PART 9
“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.
Your husband. Your best friend. Always.
I pressed the letter against my chest.
For six years I had thought Daniel had left me with nothing.
Now I realized he had left me an entire truth.
The director suddenly stood.
“There is something else.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She walked to the filing cabinet.
“My father kept one final ledger.”
She opened a hidden compartment.
Inside was a black notebook.
She handed it to me.
“This contains every payment.”
I opened it.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
And beside several payments was one repeated notation.
D.S.
I looked at Susan.
“Who is D.S.?”
Susan went pale.
“Daniel’s father.”
The elderly man shook his head.
“He wasn’t just involved.”
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