Chapter 6 - The Daughter Nobody Mentioned)
Daniel did not open the envelope immediately.
He sat in the storage room staring at Rose Elizabeth Sterling's birth certificate.
Richard's daughter.
His half-sister.
Eight years older than Caroline.
A woman Daniel had never heard about.
Caroline looked equally shaken.
"Dad cheated on Mom."
Ava examined the dates.
"Maybe."
Caroline looked at her.
"What else would this mean?"
Ava pointed to the birth date.
"Rose was born before your parents' wedding anniversary you celebrate every year."
Daniel frowned.
"My parents were already married."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
Ava waited.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
The internet listed Richard and Margaret Sterling as married thirty-four years earlier.
Rose was thirty-three.
Caroline whispered, "One year after."
Daniel finally opened the envelope.
Inside were eleven handwritten pages.
Richard's handwriting.
The first sentence changed everything.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, then either I have failed to stop your mother or I am no longer alive to explain why I tried.
Daniel stopped.
Ava touched his wrist.
"Keep going."
He read silently.
Richard described Rebecca Hale not as a mistress, but as someone he had known before Margaret.
They had been young.
They had separated.
Rebecca discovered her pregnancy only after Richard became engaged to Margaret.
According to Richard, Margaret learned about the child before the wedding.
She gave Richard a choice.
Marry her and keep Rose hidden.
Or Margaret's father, a banking executive with enormous influence, would destroy Rebecca's family business and ensure Richard lost access to the capital required to save Sterling Hotels from bankruptcy.
Caroline sank into a chair.
"Dad chose the company."
Daniel kept reading.
Richard claimed he supported Rose privately for years.
Margaret knew.
She hated it.
When Rebecca later joined Sterling Hospitality under her maiden name, Margaret considered it humiliation.
Richard wrote that he wanted Rose acknowledged publicly.
Margaret refused.
Then came the sentence that made Ava look away.
I was a coward for too long.
Daniel continued.
Richard had changed his estate plan.
Rose would receive an equal portion with Daniel and Caroline.
More importantly, Richard intended to remove Margaret's control over the family foundation after discovering irregular transfers.
He planned to announce everything on October 18.
He died October 17.
Caroline stood abruptly.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"No what?"
"This is too convenient."
"You think Dad lied?"
"I think somebody wants us to believe Mom killed him."
Ava spoke quietly.
"The letter doesn't say that."
Caroline paced.
"It doesn't have to."
Daniel looked at the final page.
There was more.
If anything happens to me before I can make these changes public, find Rebecca. She has copies of the foundation accounts.
Daniel looked at Ava.
"That's why she came to the garden."
Ava nodded slowly.
Rebecca was not there for Lily.
She was there because something brought her back.
Daniel pressed play on the digital recorder.
Static.
Then Richard's voice.
Daniel had not heard it in eleven years.
The sound knocked the air out of him.
"If you're hearing this, I didn't get the chance to fix what I should have fixed years ago."
Caroline covered her mouth.
Richard continued.
"I spent too much of my life confusing family loyalty with obedience."
Daniel stared at the recorder.
"I allowed fear of scandal to make decisions for me. I allowed Margaret's certainty to replace my judgment. And I allowed three children to pay for the choices of their parents."
Three children.
Daniel.
Caroline.
Rose.
Richard took a breath.
"If Daniel ever has children, I hope he learns earlier than I did that protecting a family does not mean protecting its reputation."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ava began crying silently.
Richard's voice continued.
"It means protecting the people inside it."
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Caroline sat.
"What do we do?"
Daniel looked at the birth certificate.
"We find Rebecca."
They did not need to look far.
Rebecca found them.
When they returned to the townhouse, Helen was waiting in the foyer.
Her face was pale.
"There's someone in the sitting room."
Daniel knew before she said the name.
Rebecca Hale stood when they entered.
She looked exactly like the woman in the garden footage.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
She looked at Daniel for several seconds.
Then at Caroline.
Her eyes filled.
"You both have his eyes."
Caroline stiffened.
"Where is Rose?"
Rebecca's expression changed.
Daniel noticed.
"Is she alive?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Yes."
"Where?"
Rebecca looked toward Lily, who was sleeping upstairs.
"Far enough away that Margaret couldn't reach her."
Daniel felt anger.
"My mother knew?"
"About Rose? Of course."
"Did she know where she was?"
"For a while."
Caroline crossed her arms.
"What does that mean?"
Rebecca sat slowly.
"It means the reason I disappeared after your father's death was not because I wanted to."
Daniel felt cold.
May you like
Rebecca looked directly at him.
"Margaret paid men to take my daughter."
