Daniel held Emma’s letter against his chest.<\/p>\n
He could barely bring himself to read the words written by the woman he had loved.<\/p>\n
But Lily was watching him.<\/p>\n
He knew he needed to be strong for her.<\/p>\n
He slowly unfolded the letter again.<\/p>\n
“My dearest Daniel,<\/p>\n
If you’re reading this, it means something terrible has happened.<\/p>\n
I know your heart, and I know you would never abandon us.<\/p>\n
Please promise me one thing. If anything happens to me, find Lily and give her the life we dreamed of together.<\/p>\n
Your daughter deserves to know how much her father loves her.<\/p>\n
Don’t let anyone convince her that she was unwanted.<\/p>\n
I love you.<\/p>\n
Forever, Emma.”<\/p>\n
Daniel covered his face and cried.<\/p>\n
For five years, he had believed he had lost both his wife and his daughter.<\/p>\n
Now he understood that Emma had wanted him to raise Lily.<\/p>\n
But Margaret had taken that chance away.<\/p>\n
Daniel turned toward her.<\/p>\n
“Why did you do it?”<\/p>\n
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
She finally stopped pretending.<\/p>\n
“Because I was afraid.”<\/p>\n
“Afraid of what?”<\/p>\n
“Emma wanted to leave. She wanted to take Lily away from our family. I thought if you came back, I would lose my granddaughter forever.”<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at her.<\/p>\n
“So you told a little girl her father was dead?”<\/p>\n
Margaret began crying.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t know how to fix it anymore. Every year that passed made it harder to tell the truth.”<\/p>\n
Lily slowly stepped toward her grandmother.<\/p>\n
“Grandma?”<\/p>\n
Margaret looked down.<\/p>\n
“Yes, sweetheart?”<\/p>\n
“Why did you tell me Daddy was dead?”<\/p>\n
Margaret couldn’t answer.<\/p>\n
Lily looked at Daniel and held his hand.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want Daddy to die again.”<\/p>\n
Daniel immediately pulled her into his arms.<\/p>\n
“Listen to me, baby girl. Daddy isn’t going anywhere. I promise.”<\/p>\n
But the story wasn’t over.<\/p>\n
Rose suddenly approached Daniel with another document.<\/p>\n
“There’s something Emma arranged before she died.”<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at the paper.<\/p>\n
It was a legal document appointing him as Lily’s guardian.<\/p>\n
But there was something unusual.<\/p>\n
At the bottom was a second signature.<\/p>\n
Daniel recognized it immediately.<\/p>\n
It belonged to someone who had been standing inside that ballroom all evening.<\/p>\n
Someone who had known the truth.<\/p>\n
Someone who had helped Margaret hide it.<\/p>\n
Daniel slowly turned toward the crowd.<\/p>\n
And his eyes landed on his own older brother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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