Chapter 10: The Truth About Lily Carter
Chapter 10: The Truth About Lily Carter
For seven years...
Emma had protected Lily from the world.
From judgment.
From hatred.
From the pain of knowing her father walked away.
She told Lily a simple version of the truth.
"Your daddy is far away."
She never told her:
Your father thought you were a mistake.
Your grandmother tried to erase you.
Your entire existence became part of a war between powerful people.
Because Emma wanted Lily to have one thing she never had.
A childhood without fear.
But now...
Someone was trying to take even that away.
Emma sat in her office staring at Lily's birth certificate.
The paper that had always represented the happiest day of her life.
Now...
It felt like evidence from a crime scene.
She read the details again.
Mother:
Emma Carter.
Father:
Ryan Anderson.
Everything looked normal.
Except one thing.
The witness signature.
Victoria Anderson.
Why would Ryan's mother sign her granddaughter's birth certificate?
Why was she there?
Why had Emma never noticed?
Because she trusted the hospital.
Because she trusted Ryan.
Because she never imagined the people she loved were the ones hiding the truth.
The next morning...
Emma called Ryan.
"I need to see you."
Her voice was serious.
Ryan immediately knew something was wrong.
"What happened?"
"Bring everything you have from seven years ago."
Ryan arrived at Carter Global an hour later.
No confidence.
No arrogance.
Only regret.
Emma placed the birth certificate on the table.
Ryan looked at it.
Then his face changed.
"Victoria signed this?"
Emma nodded.
"Did you know?"
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
Emma studied him.
For the first time, she believed him.
Because Ryan looked genuinely shocked.
"Why was she there?"
Neither of them had an answer.
They started searching.
Hospital records.
Old emails.
Financial transfers.
Anything connected to Lily's birth.
After hours of investigation...
They found something.
A deleted hospital report.
Hidden under a private account.
Emma opened it.
The first line made her heart stop.
"Patient Emma Carter. Emergency delivery complications. Additional genetic testing requested."
Emma frowned.
"Genetic testing?"
Ryan looked confused.
"Why would they test Lily?"
Emma continued reading.
Then her face changed.
"They suspected something."
"What?"
She looked at him.
"The hospital suspected Lily's records had been altered."
Silence.
Ryan stood.
"What?"
Emma kept reading.
"Someone requested a private DNA test before Lily's birth certificate was finalized."
Ryan's voice became quiet.
"Who requested it?"
Emma scrolled down.
And froze.
The name appeared.
Victoria Anderson.
Ryan couldn't speak.
His own mother.
Again.
Everything led back to her.
"Why would she test Lily?"
Emma looked at the document.
"Maybe because she already knew something."
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
His voice broke.
"I can't believe this."
Emma looked at him.
"You believed her once."
That sentence hurt.
Because it was true.
They confronted Victoria that evening.
The Anderson mansion had never felt colder.
Victoria was sitting in the living room when Emma and Ryan entered.
She immediately knew.
The truth had reached them.
"You found it."
Ryan stared.
"Why did you test Lily?"
Victoria didn't answer.
"Why?"
His voice became louder.
"Wasn't destroying Emma enough?"
Victoria looked at him.
"I was trying to protect this family."
Ryan laughed bitterly.
"That is your excuse for everything."
Emma stepped forward.
"Tell me the truth."
Victoria looked at her.
And for a moment...
Emma saw something unexpected.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
"There are things you don't understand."
Emma's expression hardened.
"Then explain."
Victoria looked toward Lily's bedroom.
Then whispered:
"Lily was never supposed to survive."
The room went silent.
Ryan's face turned white.
"What did you say?"
Emma felt her entire body freeze.
"What does that mean?"
Victoria closed her eyes.
"The night Lily was born..."
She paused.
"Someone tried to make sure she would never leave that hospital."
Seven years earlier...
The hospital hallway was dark.
Emma was unconscious after delivery.
Lily was only minutes old.
A person entered the nursery.
Not a doctor.
Not a nurse.
Someone who had access.
Someone who knew the Anderson name.
The baby was supposed to be transferred.
The records were supposed to be changed.
The story was supposed to disappear.
But something went wrong.
A nurse discovered the plan.
And stopped it.
Present day.
Emma couldn't breathe.
"Who?"
Victoria remained silent.
"Who tried to take my daughter?"
Victoria looked at Ryan.
Then at Emma.
And finally said:
"The person who wanted Lily gone..."
"Was not an enemy."
Emma's eyes widened.
"What are you saying?"
Victoria whispered:
"They were trying to protect their own child."
Silence.
Ryan stepped forward.
"Whose child?"
Victoria looked at him.
"The child who would inherit everything."
Emma felt a chill.
Noah.
The boy hidden in the blue room.
At that moment...
A message arrived on Emma's phone.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
"You are finally getting close."
Another message appeared.
A photograph.
Emma opened it.
Her blood ran cold.
It was a picture of Lily.
Taken that same day.
Outside school.
Someone had been watching her daughter.
Then the final message appeared:
"Stop searching, or next time you won't find her."
Emma dropped the phone.
Ryan immediately grabbed it.
His face changed from regret...
To rage.
Because whoever was behind this had made one mistake.
They threatened Lily.
And now...
May you like
They had given Emma Carter a reason to destroy them.
To be continued...
