Chapter 3
Emily did not scream.
She did not cry.
She simply stared at Arthur as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
“My aunt?”
Arthur nodded.
“Mara was my aunt?”
“Her name was Marianne.”
Emily looked toward Detective Lopez.
“Tell me he’s wrong.”
Lopez’s silence answered first.
Emily stepped away from them.
“This is crazy.”
“Emily—”
“No.”
She pointed at Arthur.
“Do not come closer.”
Arthur stopped immediately.
Lily slept only a few feet away.
The child’s fever had finally begun coming down.
Emily looked at her daughter.
Then back at the two strangers who had just torn apart everything she thought she knew about her life.
“My mother loved me.”
No one argued.
“She worked two jobs.”
Arthur’s eyes filled.
“She went hungry so I could eat.”
“I believe you,” Lopez said.
“She sat beside me when I was sick.”
Emily’s voice rose.
“She taught me to drive. She cried at my graduation. She held Lily before anyone else did.”
Arthur looked down.
Emily’s anger suddenly found him.
“And now you’re telling me she stole me?”
“We don’t know exactly what happened,” Lopez said.
Arthur spoke quietly.
“But Marianne was there the day Eleanor disappeared.”
Lopez turned toward him.
“You never told me that.”
Arthur looked ashamed.
“I didn’t know until later.”
“When?”
“Two days after Eleanor disappeared.”
Emily stared.
Arthur slowly sat down.
His legs no longer seemed strong enough to hold him.
“Marianne and Evelyn had argued that morning.”
“About what?”
“Money.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Arthur winced.
“Marianne had problems. Debts. She was always asking Evelyn for help. Evelyn had finally told her it had to stop.”
“And you think she took a six-year-old because her sister stopped giving her money?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why wasn’t she arrested?”
“Because by the time I learned about the argument, Marianne was gone.”
Arthur rubbed both hands over his face.
“Evelyn blamed herself for years.”
Emily looked toward Lily.
“I need you to leave.”
Arthur stood.
“Emily—”
“I said leave.”
He nodded.
“I’ll be downstairs.”
“No.”
She faced him.
“Leave the hospital.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
“But Lily—”
“Is my daughter.”
The words were sharp.
“And I protected her without you yesterday. I’ll protect her without you tomorrow.”
Arthur absorbed the blow.
Then he walked away.
Detective Lopez followed him into the hallway.
“You should go,” she said.
Arthur looked through the small window in Lily’s door.
“What if the test is positive?”
“Then you’ll still need to go slowly.”
“I lost thirty-one years.”
“And Emily just lost thirty-seven.”
That stopped him.
Lopez lowered her voice.
“You’ve been waiting for your daughter to come home.”
Arthur looked at her.
“She hasn’t been waiting for a father.”
Arthur left.
For the first time in decades, he did not return to Bennett Jewelers.
He drove to the house where he had raised his children.
The house where Eleanor had disappeared.
The house he had never sold.
He went upstairs.
Eleanor’s bedroom was still there.
Evelyn had changed almost nothing.
A faded paper moon hung from the ceiling.
A wooden horse stood beside the window.
On the shelf rested Sunny, the yellow rabbit.
Arthur sat on the bed.
Then he cried until his chest hurt.
At the hospital, Emily spent the night awake.
She watched Lily sleep.
But her mind kept pulling backward.
Memories.
Or things she had always believed were dreams.
A staircase with white railings.
A woman singing while brushing her hair.
A man lifting her above his head.
A yellow rabbit.
Rain on a car window.
A woman saying, “You can’t tell anyone your old name.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
She had remembered that sentence before.
Many times.
Mara had always said it was from a nightmare.
Emily stood abruptly.
She opened the bag she had carried from work.
At the bottom was the locket.
She held it beneath the hospital light.
E.B.
The initials.
She had always believed they meant Evelyn Brooks because Mara told her that had been Emily’s grandmother’s name.
But maybe they meant something else.
Eleanor Bennett.
Emily covered her mouth.
Lily opened her eyes.
“Mom?”
Emily immediately sat beside her.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m tired.”
Lily studied her.
“You always say that when you don’t want me to worry.”
Despite everything, Emily smiled.
“You know me too well.”
“Did you get the medicine?”
“Yes.”
“Did we have enough?”
Emily looked away.
Lily was only eight.
But poverty made children notice things they should not have to notice.
“Yes.”
“Did you sell Grandma’s necklace?”
Emily closed her fist around the locket.
“Yes.”
Lily’s face fell.
“But I got it back.”
“How?”
Emily hesitated.
“A man returned it.”
“What man?”
Before Emily could answer, someone knocked.
Detective Lopez entered.
She carried no smile.
Emily knew immediately.
“You have the results.”
Lopez nodded.
Emily stood.
Her legs shook.
Lily looked between them.
“Mom?”
“It’s okay.”
Emily kissed her forehead.
“Can you watch cartoons for a minute?”
Lily nodded.
Emily and Lopez stepped into the hallway.
Arthur was not there.
Emily was grateful for that.
Lopez held a folder.
“We ran the samples twice.”
Emily crossed her arms tightly.
“Just say it.”
“Arthur Bennett is your biological father.”
Emily closed her eyes.
The hallway became silent.
Too silent.
Lopez continued gently.
“The probability of paternity is greater than 99.99 percent.”
Emily leaned against the wall.
She expected to feel something clear.
Relief.
Grief.
Joy.
Rage.
Instead she felt all of them at once.
“My name…”
Lopez waited.
“My name isn’t Emily?”
“You’ve legally been Emily Carter for most of your life. No one is taking that from you.”
“But I was Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
Emily stared down the hallway.
“My mother kidnapped me.”
Lopez hesitated.
“The evidence strongly suggests Marianne took you. But we still need to understand what happened.”
“She’s dead.”
“When did she die?”
“Three months ago.”
“How?”
“Cancer.”
“Did she leave anything?”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“Letters. Records. Storage. A safe deposit box.”
Emily thought.
Mara had left almost nothing.
A few clothes.
An old car with a broken transmission.
A storage locker Emily could barely afford to keep.
Then she remembered something.
“The storage unit.”
Lopez looked interested.
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. Furniture. Boxes. Things from the apartment.”
“We should look.”
Emily nodded slowly.
But there was something she needed to do first.
She pulled out her phone.
Arthur answered on the first ring.
“Emily?”
His voice shook.
She said nothing for several seconds.
Then she asked, “Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Your house?”
“Yes.”
“The same house?”
Arthur understood.
“Yes.”
“I want to see it.”
“I’ll come get you.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I’ll meet you there when Lily is discharged.”
Arthur swallowed.
“Okay.”
The next afternoon, Lily left the hospital.
Arthur waited outside the old Bennett house.
He had changed clothes, but he looked as if he had not slept.
Emily arrived in a rideshare with Lily.
Lily held her mother’s hand.
Arthur looked at the little girl.
His granddaughter.
His throat tightened.
Emily noticed.
“Don’t overwhelm her.”
“I won’t.”
Lily whispered, “Who is he?”
Emily hesitated.
She had practiced the answer all morning.
Nothing sounded normal.
“He’s someone we just found.”
Arthur’s eyes filled.
Lily frowned.
“That’s weird.”
“It is.”
Arthur managed a small smile.
“My name is Arthur.”
“I’m Lily.”
“I know.”
Emily gave him a warning look.
Arthur quickly added, “Your mother told me.”
The front door opened.
A tall man in an expensive dark coat stepped onto the porch.
He looked to be in his mid-forties.
His hair was gray at the temples.
His expression froze when he saw Emily.
Arthur’s face tightened.
“Daniel.”
The man looked from Arthur to Emily.
Then to Lily.
“No.”
Arthur stiffened.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Emily squeezed Lily’s hand.
“Who is that?”
Arthur looked deeply uncomfortable.
“Your brother.”
Emily stared.
Daniel Bennett walked down the steps.
He looked at Emily as though she were a threat.
“This is the woman from the store?”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“How do you know she was at the store?”
Daniel paused.
“I saw the security recording.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
Emily felt the tension instantly.
Daniel turned toward her.
“You claim you’re Eleanor?”
“I haven’t claimed anything.”
“Then why are you here?”
Arthur stepped between them.
“Because the DNA test is positive.”
Daniel went pale.
“What?”
“She’s Eleanor.”
“No.”
“It was run twice.”
Daniel stared at Emily.
Something passed across his face.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Emily saw it.
So did Arthur.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Emily asked.
Daniel recovered quickly.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Arthur’s voice hardened.
“Daniel, what is wrong with you?”
“Dad, think.”
“I have thought about nothing else for thirty-one years.”
“She walks into the store with a locket and suddenly she’s your missing daughter?”
“DNA doesn’t care how she walked into the store.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
Emily immediately pulled the child closer.
“Don’t look at my daughter.”
Daniel raised his hands.
“I’m trying to protect my father.”
“From what?”
He looked directly at her.
“You.”
Arthur’s face reddened.
“That’s enough.”
Daniel turned.
“You don’t know what she wants.”
Emily laughed once.
She was too tired to be polite.
“What I wanted yesterday was eight dollars.”
Daniel froze.
Emily stepped closer.
“I didn’t know your father’s name.”
She pointed to her worn shoes.
“I didn’t know he had money.”
She gestured toward the old house.
“I didn’t know this existed.”
Then she touched the locket beneath her shirt.
“And I sure as hell didn’t know who I was.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Lily whispered, “Mom, can we go?”
Emily immediately softened.
“Yes.”
Arthur panicked.
“No, please.”
Emily looked at him.
Lily tugged her hand.
“Can I use the bathroom first?”
Arthur almost smiled.
“Of course.”
He led them inside.
The moment Emily crossed the threshold, she stopped.
Her face changed.
Arthur noticed.
“What?”
She looked toward the staircase.
White railings.
Her breathing became shallow.
“I’ve seen this.”
Daniel went still.
Arthur whispered, “What did you say?”
“In dreams.”
Emily released Lily’s hand.
She slowly walked toward the stairs.
Her fingers touched the railing.
A flash hit her.
A woman kneeling.
A coat.
Red.
A hand squeezing hers.
“Don’t cry, Ellie.”
Emily pulled away from the railing.
Arthur stepped forward.
“Emily?”
She looked at him.
“I remember someone calling me Ellie.”
Arthur’s knees nearly gave out.
Lily watched, frightened.
Emily gathered herself.
“I’m okay.”
Arthur led Lily to the bathroom.
Emily wandered toward a room beside the stairs.
Daniel remained near the door.
He looked nervous now.
Very nervous.
Emily opened the room.
An old upright piano sat inside.
A framed family photograph stood on top.
Arthur.
Evelyn.
Daniel as a young teenager.
Little Eleanor between them.
Emily walked closer.
She stared at the child.
The shape of the eyes.
The nose.
The small scar near the eyebrow.
She touched her own eyebrow.
Same place.
Arthur returned.
“Your mother kept that picture there until the day she died.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“When?”
Arthur knew what she meant.
“Evelyn died seven years ago.”
Emily turned.
“Seven?”
“Yes.”
“She was alive?”
Arthur looked confused.
“Of course.”
Emily’s face crumpled.
“She was alive until seven years ago?”
“Yes.”
Emily backed away.
Thirty-one years stolen.
And for twenty-four of them, her mother had been somewhere in the same country.
Waiting.
Searching.
Hurting.
Emily covered her mouth.
“I could have known her.”
Arthur began to cry.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel looked away.
Emily noticed again.
Fear.
Not grief.
Not shock.
Fear.
Then Lily called from upstairs.
“Mom?”
Emily hurried toward the stairs.
A moment later, Lily stood in the hallway holding something.
A stuffed yellow rabbit.
Arthur stopped breathing.
Lily smiled.
“Look what I found.”
Emily stared at the rabbit.
A sound escaped her.
Not a word.
A memory.
She saw herself small again.
Holding that rabbit.
Hiding beneath a blanket during a thunderstorm.
A boy sitting beside her.
Daniel.
Young Daniel.
Promising he would protect her.
Emily slowly turned toward the adult man downstairs.
Daniel had gone white.
“You gave me that rabbit.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You sat beside me during storms.”
Arthur looked between them.
“Daniel?”
Emily walked down one step at a time.
“You remember me.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“Of course I remember you.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“That’s not what I mean.”
She reached the bottom.
“You knew who I was before the DNA test.”
Arthur stared at his son.
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Emily looked him in the eyes.
“Then why are you scared?”
No one spoke.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“I’m done with this.”
He moved toward the door.
Arthur caught his arm.
“Daniel.”
“Let go.”
“Did you know?”
Daniel looked at his father.
For one terrifying second, the answer was written all over his face.
Then he pulled free.
“No.”
He walked out.
The door slammed.
Emily stared after him.
Arthur whispered, “He’s lying.”
And somewhere in the back of Emily’s mind, another memory began to return.
Not from when she was six.
From much later.
She was eighteen.
Standing beside Mara at a mailbox.
Holding an envelope addressed to Bennett Jewelers.
May you like
And weeks later, a reply had come.
A reply signed by Daniel Bennett.
