PART 8
The room went silent.
Mia looked at me.
“Mom?”
I couldn’t answer.
Daniel continued.
“The woman who gave birth to Mia…”
The tape suddenly cut out.
The lights went off.
Complete darkness swallowed the room.
Mia screamed.
Then we heard the cabin door slam shut above us.
The elderly man shouted:
“Someone’s here!”
The director grabbed my arm.
“Rebecca, we have to leave.”
But before we could move, footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming toward us.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
Mia held my hand so tightly that her fingers hurt.
The footsteps stopped outside the room.
Nobody breathed.
A key turned in the lock.
The door opened.
A woman stood in the doorway.
She was older, perhaps in her late sixties.
Her face was pale.
She looked directly at Mia.
Then at me.
And whispered:
“I’ve been looking for my daughter for thirteen years.”
Mia’s hand slipped from mine.
“Mom?”
The woman stepped into the room.
“I’m sorry, Rebecca.”
I stared at her.
“Who are you?”
The woman began to cry.
“My name is Susan.”
She looked at Mia.
“And I am the woman who gave birth to your daughter.”
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?”
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