Leah explained.
After the fire, she had awakened in a hospital with a head injury and severe burns. Her memory was fragmented.
A hospital administrator mistakenly recorded her as Leah Morris after confusion with another child brought in that night.
Ruth found her.
“She told me my family was dead.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Leah continued.
“I eventually went into foster care. Claire found me years later.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Daniel demanded.
Leah looked frightened.
“She wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
“Because someone threatened Emma.”
The room went silent.
Emma stared.
“Me?”
Leah nodded.
“Claire said she received photographs of you leaving school. Whoever sent them knew where you lived.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
“When?”
“You were probably twelve.”
Emma remembered that year.
Her mother suddenly moved them across town.
No explanation.
She changed jobs.
Changed Emma’s school.
Emma had always assumed they were running from debt.
They had been running from something else.
“Ruth?” Daniel asked.
Leah shook her head.
“Claire never said.”
Daniel paced toward the window.
“Why hide Lily? What did she know?”
Leah looked down.
“I remember almost nothing about the fire.”
“Almost?”
She hesitated.
“One thing.”
Daniel turned.
“I remember my father arguing with someone in the basement.”
Daniel stopped.
“Our father?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Leah closed her eyes.
“But I remember a woman’s voice.”
Emma thought about Ruth.
“Was it Ruth?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
This time it was his office.
He answered.
His chief financial officer spoke rapidly.
Daniel’s expression darkened.
“What do you mean?”
He listened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“I’ll handle it.”
He ended the call.
Emma asked, “What happened?”
“Someone leaked the gala video.”
Emma’s stomach dropped.
Within hours, the confrontation between Victoria and Emma was everywhere.
But the clip had been edited.
The beginning showed Emma apologizing.
Then Daniel defending her.
Then his strange reaction to the dress.
Online speculation exploded.
Who was Emma Bennett?
Why had Daniel Carter reacted to her dress?
Was she secretly connected to him?
Emma hated every second.
Then another story appeared.
This one was worse.
A gossip site claimed Emma had deliberately worn the dress to manipulate Daniel.
Victoria denied being the source.
Emma’s café manager called.
“Emma, reporters are outside.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.”
Emma almost cried.
Then Daniel received another message.
He read it.
His face hardened.
“What?”
Emma asked.
He showed her.
An anonymous text.
The dress should have burned with everything else.
Below it was a photograph.
Taken that morning.
Noah leaving their apartment.
Emma felt the blood drain from her face.
Daniel immediately called security.
But Leah was staring at the message.
“What is it?” Emma asked.
Leah pointed at the number.
“I know that number.”
Daniel looked at her.
“How?”
Leah whispered:
“Claire used to receive calls from it.”
Emma’s heart pounded.
“Who was calling?”
Leah looked at Daniel.
Then she answered.
May you like
“Your father.”
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