Chapter 13 - ONE LAST THREAT
Two weeks after the verdict, Michael received a call from Lily’s school.
Someone had tried to pick her up.
A woman.
Middle-aged.
Claimed she was an aunt.
The school refused.
Michael raced there.
Lily was safe.
Ethan was safe.
But Michael’s fear returned instantly.
Police reviewed security footage.
The woman was Patricia.
Michael could not believe it.
He confronted her with Daniel present.
“What were you doing?”
Patricia cried.
“I wanted to see them.”
“You tried to remove my daughter from school.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
“Then why lie?”
Patricia wiped her face.
“Vanessa asked me.”
Michael froze.
“She’s in jail.”
Patricia nodded.
“She called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Lily needed to hear the truth.”
Michael stared.
“What truth?”
Patricia hesitated.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Tell him.”
Patricia whispered.
“Vanessa said Lily isn’t Michael’s daughter.”
The room went silent.
Michael felt as if someone had punched him.
“What?”
Patricia shook her head.
“I don’t know if it’s true.”
“She said it to hurt you.”
Michael’s mind raced.
He remembered dates.
The pregnancy.
The birth.
Nothing ever seemed suspicious.
Daniel said calmly.
“Does it matter?”
Michael looked at him.
“No.”
And he meant it.
But Vanessa had chosen the one weapon she believed could destroy his relationship with Lily.
Michael went home.
He found Lily reading on the couch.
She looked up.
“Hi, Daddy.”
That word settled everything.
He sat beside her.
“Hey, kiddo.”
She leaned against him.
He realized biology did not matter.
Not even slightly.
The next day, Daniel informed the prison that all non-essential family contact should go through legal channels.
Patricia agreed to stop contact.
For the first time, Michael believed the threats were ending.
Then he received an envelope with no return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Michael standing outside Lily’s school.
Taken the previous day.
On the back:
Vanessa isn’t the only one who knows what happened.
Michael called Detective Collins immediately.
She studied the photo.
“Someone is watching you.”
Michael looked at her.
“Robert?”
“He’s in custody.”
“Patricia?”
“She was with her attorney yesterday.”
Michael stared at the handwriting.
Then Sarah said.
“There was one more person in Emma’s original case.”
“Who?”
“The neighbor who heard her crying.”
Michael frowned.
“What about him?”
“He disappeared before police could interview him again.”
Michael felt cold.
“What was his name?”
Sarah looked at the file.
“Thomas Vane.”
Michael had never heard it.
Sarah looked up.
“But Vanessa did.”
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“Why?”
“Because Thomas was her brother.”
