Daniel couldn’t stop looking at the photograph.
His hands trembled as he turned it over again.
“Sweetheart, where did you get this?”
Lily wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dirty dress.
“Grandma keeps it in a little box. She said I wasn’t allowed to touch it.”
Daniel looked at her carefully.
“Did Grandma bring you here?”
Lily shook her head.
“No, Daddy. I came with Mrs. Rose. She said there was a big party here. I saw your picture on the invitation.”
Daniel glanced toward the ballroom entrance.
An elderly woman named Rose, the family’s former housekeeper, stood near the doorway. Her eyes were filled with tears.
She had worked for Daniel’s family before his disappearance five years earlier.
When Daniel noticed her, she slowly approached them.
“Mr. Daniel,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”
Daniel stood up, still holding Lily’s hand.
“Rose, what happened to my daughter? Why was I told she was dead?”
Rose looked around nervously.
“Because someone wanted you to believe that.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Who?”
Before Rose could answer, the ballroom doors suddenly opened.
An elegantly dressed older woman walked inside.
Margaret.
Lily’s grandmother.
The moment she saw Daniel holding the little girl’s hand, the color disappeared from her face.
“Lily!”
The little girl turned around.
“Grandma!”
Margaret hurried toward them.
But Daniel stepped between them.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Margaret stopped.
“Daniel, you don’t understand. I was protecting her.”
“Protecting her?” Daniel’s voice shook with anger. “You told my daughter I was dead!”
Margaret looked at Lily, then back at Daniel.
“You were supposed to stay away from this family.”
Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Why?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears, but she said nothing.
Rose finally spoke.
“Mr. Daniel, there’s something you need to know about the night of the accident.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“What accident?”
Rose swallowed hard.
“The accident that happened five years ago wasn’t what everyone told you.”
Suddenly, Margaret shouted.
“ROSE! Don’t you dare!”
The entire ballroom went silent again.
Daniel looked between the two women.
For the first time, he realized that his daughter’s disappearance was only part of a much bigger secret.
And someone was desperate to keep it hidden.
