Chapter 14 - THE CHILD WHO WAS ERASED
Adrian couldn’t move.
The paper shook in his hands.
“No…”
Lena looked at him.
“What is it?”
He couldn’t answer.
His eyes stayed fixed on the document.
A birth record.
A name.
A date.
A child.
Seven years ago.
Before Emma.
Before Mia.
Before everything fell apart.
Adrian whispered:
“I had another child?”
Everyone became silent.
Daniel smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Adrian looked up.
“Where is she?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Where is my daughter?”
Victoria looked away.
Adrian turned to her.
“You knew?”
Victoria started crying.
“Yes.”
The anger inside him became overwhelming.
“You knew I had a child.”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“Then when did you know?”
Victoria couldn’t speak.
Daniel answered for her.
“When she found out Lena was pregnant.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You knew too?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you hid her?”
Daniel’s face became serious.
“She was the key.”
“What key?”
“To control you.”
Adrian stared.
Daniel continued:
“You always had one weakness.”
He looked at Lena.
“Love.”
Then at Emma and Mia.
“Family.”
Adrian clenched his fists.
“You used my children.”
Daniel shrugged.
“I used what mattered to you.”
Lena stepped forward.
“You are a monster.”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“I’m what this family created.”
Everyone went silent.
Richard looked at him.
“You blame me.”
Daniel laughed.
“You abandoned me.”
The room froze.
Adrian looked between them.
“Daniel…”
Daniel looked at him.
“You don’t know what happened.”
“Then tell me.”
For the first time, Daniel looked emotional.
“My mother was thrown away by your father.”
Richard looked down.
“I made mistakes.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You erased us.”
Adrian realized something.
Daniel wasn’t only driven by greed.
He was driven by years of anger.
That didn’t excuse what he did.
But it explained why he became who he was.
Adrian looked at him.
“Where is my daughter?”
Daniel was silent.
Then he smiled.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere you’ll never find.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You’re lying.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Victoria.
“She knows where.”
Everyone turned.
Victoria froze.
Adrian stared.
“You?”
Victoria started crying.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I was afraid.”
Adrian’s voice became quiet.
“Everyone was afraid.”
A pause.
“And I was the only one paying the price.”
Victoria looked broken.
“I’m sorry.”
Adrian shook his head.
“I don’t know if sorry is enough anymore.”
Suddenly, police sirens approached.
Daniel looked outside.
Then smiled.
“You think this ends with me?”
Adrian looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel stepped backward.
“Your father kept secrets.”
“Your uncle kept secrets.”
“Victoria kept secrets.”
He pointed at Adrian.
“And you…”
A pause.
“You kept one too.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
Daniel smiled.
“You just don’t remember it.”
Then Daniel disappeared into the darkness.
The police arrived seconds later.
But Daniel was gone.
Again.
Adrian stood there holding the document.
The name of his missing daughter burned in his mind.
A daughter he had never met.
A daughter someone had stolen from him.
Then his phone received a message.
One location.
One picture.
A little girl standing by a window.
And one sentence:
May you like
COME FIND YOUR DAUGHTER.
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