PART 5
“I am the woman who gave birth to your daughter.”
For several seconds, I could not understand the words.
They were simple words.
I knew what each one meant.
But together, they made no sense.
I looked at Mia.
Then at Susan.
Then back at Mia.
“No,” I whispered.
Susan’s tears continued to fall.
“I know how this sounds.”
“You don’t know anything about my daughter.”
“I know more than you think.”
I stepped in front of Mia.
“Stay away from her.”
Susan stopped.
“I never came here to take her.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Daniel asked me to come.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Daniel is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then how could he ask you?”
Susan looked toward the cassette player.
“He asked me seventeen years ago.”
The room became silent.
The director slowly sat down.
“You knew about Daniel’s plan?”
Susan nodded.
“I knew almost everything.”
I stared at her.
“Then start talking.”
She looked at Mia.
“I owe you the truth.”
Mia’s voice trembled.
“Are you really my mother?”
Susan closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Mia looked at me.
I could see the fear in her face.
I immediately took her hand.
“You’re my daughter.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“No matter what anyone says, that will never change.”
Susan nodded.
“That is why I stayed away.”
I looked at her.
“Stayed away?”
She wiped her eyes.
“Rebecca, I was seventeen when I became pregnant with Mia.”
My eyes widened.
“You were a teenager?”
Susan nodded.
“I was scared. I was living in a terrible situation, and I knew I couldn’t raise a child. Daniel knew me from the camp. He promised he would help.”
“Why Daniel?”
“Because he was the only person who knew what was happening inside this camp.”
She looked around the room.
“My father was one of the people involved.”
I frowned.
“Your father?”
Susan nodded.
“He wasn’t the camp director. He was the accountant.”
The director suddenly looked up.
“Edward?”
“Yes.”
The director’s face went pale.
“My father?”
Susan nodded.
“Edward worked with your father.”
I looked between them.
“So both families were involved?”
“Yes.”
Susan took a breath.
“There was money being stolen from the camp. Scholarship money. Donations. Money that was supposed to pay for children’s medical treatment and supplies.”
She looked at Mia.
“Daniel discovered it.”
“And you?”
“I discovered something else.”
“What?”
Susan’s voice became quiet.
“The money wasn’t just being stolen.”
She pointed toward the wooden box.
“It was being used to cover something much worse.”
I opened the box again.
There were documents I hadn’t examined.
I picked up one of the oldest files.
There were names.
Dates.
Payments.
Several children were listed.
I looked at Susan.
“What are these?”
“Children who were injured at the camp.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Because some accidents weren’t accidents.”
The director covered her face.
“My father…”
“Yes,” Susan said.
“He covered up injuries so the camp wouldn’t lose its license.”
I stared at the documents.
“And Thomas?”
“He saw everything.”
Susan looked toward the old man.
“He was only fourteen, but he understood that something was wrong.”
The elderly man lowered his head.
“My son tried to expose them.”
Susan continued.
“They locked him inside this room.”
Mia whispered:
“But Dad rescued him.”
“Yes.”
Susan looked at her.
“Daniel saved Thomas.”
“Then why did everyone think he disappeared?”
“Because Thomas’s father was threatened.”
The elderly man finally spoke.
“They told me my son had run away.”
Susan nodded.
“And Daniel was told that if he spoke, his parents would be harmed.”
I felt tears running down my cheeks.
“So Daniel spent his entire life carrying this secret.”
“Yes.”
Susan looked at me.
“And then he met you.”
I swallowed.
“What happened when he met me?”
“He wanted a normal life.”
A painful smile appeared on her face.
“He wanted a family where nobody lied.”
I looked down.
That was the man I remembered.
The man who hated secrets.
The man who always told me, If something hurts, tell me. Don’t carry it alone.
And yet he had carried this for years.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Susan?” I asked.
Susan looked away.
“Because Daniel was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From my father.”
I froze.
“What did he want?”
Susan’s voice dropped.
“Mia.”
I stared at her.
“What about Mia?”
“My father discovered that Daniel had helped me.”
“With the pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
“He wanted the baby?”
Susan nodded.
“He believed Mia could become evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“The financial records.”
I didn’t understand.
Susan explained.
“My father had used my identity to create accounts. Accounts connected to the stolen money.”
I stared at her.
“And because I was pregnant, there were documents connecting him to me.”
She looked at Mia.
“Daniel took those documents and hid them.”
“In this room?”
“Yes.”
I looked around.
The walls suddenly felt different.
This wasn’t just an old storage room.
It had been a hiding place.
A place where Daniel had tried to protect several lives.
“So what happened to Mia?”
Susan’s face softened.
“Daniel arranged for you to adopt her.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Susan nodded.
“You weren’t told because Daniel wanted you to believe Mia was his biological child.”
My heart shattered.
“Why?”
“Because if people believed she was your husband’s biological daughter, nobody would look for her.”
I stared at Mia.
I remembered the day she was born.
Daniel had cried.
He had held her for nearly an hour.
He had told me she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
I had never questioned it.
Not once.
“Did Daniel love her?”
Susan’s answer came immediately.
“More than anything.”
I closed my eyes.
Mia began crying.
“I don’t care who gave birth to me.”
She looked at Susan.
“I care about who raised me.”
Susan nodded through her tears.
“I know.”
Mia turned toward me.
“Mom?”
I pulled her into my arms.
“You’re my daughter.”
She buried her face against my shoulder.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Susan stepped backward.
“I never wanted to destroy your family.”
“Then why did you come here?”
She pointed toward the second cassette.
“Because Daniel told me that if anything happened to him, I had to make sure Mia eventually learned the truth.”
I looked at the tape.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Susan’s expression changed.
“That is the last thing you need to know.”
She reached into her coat.
She pulled out an envelope.
“This was delivered to me six years ago.”
My hands shook as I took it.
The envelope had Daniel’s handwriting.
For Rebecca.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Rebecca,
If you’re reading this, then I couldn’t come home.
I need you to know one thing before anything else.
I loved you.
I loved Mia.
And every decision I made was because I wanted the two of you to live without fear.
I could barely see through my tears.
I continued.
I know you will be angry that I kept things from you.
You have every right to be.
But I need you to understand something.
The people involved are not only connected to this camp.
They are connected to my own family.
My father helped them.
He was afraid that if the truth came out, he would lose everything.
So he helped them hide it.
When I found out, I confronted him.
He told me to walk away.
I refused.
I stopped reading.
My father-in-law had known.
The quiet man who had attended Daniel’s funeral.
The man who had stood beside me and said, I’m sorry for your loss.
He had known.
The letter continued.
If something happens to me, don’t blame yourself.
Don’t spend your life searching for revenge.
Find the truth.
Give it to the people who can use it.
And then take Mia somewhere safe.
Let her grow up knowing that her life wasn’t a mistake.
She was loved before she ever took her first breath.
I couldn’t continue.
Mia took the letter from my hand.
She read the final lines.
Then she began sobbing.
Daniel had signed it with the name he always used when writing me notes.
