Chapter 3: The Family Secret
The second figure wore a black hoodie.
His face stayed hidden beneath a baseball cap.
He walked directly to the dumpster.
Opened the lid.
Looked inside.
Then quietly placed a small white envelope beneath Lily before walking away.
He never touched her.
He simply left the envelope and disappeared.
Detectives recovered it from the dumpster.
Inside was an old birth certificate.
Mine.
The father's name was blank.
Folded behind it sat another document.
A DNA report dated twenty-eight years earlier.
The results stunned everyone.
The man who raised me...
Wasn't my biological father.
Detective Harris looked toward my mother.
"You've been hiding this for decades."
She broke instantly.
Between sobs she admitted everything.
She had become pregnant during a brief affair before marrying my father.
Only two people had ever known.
Her former boyfriend...
And Vanessa.
She believed my birth had ruined her life.
Over the years, that resentment slowly shifted onto Lily.
My daughter had become a reminder of the secret she wanted buried forever.
But one question remained.
May you like
Who left the envelope?
The answer arrived the next morning.
