Chapter 2 - The First Envelope
Daniel opened the oldest envelope.
Inside was a hospital photograph of newborn Lily.
A second page contained a court-certified genetic test.
The probability of paternity exceeded ninety-nine percent.
Daniel’s hand began trembling.
“I never saw this.”
Emily looked at Margaret.
“I sent it certified.”
Margaret arrived beside them.
“Emily left before Daniel could speak to her.”
“No,” Emily answered. “Your office refused to let me upstairs.”
Margaret maintained her composure.
“You had ended the relationship.”
“Daniel’s father transferred him to London after he learned I was pregnant.”
Daniel turned toward his mother.
“You told me Emily left with someone else.”
“She disappeared.”
“You made sure I believed she did.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“I protected your future.”
Emily looked down at her uniform.
“You protected his social position.”
She had worked in one of the Mercer family’s luxury hotels when she met Daniel. She was studying hospitality management at night and covering her mother’s medical bills.
Margaret never called her ambitious.
She called her staff.
When Emily became pregnant, Margaret offered her money to leave New York and sign a confidentiality agreement.
Emily refused.
A month later, her management internship disappeared.
Then her hotel reference was withdrawn.
Every Mercer property in the city stopped returning her applications.
Daniel looked at her.
“You’ve been working rooftop events?”
“I’ve been working wherever your family’s blacklist didn’t reach.”
Lily pressed closer to her mother.
Daniel’s shame became visible.
Margaret had lied.
But Daniel had accepted the lie because it was easier than searching for a woman without family influence or expensive attorneys.
Lily looked up at him.
“Did you not want me?”
He crouched at a careful distance.
“I didn’t know about you.”
Emily did not rescue him from the question.
“You knew enough to stop looking.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
Then he opened the second envelope.
Inside was a copy of his grandfather’s trust.
May you like
Lily did not merely carry the Mercer name.
She owned eighteen percent of the family company.
