Chapter 7 - THE ROOM OF RETURNED LETTERS.
The brass key opened a narrow archive behind the ballroom fireplace.
Inside were hundreds of unopened letters from workers asking for pensions, housing and medical care. Many had been stamped RETURNED, though the addresses were correct.
Lily found a box labeled with her name.
It contained birthday cards Ethan had written to the child he never knew existed.
Ethan stared at them.
“I never wrote these.”
Anna opened one. The handwriting matched his, but the messages described promises he had never made.
Eleanor admitted hiring a handwriting specialist to create the cards so Lily would believe Ethan cared from a distance and never search for him.
“You manufactured a kinder father because the real one might ask questions,” Anna said.
Eleanor insisted the deception protected Lily from scandal.
Ruth answered, “Rich families call a lie protection when the child is too young to object.”
Then Ethan found a letter genuinely written by his mother.
May you like
It warned Anna to keep Lily hidden because Ethan had signed the order dissolving the worker trust.
His signature was real.
