Chapter 6 - The Day Someone Tried To Take My Daughter
I drove faster than I ever had before.
Every red light felt like an enemy.
Every second felt like a lifetime.
When I arrived at the school, Lily was sitting inside the office.
Crying.
I ran to her.
“Baby!”
She jumped into my arms.
“Daddy!”
I held her tightly.
“You’re okay.”
She nodded.
“But I was scared.”
I looked at the principal.
“Who came here?”
The principal looked uncomfortable.
“A woman.”
“Who?”
“She had paperwork.”
My stomach tightened.
“Diane?”
The principal shook her head.
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Then who?”
The principal handed me a copy.
I looked at the paper.
And everything stopped.
Because the name on the document was someone I never expected.
My own.
Brother.
Jason.
But Jason was dead.
The woman claiming to represent him was his wife.
My former sister-in-law.
A woman I hadn’t seen in years.
I whispered:
“She’s alive?”
The principal looked confused.
“You know her?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t understand.
Jason’s wife had disappeared after his death.
Nobody knew where she went.
Nobody knew she had a daughter.
And now she was trying to take Lily.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From Diane.
One sentence.
“You finally found the missing piece.”
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
“Now you’ll understand why I had to protect the truth.”
Then a third message.
A photo.
A picture of a little girl.
About seven years old.
Standing beside Jason.
The caption said:
“Your niece is alive.”
I looked at Lily.
Then at the photo.
My whole world shifted.
Because the person everyone thought was dead…
May you like
Had left behind a secret.
And that secret was connected to my children.
