Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN BESIDE CLAIRE
Daniel snatched the photograph from Margaret’s handbag.
Claire looked younger in the picture.
She was smiling beside a blond woman whose hands rested over a heavily pregnant stomach.
Both women wore matching silver medallions.
Daniel turned the picture over.
A date had been written on the back.
It was four months before Claire told him she had been diagnosed with cancer.
Below the date was another sentence.
“Helen, thank you for carrying our miracle.”
Daniel felt the room tilt beneath him.
“Carrying our miracle?”
Margaret reached for the photograph.
“You do not understand.”
Daniel stepped away from her.
“Then explain it.”
“Now.”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
Ethan refused to meet Daniel’s eyes.
That was when Daniel understood that his brother knew something too.
“How long?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Daniel—”
“How long have you known?”
Lauren moved toward the door.
Daniel blocked her path.
“Nobody leaves until I get answers.”
Ivy pointed at the woman in the photograph.
“That is Mommy Helen.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“Was she your mother?”
Ivy nodded.
Skye’s lower lip trembled.
“Mommy said Daddy lived by the big water.”
Daniel looked through the windows toward Lake Geneva.
His heartbeat became painfully loud.
“What else did she say?”
Ivy thought carefully.
“She said Daddy did not know us.”
Skye whispered next.
“She said Grandma Margaret was angry.”
Daniel rose slowly.
“You knew they existed.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with something that looked like anger rather than guilt.
“Claire made a terrible decision.”
“She used a surrogate without telling you.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Why would she hide that from me?”
“Because the embryos failed.”
“The clinic told her the pregnancy had ended.”
“That is what Claire believed.”
Daniel held up the photograph.
“This woman was clearly pregnant.”
Margaret’s voice became colder.
“Helen disappeared before the birth.”
“Claire spent months searching for her.”
“Then she became ill.”
Daniel studied his mother’s expression.
“That still does not explain why the note warned Helen about you.”
Margaret said nothing.
A car door slammed outside.
Daniel looked through the window.
A black SUV had stopped near the front gate.
Two men stepped out.
One of them carried a Child Protective Services identification badge.
May you like
Margaret released a quiet breath of relief.
But Daniel had never called anyone to come that evening.
