Chapter 7: The Name on My Birth Certificate
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I stared at the birth certificate lying on the wooden trunk.
My name was there.
My birthday was there.
My mother's name was there.
But the man listed as my father wasn't Daniel Carter.
It was someone named Thomas Reed.
I read the name again.
Thomas Reed.
I had never heard it before.
"That's impossible," I whispered.
Victoria folded her arms.
"Is it?""
My father looked as though someone had knocked the air out of his lungs.
"Victoria, put that away.""
She laughed.
"Why? Are you embarrassed?""
"Stop.""
"You've spent twenty-two years pretending to be the perfect father. I think it's time Emily learned the truth.""
I picked up the document.
"Who is Thomas Reed?""
My father didn't answer.
Victoria stepped closer.
"Thomas was your mother's first love. They were together before Daniel entered the picture. Apparently, some relationships leave behind more than memories.""
"Shut up," my father said.
She turned toward him.
"What's wrong, Daniel? Afraid she'll discover that you've been raising another man's daughter?""
I looked at my father.
"Is it true?""
His lips trembled.
"Emily, I loved your mother. I loved you from the moment I met you.""
"That's not what I asked.""
He looked down.
"I knew there was a possibility.""
My stomach dropped.
"A possibility?""
"Your mother and I had discussed it.""
"And you never told me?""
"I was your father in every way that mattered.""
I stepped backward.
"Then why did you lie?""
He reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
Victoria watched us with obvious satisfaction.
"There's more," she said.
She took a second document from her envelope.
It was an old medical record.
The hospital name was printed at the top.
St. Mary's Medical Center.
The same hospital where my mother had died.
"Your mother had a paternity test done shortly before she became ill," Victoria explained.
"The result was filed away with her private medical records.""
I looked at Eleanor.
"Is this real?""
Eleanor examined the document.
"I can't authenticate it from this copy alone.""
Victoria smiled.
"Of course you can't. That's why I brought the original.""
She handed it to me.
The report stated that Thomas Reed was my biological father.
I felt the room spinning.
"Who is he?""
Victoria shrugged.
"Someone who apparently never wanted to be involved.""
My father suddenly slammed his palm against the trunk.
"That's enough!""
Victoria flinched.
For the first time, I saw fear cross her face.
My father looked at me.
"Emily, your mother told me about Thomas before we married. She was honest with me. She said there was a possibility he was your biological father.""
"Did you know his name?""
"Yes.""
"Where is he?""
"I don't know.""
"Did Mom know?""
"She said he had moved away.""
I stared at him.
"Then why did she leave me an inheritance?""
My father frowned.
"Because she was your mother.""
"Was the inheritance from her family?""
"Most of it.""
Victoria interrupted.
"Not all of it.""
Eleanor looked up.
"What do you mean?""
Victoria pulled out another paper.
"This is the reason Margaret kept so many secrets.""
It was a letter from a private financial institution.
The document referenced an account established by someone named Thomas Reed.
The beneficiary was listed as Emily Margaret Carter.
The balance was not included.
But there was a note beside the account number.
Restricted until beneficiary reaches age twenty-five or upon the death of Margaret Carter, whichever occurs first.
I stared at it.
"Who opened this account?""
Victoria smiled.
"Your biological father.""
I looked at the account number.
"Why are you showing me this?""
"Because your mother never told Daniel about it. And because that money is considerably more valuable than the little trust you've been fighting over.""
Eleanor took the letter.
"Where did you get this?""
Victoria's smile faded slightly.
"From Margaret's personal records.""
"Which you had no authority to access.""
"That's debatable.""
Eleanor placed the document inside her briefcase.
"Actually, it isn't.""
Victoria stepped forward.
"Don't touch my property.""
"These documents concern Emily's potential inheritance. They are not yours.""
Victoria turned toward me.
"Think carefully, sweetheart. Your father stole from you. Your mother lied to you. And your lawyer is only interested in protecting her own reputation.""
I looked at her.
"You burned my dress.""
Her expression hardened.
"That has nothing to do with this.""
"It has everything to do with this.""
I pointed at the birth certificate.
"You knew about Thomas. You knew about the account. You knew Mom was trying to protect me. And you spent years pretending to care about this family while stealing from it.""
Victoria's face turned red.
"Watch your mouth.""
"No.""
I stepped closer.
"For eleven years, I watched you throw away my mother's belongings. I watched you make my father choose between us. I watched you treat me like I was lucky to be allowed in my own home.""
I looked down at the ruined edge of my sleeve where a small piece of burned fabric from my dress had caught against my jacket.
"And yesterday, you burned the one thing I bought to celebrate everything I had survived.""
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
"Your father is the one who paid for your life.""
"Then why did you need my mother's money?""
Silence.
Eleanor took out her phone.
"I'm contacting the authorities. The forged authorization, the disputed property transfer, and these financial records need to be formally documented.""
Victoria laughed nervously.
"Go ahead.""
But her hands were shaking.
Then my father spoke.
"Emily, I need to tell you something.""
I turned.
He was holding a small photograph.
It showed my mother standing beside a man outside the hospital.
The man was tall, with dark hair and a familiar smile.
On the back, in my mother's handwriting, were six words.
Thomas came back. He wants to meet her.
My throat tightened.
"When was this taken?""
"Three weeks before your mother died," my father said.
I stared at him.
"Thomas came to see Mom?""
He nodded.
"Yes.""
"Did he meet me?""
"No.""
"Why not?""
My father swallowed.
"Because Victoria told your mother that if Thomas tried to contact you, she would expose something that could destroy him.""
I looked at Victoria.
Her expression had changed completely.
"What did you do?"" I asked.
She didn't answer.
My father continued.
"Thomas was a physician. He worked at St. Mary's. He had access to certain medical records.""
I looked at the name on the report.
Thomas Reed.
The same name.
"Was he Mom's doctor?""
My father shook his head.
"No. He was the physician who discovered the medication discrepancy.""
My heart stopped.
Victoria took a step toward the door.
Eleanor immediately blocked her path.
"Don't leave.""
Victoria looked at her.
"You have no idea what you're getting involved in.""
Then she turned toward me.
"Emily, you have no idea what your mother was capable of.""
She reached into her coat and pulled out a folded letter.
"Read this.""
I unfolded it.
The handwriting was my mother's.
Thomas,
If anything happens to me, please make sure Emily knows the truth.
Daniel doesn't know the entire story. And Victoria must never find out where you kept the original.
The letter ended with an address.
A residential address in Boston.
And a name.
Thomas Reed.
I looked up.
"He's alive?""
My father nodded.
"He is.""
"Then why didn't anyone tell me?""
My father covered his face.
"Because Victoria threatened him. She said she would destroy his medical career if he ever contacted you.""
Victoria snapped.
"That's a lie!""
But her voice cracked.
Eleanor quietly took a photograph of the letter.
Then she looked at me.
"Emily, we need to find Thomas before Victoria does.""
I folded the letter and placed it in my pocket.
For twenty-two years, I'd believed my family consisted of a dead mother, an emotionally absent father, and a stepmother who never wanted me.
Now I knew there was another person.
Someone who might have answers.
Someone who might have been trying to reach me all along.
As we prepared to leave, my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
Emily, my name is Thomas Reed. I know you've been looking for me.
A second message arrived.
Your mother asked me to wait until you turned twenty-two.
Then a third.
But Victoria has just sent someone to my house.
I looked at Eleanor.
Before I could show her the message, another notification appeared.
A photograph.
It showed the front door of a house in Boston.
Someone had spray-painted a message across it.
May you like
*STOP LOOKING FOR EMILY.*
And beneath it was a small photograph of my mother's burned graduation dress.
