Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Was Never Supposed to Return
The phone was still pressed against my ear.
Nobody in the ballroom moved.
Nobody even breathed.
Because everyone had heard the same words.
"Your real mother."
The voice on the other end was trembling.
But mine wasn't.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't think.
For twenty-eight years, I had believed one story.
Michael Carter was my father.
He raised me.
He protected me.
He was the only parent I had ever known.
But now, in the middle of my ruined wedding reception, with my dress torn and my entire life falling apart, a woman who claimed to be my mother was telling me everything I knew was a lie.
"Who are you?"
My voice barely escaped.
The woman took a shaky breath.
"My name is Rachel."
The name meant nothing.
But the reaction around me meant everything.
My father's face changed.
Daniel stepped backward.
And Victoria looked terrified.
Not angry.
Not confident.
Terrified.
I looked at my father.
"Dad..."
He didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than any confession.
Because my father had always been the one person who never lied to me.
At least, that's what I believed.
The woman on the phone continued.
"Emily, you don't have much time."
My heart started racing.
"What are you talking about?"
"They know I contacted you."
I looked around the ballroom.
"Who?"
A pause.
Then:
"Your father."
The words hit me like a punch.
I looked at Michael.
My father.
The man standing ten feet away.
The man who had just arrived to save me.
The man who had spent my entire life protecting me.
"No."
The word came out before I could stop it.
The woman whispered:
"I'm sorry."
My father finally moved.
He stepped toward me.
"Emily, hang up the phone."
I stared at him.
I had never heard him sound afraid.
Not once.
"What aren't you telling me?"
His jaw tightened.
"Not here."
I almost laughed.
Not here.
That was what everyone kept saying.
Not here.
Not now.
Not in front of people.
But they had no problem destroying me in front of two hundred guests.
They had no problem humiliating me publicly.
So I refused to protect their secrets.
"Everyone stays."
My voice cut through the room.
My father stopped.
"Emily."
"No."
I looked at every person standing around me.
"They wanted the truth."
I lifted the phone.
"So they're going to hear it."
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
I looked at her.
"Actually, I think I'm the only person here who finally does."
The ballroom remained silent.
The woman on the phone spoke again.
"Emily, please listen to me."
I closed my eyes.
"Tell me."
My voice shook.
"Tell me why everyone knows something about me except me."
There was a long pause.
Then Rachel answered.
"Because Michael promised me you would never know."
My father looked down.
And that was when my heart broke.
Not because Rachel said it.
Because my father didn't deny it.
I turned toward him.
"You knew?"
He looked at me.
"Emily..."
"No."
My voice cracked.
"You knew?"
He took a slow breath.
"Yes."
The room erupted with whispers.
I felt dizzy.
My father knew.
The one person I trusted.
The one person who always told me the truth.
Had hidden the biggest truth of my life.
"Why?"
My father looked older suddenly.
Like the weight of all those years had finally caught up with him.
"Because I was afraid."
I shook my head.
"Afraid of what?"
He looked at Victoria.
Then Daniel.
Then back at me.
"Afraid they would use you."
I stared at him.
"They already did."
The sentence destroyed him.
I saw it.
But I was too hurt to care.
Rachel's voice came through the phone.
"Emily, you need to leave that room."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because the people around you are not the only ones who know."
A chill moved through me.
"What does that mean?"
Before she could answer, Robert suddenly looked at his phone.
His expression changed.
"Mr. Carter."
My father turned.
"What?"
Robert walked closer.
"There is a problem."
"What problem?"
Robert lowered his voice.
"Someone accessed the security system."
Everyone looked confused.
My father understood immediately.
"From where?"
Robert looked toward the ballroom entrance.
"From inside the building."
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The ballroom became dark.
People screamed.
Someone knocked over a chair.
I grabbed my stomach instinctively.
Daniel reached toward me.
I moved away.
The emergency lights turned on.
But something was different.
The screen behind us had changed.
The wedding video was gone.
A new image appeared.
A photograph.
My photograph.
But not the one from tonight.
It was old.
A hospital photo.
A newborn baby wrapped in a white blanket.
My name appeared beneath it.
Emily Carter.
Then another line appeared.
Birth Record Altered.
My breathing stopped.
The room went silent.
My father stared at the screen.
And for the first time, I saw something I never expected.
Fear.
Real fear.
"Turn it off," he whispered.
Nobody moved.
A video started playing.
A hospital room appeared.
A younger version of my father stood beside a woman holding a newborn baby.
Rachel.
My mother.
She was crying.
My father was holding paperwork.
The audio was unclear at first.
Then the volume increased.
Rachel's voice filled the ballroom.
"You can't take her from me."
My father on the recording answered:
"I'm not taking her."
"Then why are you changing her name?"
Silence.
Then my father's younger voice said:
"Because if they find out who she is, she won't survive."
The video stopped.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my father.
"Who was going to find me?"
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Who?"
My father looked at the screen.
Then at me.
"Emily..."
"No."
I felt tears falling.
"Not another secret."
My voice became louder.
"I want the truth."
My father closed his eyes.
And finally said:
"Your mother was connected to something dangerous."
Rachel's voice suddenly interrupted.
"Michael, don't."
Everyone looked at my phone.
She was still there.
My father froze.
Rachel continued.
"She deserves to know."
My father whispered:
"Rachel..."
That was the first time I heard him say her name.
Not like an enemy.
Like someone he had loved.
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
Victoria stepped backward.
Because she knew where this was going.
Rachel continued:
"Emily, the man you called your father saved you."
I looked at Michael.
"But he also took you away from me."
My heart shattered.
My father looked at me.
"I was trying to protect you."
"By lying?"
His eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
The honesty hurt.
Then Rachel said the one thing that made everyone freeze.
"Emily, your baby is not the only person whose identity was changed."
I stopped breathing.
"What?"
A long silence.
Then she whispered:
"The person who ordered the DNA test wasn't trying to prove who your baby's father was."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
"Then what were they trying to find?"
Rachel answered quietly.
"They were trying to find out if your child carried the same bloodline as the person who almost destroyed our family."
The ballroom doors suddenly slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
A man was standing outside the glass entrance.
Holding a folder.
Watching us.
Robert immediately reached for his phone.
My father stepped in front of me.
May you like
And the stranger lifted the folder toward the window, revealing the name written across the front.
Michael Carter's biggest secret.
