Chapter 2: The Woman in the Photograph
Lily stared at Daniel as if she had been waiting years for that question.
“Mommy always had it.””
Daniel closed his fist around the pearl.
“What was your mother’s name?””
Lily hesitated.
Amelia noticed it immediately.
“See?”” she said.
“She doesn’t even have an answer.””
Daniel shot her a look.
“Stop talking.””
Amelia blinked.
Daniel had never spoken to her that way.
Not publicly.
“Excuse me?””
“I said stop.””
The surrounding guests suddenly became fascinated with their champagne glasses.
Daniel crouched so he was level with Lily.
His voice softened.
“What was your mommy’s name?””
“Eva.””
The name hit him visibly.
Daniel’s shoulders stiffened.
Amelia saw the color drain from his face.
“Eva what?”” he asked.
“Eva Morgan.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
For one terrible second, he looked as though someone had struck him.
Amelia stared.
“You know her?””
Daniel stood.
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel.””
Still nothing.
“Who is Eva Morgan?””
Their father’s voice came from behind them.
“Where did you hear that name?””
Charles Whitmore stood at the bottom of the grand staircase.
At sixty-three, he still carried the authority that had turned Whitmore Holdings from a regional company into an international empire.
Beside him stood Amelia and Daniel’s grandmother, Eleanor.
The moment Eleanor saw the pearl in Daniel’s hand, her champagne glass tilted.
“Charles,” she whispered.
Amelia looked between them.
“You both know it?””
Charles’s face hardened.
“Daniel. My study. Now.””
“No.””
Every head turned toward Daniel.
Their father’s jaw tightened.
“This is neither the time nor the place.””
Daniel held up the pearl.
“I think we passed that point.””
Charles lowered his voice.
“Put it away.””
“Why?””
“Daniel.””
“Why does Lily have Grandmother’s pearl?””
Amelia’s stomach tightened.
She looked at Eleanor.
“Grandmother’s?””
Eleanor was staring at Lily.
Not with confusion.
With recognition.
The old woman slowly approached.
Lily moved closer to Daniel.
Eleanor stopped several feet away.
“What was your mother’s name again, sweetheart?””
“Eva Morgan.””
Eleanor pressed trembling fingers against her mouth.
“Oh, God.””
Charles stepped between them.
“Mother.””
“You told me she left.””
“I said we are not discussing this.””
“You told me she wanted nothing to do with us.””
“Enough!””
His voice thundered through the ballroom.
The quartet stopped completely.
Amelia felt hundreds of eyes on them.
The perfect Founders’ Ball was collapsing.
But for the first time that evening, she no longer cared.
“Dad,” she said quietly, “who is Eva?””
Charles stared at her.
“A former employee.””
Daniel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That’s what we’re calling her?””
Amelia turned toward him.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel reached inside his jacket.
He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, then held it toward Amelia.
A photograph appeared.
It had been taken years earlier.
Daniel looked about twenty.
Beside him stood a young woman with dark curls and bright brown eyes.
Eva.
They were standing beside a lake.
And around Eva’s neck was the pearl.
The same pearl Daniel now held.
Amelia stared at the picture.
“You gave it to her?””
“No.””
Daniel looked toward Eleanor.
“Grandmother did.””
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.
“I thought she would become family.””
Charles said sharply, “Mother.””
But Amelia had already understood.
She looked at Daniel.
“You were together.””
Daniel nodded.
“How long?””
“Four years.””
Amelia felt as though the marble beneath her feet had shifted.
She remembered Daniel disappearing during university holidays.
Arguments behind their father’s office door.
The year Daniel suddenly moved to London.
She had been told it was business.
“What happened?”” Amelia asked.
Daniel looked directly at Charles.
“I thought Eva left me.””
Charles said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“She disappeared. Her number changed. Her apartment was empty. Dad told me she’d taken money.””
Amelia looked at her father.
“Did she?””
Charles’s silence answered before he did.
“It was complicated.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Did she take money?””
“No.””
Eleanor’s answer came first.
Charles turned furiously.
“Mother!””
“No,” Eleanor repeated.
“She didn’t.””
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Amelia felt sick.
“Then why did Daniel think she did?””
Charles looked around the ballroom.
“This conversation ends now.””
Lily suddenly spoke.
“My mommy said rich people always say that.””
Charles slowly looked down at her.
The little girl’s cheeks were still wet, but her voice no longer shook.
“She said when people don’t want you asking questions, they tell you the story is complicated.””
A few guests looked away.
Charles’s expression hardened.
“What else did your mother tell you?””
Lily reached into the tiny pocket sewn inside her dress.
Amelia instinctively stepped closer.
Lily removed a folded photograph.
Its edges were worn soft.
She handed it to Daniel.
He opened it.
Amelia watched his face change.
“Daniel?””
He didn’t respond.
She moved beside him.
The photograph showed Eva in a hospital bed.
She looked exhausted but happy.
A newborn baby rested against her chest.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Eight years earlier.
Amelia looked from the photograph to Lily.
Then to Daniel.
“No.””
Daniel seemed unable to speak.
Charles stepped forward.
“Give me that.””
Daniel pulled it away.
“Don’t touch it.””
“Daniel, you have no idea what you’re looking at.””
“I know exactly what I’m looking at.””
“You don’t.””
Lily tugged gently at Daniel’s sleeve.
“There’s another thing.””
Daniel looked down.
“What?””
“Mommy said I could only give it to you after you saw the picture.””
Charles’s face changed.
For the first time, Amelia saw fear in her father’s eyes.
“Lily,” he said, suddenly gentle, “you don’t need to do that.””
Daniel immediately moved between Charles and the girl.
“What did she give you?””
Lily reached into her other pocket.
This time she removed a small brass key.
A white paper tag hung from it.
There was a number written in black ink.
317.
Daniel stared at it.
“What does it open?””
“I don’t know.””
Charles whispered something under his breath.
Eleanor heard him.
Her face went white.
Amelia turned.
“What?””
Eleanor shook her head.
“Nothing.””
“Grandmother.””
Eleanor’s eyes stayed fixed on the key.
Amelia stepped closer.
“What is 317?””
Charles snapped, “Enough.””
But Eleanor looked at Daniel.
Then at Lily.
Finally, she looked at Amelia.
“That number belonged to a private deposit box your grandfather kept at Harrington Bank.””
Daniel frowned.
“Why would Eva have the key?””
“I don’t know.””
Charles moved toward Lily.
“We’re done here.””
Daniel blocked his path.
“No, we’re not.””
Father and son stared at each other beneath the chandeliers.
Then Lily spoke again.
“There’s a letter too.””
Charles froze.
Daniel turned.
“A letter?””
Lily nodded.
“Mommy told me not to bring it inside.””
“Where is it?””
Lily pointed toward the ballroom entrance.
“My backpack.””
Daniel immediately started toward the doors.
But Charles grabbed his arm.
“Daniel, listen to me.””
Daniel looked down at his father’s hand until Charles released him.
“What are you afraid I’m going to find?””
Charles’s face tightened.
Nobody moved.
Then Eleanor whispered from behind them.
“Charles, tell him before he opens it.””
Amelia turned toward her grandmother.
“Tell him what?””
Eleanor began crying.
Charles stared at the floor.
May you like
And Lily, still holding the brass key, looked up at Daniel.
“My mommy said the letter explains why you never knew I existed.””
