Daniel chased the figure down the hallway, but when he reached the staircase, nobody was there.
Lily tugged at his sleeve.
“Daddy, the notebook.”
They searched Emily’s bedroom until Daniel discovered a loose floorboard beneath the bed.
Underneath it lay a blue notebook wrapped in an old scarf.
The first pages contained photographs, letters, and memories from Emily’s pregnancy.
Daniel sat on the floor and read every word.
Emily had tried to contact him several times. She had written letters explaining that she was going to have his child, but every letter had been returned.
Someone had intercepted them.
On the final written page, Emily had left a confession.
“Daniel, if you’re reading this, someone has kept us apart. I never wanted to leave you. I was protecting Lily from the truth about our families.”
Daniel’s heart pounded.
He turned the page.
There was a photograph of Michael.
Beside it was a hospital record dated the night Michael supposedly died.
Daniel noticed something strange.
The document listed Michael as a visitor, not a patient.
He had never been involved in the accident that killed him.
At the bottom of the page, Emily had written one final sentence:
“Michael knows who Lily’s real father is.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
She looked back at him with frightened eyes.
“Daddy, why does Mommy say you’re not my real daddy?”
