# PART 3 — WHAT HAPPENED THREE YEARS AGO
My father sat at the dining table like a man waiting for a verdict.
Daniel stood behind me.
I remained near the doorway.
“Explain,” I said.
My father rubbed his forehead.
“You were twenty-seven.”
“I was twenty-six.”
He looked down.
“You were young.”
“No. I was an adult.”
“You were in love with Julian.”
“Yes.”
“And your mother and I knew exactly where that relationship would lead.”
“To marriage?”
“To hardship.”
I almost laughed.
Instead, I felt anger burning through every part of me.
“So you stole my child because you didn’t like the man I loved?”
“It was more complicated than that.”
“Then make it simple.”
My father finally looked at me.
“You were pregnant.”
I closed my eyes.
“I know that now.”
“You discovered it late.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“You had irregular cycles. You ignored the symptoms. When you collapsed, the doctors discovered the pregnancy.”
I remembered the hospital.
The pain.
The lights.
My father’s voice.
Everything suddenly felt close.
Too close.
“You told me it was a cyst.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian came to the hospital.”
I looked at Daniel.
Then back at my father.
“He knew?”
“He knew you were pregnant.”
I whispered:
“Then why did he tell me the baby was dead?”
My father stared at the floor.
“Because I told him she had died.”
I felt physically ill.
“You lied to him too.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he was planning to marry you.”
I stared at him.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“He had no money.”
“You hated that?”
“I believed he was irresponsible.”
“You believed I was incapable of making my own choice.”
He didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
“So what happened after I gave birth?”
“You had severe blood loss. You were unconscious.”
“How long?”
“Almost fourteen hours.”
“And the baby?”
“She was healthy.”
My chest tightened.
“Then what did you do?”
He took a breath.
“I arranged for her to be placed with another family.”
My mouth fell open.
“You gave my daughter away.”
“I arranged temporary guardianship.”
“Without my consent.”
“Yes.”
“Did the hospital know?”
“Some people did.”
“Did the law?”
His silence was answer enough.
Daniel spoke for the first time.
“You forged her signature.”
My father looked at him.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve read the document.”
“That document was prepared before she was conscious.”
“Then it wasn’t lawful.”
My father said nothing.
I picked up another photograph from the table.
The newborn.
My daughter.
“Where was she?”
My father swallowed.
“With a family outside the city.”
“Which family?”
He didn’t answer.
“Which family?”
“Caroline and Mark Vale.”
I had heard the surname.
They were family friends.
Wealthy.
Private.
Never married, according to everything I remembered.
“What happened to them?”
My father looked away.
“Caroline died eighteen months ago.”
“And Mark?”
“Disappeared.”
My stomach dropped.
“So where is Lily now?”
He looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
That was the moment something inside me shattered.
“You don’t know?”
“I lost contact with the Vales.”
“Yet Julian knows where she is.”
My father didn’t respond.
I pulled out my phone and called the number Julian had given me.
He answered immediately.
“Claire?”
“Where is she?”
There was silence.
“With me.”
I closed my eyes.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Not where your father can reach us.”
My father stood.
“Give me that phone.”
I stepped away.
Julian heard him.
“Is he there?”
“Yes.”
“Then leave.”
My father shouted:
“Julian, you have no right to interfere!”
Julian’s voice became hard.
“You lost that right three years ago.”
I asked:
“How did you find her?”
Julian went quiet.
Then:
“Someone sent me the hospital file.”
“Who?”
“A nurse.”
“Name?”
“Miriam Shaw.”
I looked at my father.
He had gone pale.
Julian continued.
“She worked in the maternity unit the night Lily was born.”
My father’s hands tightened.
“She told me your daughter had been recorded as transferred alive.”
I whispered:
“Alive.”
“Yes.”
“How did you know she was mine?”
“DNA.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I tried.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I came to your office.”
I remembered.
Six months earlier, Julian had appeared downstairs at my office.
I had refused to see him.
My assistant had told me he was asking about a family matter.
I thought it was harassment.
“You tried to contact me?”
“Seven times.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
“Because your father threatened me.”
My father shouted:
“He is lying!”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“I kept the recordings.”
Silence.
I looked at my father.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Julian continued:
“I found Lily with the Vales.”
“What happened to them?”
“Caroline was terminally ill. Mark left after she died.”
“And Lily?”
“She was supposed to go into foster care.”
My throat tightened.
“What did you do?”
“I took responsibility.”
“You legally have custody?”
“Temporary emergency custody.”
“So she’s not with you permanently?”
“Not yet.”
That one word mattered.
Not yet.
Julian had been fighting for her.
Alone.
For months.
“Why are you at the airport?”
He sighed.
“Because I discovered someone had accessed Lily’s records two days ago.”
My father stared at me.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“And you think it was my father?”
“Yes.”
Julian paused.
“Claire, I was taking her somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
“Canada.”
My father suddenly moved toward me.
Daniel blocked him.
“No.”
My father stopped.
Julian heard the silence.
“He’s there, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Then Claire, listen carefully.”
“I am.”
“Your father didn’t only hide Lily.”
A cold feeling spread through me.
“What else did he do?”
Julian said:
“He erased her original birth record.”
My entire body went still.
“And replaced it with another woman’s.”
I looked at my father.
“Whose?”
Julian hesitated.
Then answered:
“Your cousin’s.”
The room seemed to tilt.
My father closed his eyes.
Daniel whispered:
“Oh my God.”
Then the front door slammed.
Someone rushed into the house.
My mother.
She was crying.
And behind her was a woman I hadn’t seen in almost ten years.
My cousin Rebecca.
She looked terrified.
She said only one thing.
“I didn’t know he’d use my name.”
