Chapter 2: The Woman at the Door

I opened the folder and slid the first photograph toward his mother.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Ask your son.”

Daniel reached across the table.

“Jennifer, stop.

You’re embarrassing yourself.”

I pulled the photograph away before he could take it.

My hands were trembling, but my voice stayed calm.

“Chloe,” I said.

“His college girlfriend.”

His mother stared at the Messenger screenshots.

“Daniel, why were you attending another woman’s pregnancy appointments?”

“She was alone,” he snapped.

“I was helping a friend.”

“With fifteen thousand dollars from our savings?”

His father lowered his glass.

“You took money meant for Lily?”

Daniel looked around at his coworkers and relatives.

“This is a private misunderstanding.

Jennifer hasn’t been herself since the baby came.”

That sentence almost broke my calm.

Before I could answer, Daniel’s phone lit up on the table.

A message from Chloe appeared across the screen.

I read it aloud.

“I’m downstairs with the baby.

You promised your family would finally learn the truth today.”

Daniel grabbed the phone, but everyone had already seen her name.

Then the ballroom doors opened.

A woman holding a newborn stepped inside, looked directly at Daniel, and said, “Why haven’t you told Jennifer what you’re planning to do with Lily?”

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What was Daniel planning—and why did Chloe know about Lily?

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