Inside the box was a photograph of a little girl standing beside a hospital bed.
\nShe couldn\u2019t have been older than seven.
\nHer dark brown hair fell over her shoulders, and she was holding a stuffed rabbit with one missing ear.
\nBut it wasn\u2019t the little girl that made my hands start shaking.
\nIt was the writing underneath the photograph.
\n\u201cLucas, before you read anything else, please know that I never wanted to hurt you.\u201d
\nI stared at those words for several seconds.
\nThen I looked at Alicia\u2019s sister.
\n\u201cEmily,\u201d I whispered, \u201cwho is this little girl?\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s expression changed immediately.
\nShe lowered her eyes.
\n\u201cLucas, you need to read the letter.\u201d
\n\u201cWho is she?\u201d
\n\u201cPlease. Alicia made me promise.\u201d
\nI looked back inside the box.
\nBeneath the photograph was a folded letter, a small silver key, and a hospital identification bracelet.
\nThe bracelet had a name printed across it.
\nSOPHIE MORGAN.
\nMy stomach tightened.
\nAlicia\u2019s last name was Morgan.
\n\u201cEmily, was Alicia hiding something from me?\u201d
\nTears filled her eyes.
\n\u201cShe was trying to find the courage to tell you.\u201d
\nI unfolded the letter with trembling fingers.
\nMy dear Lucas,
\nIf you\u2019re reading this, then I didn\u2019t get my miracle.
\nFirst, I want you to know that those three days were the happiest days of my life.
\nYou made me feel like a bride instead of a dying patient.
\nYou looked at me like I was beautiful when I couldn\u2019t even recognize myself in the mirror.
\nAnd when you placed that silly bandage ring on my finger, I forgot about everything that was happening to my body.
\nFor a few precious moments, I wasn\u2019t afraid anymore.
\nI was happy.
\nBut there is something I never told you.
\nSomething that happened long before we met.
\nLucas, I have a daughter.
\nI stopped reading.
\nThe noise from the parking lot seemed to disappear.
\nA daughter?
\nAlicia was only eighteen.
\nI slowly looked toward Emily.
\n\u201cShe has a child?\u201d
\nEmily nodded.
\n\u201cHer name is Sophie.\u201d
\n\u201cHow old?\u201d
\n\u201cThree.\u201d
\nI stared at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
The girl looked older than three. <\/p>\n I stood in the cemetery parking lot, staring at the brown envelope in my trembling hands. PART 2 \u2014 THE SECRET SHE LEFT BEHIND Inside the box was a photograph of a little girl standing beside a hospital bed. She couldn\u2019t have been older than seven. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-story","category-read-story","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylexausa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThen I noticed a date printed on the back.
\nIt had been taken years earlier.
\n\u201cEmily, this picture doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d
\n\u201cI know,\u201d she whispered.
\n\u201cThen explain it to me.\u201d
\nShe wiped her cheeks.
\n\u201cKeep reading.\u201d
\nI returned to the letter.
\nYou are probably confused about the photograph.
\nThat little girl is me, Lucas.
\nIt was taken when I was seven years old, the first time doctors told my family I might not survive.
\nThe little rabbit in my hands was named Oliver.
\nI kept him through every treatment, every hospital stay, and every lonely night.
\nAnd three years ago, when Sophie was born, I gave him to her.
\nLucas, my daughter doesn\u2019t know that her mother is gone yet.
\nMy hands went cold.
\nI looked at Emily again.
\n\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know?\u201d
\nEmily shook her head.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s staying with our aunt. We wanted to wait until after the funeral.\u201d
\nI swallowed.
\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t Alicia ever mention her?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause she was terrified.\u201d
\n\u201cTerrified of what?\u201d
\nEmily looked toward the hospital across the street.
\n\u201cThat you would think she married you because she needed something.\u201d
\nI lowered my eyes to the letter.
\nI need to tell you the truth about why I asked you to marry me.
\nIt wasn\u2019t because I wanted a beautiful wedding.
\nIt wasn\u2019t because I wanted to pretend everything would be okay.
\nAnd it wasn\u2019t because I expected you to save me.
\nI asked because I loved you.
\nI know that sounds impossible.
\nYou were my doctor, and I was just another patient in a hospital full of people fighting to stay alive.
\nBut you were the first person who treated me like I was still living.
\nYou listened when I talked about silly things.
\nYou stayed an extra minute when I was frightened.
\nYou remembered that I hated orange gelatin and always asked for the strawberry one.
\nYou probably thought those things were small.
\nTo someone who was dying, they were everything.
\nBut Lucas, there is another reason I wanted you to become part of my family.
\nAnd it concerns Sophie.
\nI stopped again.
\nMy heart was pounding.
\n\u201cWhat does she mean?\u201d I asked Emily.
\nEmily took a shaky breath.
\n\u201cLucas, Alicia didn\u2019t want you to find out like this.\u201d
\n\u201cFind out what?\u201d
\nBefore Emily could answer, a voice came from behind us.
\n\u201cAre you Lucas?\u201d
\nI turned.
\nAn older woman stood a few feet away, holding the hand of a little girl.
\nThe woman looked exhausted, her eyes swollen from crying.
\nBut the little girl was staring directly at me.
\nShe wore a yellow dress and carried a stuffed rabbit.
\nOne of its ears was missing.
\nMy breath caught.
\n\u201cSophie?\u201d I whispered.
\nThe little girl nodded.
\nThen she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
\n\u201cMy mommy told me to give this to you.\u201d
\nI crouched down.
\n\u201cWhat is it, sweetheart?\u201d
\nShe held the paper toward me.
\nOn the outside, written in Alicia\u2019s familiar handwriting, were five words.
\nFOR MY HUSBAND, FROM OUR DAUGHTER.
\nI looked up at Emily.
\nHer face had gone pale.
\n\u201cEmily,\u201d I said slowly, \u201cwhat exactly did Alicia tell this little girl about me?\u201d
\nEmily covered her mouth.
\nBut Sophie answered before her aunt could speak.
\n\u201cMommy said you were the man who made her smile when she was hurting.\u201d
\nHer little fingers tightened around the rabbit.
\n\u201cShe said you were very brave.\u201d
\nI could barely speak.
\n\u201cDid she?\u201d
\nSophie nodded.
\nThen she asked a question that shattered what was left of my heart.
\n\u201cAre you going to leave me too?\u201d
\nI froze.
\nEmily began crying.
\nThe older woman turned away.
\nAnd there I was, thirty years old, kneeling in a cemetery parking lot in front of a three-year-old child whose mother had just been buried.
\nI didn\u2019t know what to say.
\nBecause I had married Alicia believing I was giving a dying girl one beautiful final memory.
\nI never imagined she had left behind a child who might see me as family.
\nFinally, I opened the folded paper.
\nThere was only one sentence inside.
\n\u201cLucas, please don\u2019t promise Sophie anything until you\u2019ve opened the envelope hidden beneath the bottom of the box.\u201d
\nI looked inside again.
\nAt first, I saw nothing.
\nThen I noticed the velvet lining wasn\u2019t attached properly.
\nI lifted one corner.
\nUnderneath was a sealed brown envelope.
\nMy full name was written across the front.
\nAnd below it, Alicia had added something that made my blood run cold.
\n\u201cThese are the documents I was too afraid to show you while I was alive.\u201d
\nI looked toward Emily.
\n\u201cWhat documents?\u201d
\nShe whispered, \u201cLucas, you should sit down.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\nHer next words left me completely speechless.
\n\u201cBecause Alicia\u2019s death wasn\u2019t the only thing she was trying to prepare you for.\u201d
\nI looked at the envelope.
\nThen at Sophie.
\nAnd for the first time since Alicia\u2019s funeral, I realized that the most important part of her story might have been the part she never got to tell me.
\nTO BE CONTINUED \u2014 PART 3: THE ENVELOPE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING<\/strong><\/p>\nPART 3 \u2014 THE ENVELOPE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING<\/h1>\n
\nAlicia had been buried less than an hour ago.
\nAnd somehow, even after her death, she was still keeping secrets from me.
\n\u201cLucas,\u201d Emily whispered, \u201cplease don\u2019t open that here.\u201d
\nI looked at her.
\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause what you\u2019re about to read isn\u2019t something you should learn standing beside your car.\u201d
\nI glanced down at Sophie.
\nThe little girl was holding her stuffed rabbit against her chest, watching us with innocent eyes.
\n\u201cDid Mommy write you another letter?\u201d she asked.
\nI forced a small smile.
\n\u201cYes, sweetheart.\u201d
\n\u201cShe liked writing letters.\u201d
\nMy chest tightened.
\n\u201cDid she?\u201d
\nSophie nodded.
\n\u201cShe wrote one for my birthday too. Aunt Emily said I can\u2019t open it until I\u2019m bigger.\u201d
\nEmily turned away, wiping her cheeks.
\nI looked at the older woman standing beside Sophie.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve met.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m Margaret,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cAlicia\u2019s aunt.\u201d
\nShe hesitated before adding, \u201cThank you for making her happy.\u201d
\nI couldn\u2019t find the words to answer.
\nMargaret gently took Sophie\u2019s hand.
\n\u201cCome on, sweetheart. Let\u2019s get something to eat.\u201d
\nBut Sophie didn\u2019t move.
\nInstead, she looked up at me.
\n\u201cAre you coming?\u201d
\nMy heart twisted.
\nI had known this little girl for barely five minutes.
\nYet somehow, she was looking at me as though I were someone she had been waiting for.
\n\u201cI need to talk to your aunt first,\u201d I said.
\nSophie considered that.
\nThen she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small plastic star.
\nIt was blue, with a tiny crack along one edge.
\n\u201cHere.\u201d
\nI looked at it.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d
\n\u201cMy lucky star.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy are you giving it to me?\u201d
\nShe shrugged.
\n\u201cMommy said doctors help people when they\u2019re scared.\u201d
\nHer voice became softer.
\n\u201cYou look scared.\u201d
\nI felt something break inside me.
\nI accepted the little star.
\n\u201cThank you, Sophie.\u201d
\nShe smiled.
\nIt was Alicia\u2019s smile.
\nThe same little curve at the corner of her mouth.
\nThe same warmth in her eyes.
\nAnd suddenly, I had to look away.
\nAfter Margaret and Sophie walked toward their car, Emily touched my arm.
\n\u201cLucas, there\u2019s a caf\u00e9 across the street.\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nShe blinked.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m opening it now.\u201d
\n\u201cLucas\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cEmily, I married your sister. I held her hand while she was dying. I stood beside her grave today.\u201d
\nMy voice cracked.
\n\u201cIf there\u2019s something she wanted me to know, I need to know it.\u201d
\nEmily stared at me for a moment.
\nThen she nodded.
\n\u201cOkay.\u201d
\nI tore open the envelope.
\nInside were several folded documents and another letter.
\nThe first document was a birth certificate.
\nSOPHIE ELIZABETH MORGAN.
\nMother: Alicia Morgan.
\nFather: Not listed.
\nI stared at the empty space beside the father\u2019s name.
\nThen I looked at Emily.
\n\u201cWhere is Sophie\u2019s father?\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s face tightened.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s part of what Alicia wanted to explain.\u201d
\nI unfolded the letter.
\nMy dearest Lucas,
\nIf you\u2019ve opened this envelope, then you\u2019ve met Sophie.
\nI hope she gave you her little blue star.
\nShe\u2019s been carrying that thing everywhere for months, insisting that she was saving it for someone special.
\nI cried when she told me she wanted to give it to you.
\nI looked down at the plastic star in my palm.
\nAlicia had known.
\nShe had known her daughter would be here.
\nShe had planned this moment before she died.
\nI continued reading.
\nThere are things about my life that I never told you.
\nNot because I didn\u2019t trust you.
\nBut because I wanted you to know me as Alicia.
\nNot as the sick girl.
\nNot as the teenage mother.
\nNot as someone whose life had been one difficult story after another.
\nJust Alicia.
\nThe girl who made terrible jokes and laughed at her own punch lines.
\nThe girl who fell in love with a doctor who never remembered to eat lunch.
\nI wiped my eyes.
\nThen I reached the next paragraph.
\nI was fifteen when Sophie was born.
\nHer father was a boy named Daniel Reeves.
\nWhen I told him I was pregnant, he disappeared.
\nHis family moved away, and I never heard from him again.
\nI was frightened.
\nMy parents were gone.
\nEmily was working two jobs.
\nAnd Aunt Margaret was already struggling to keep our family together.
\nBut when Sophie was born, I held her in my arms and realized something.
\nFor the first time in my life, someone needed me more than I needed anyone else.
\nShe became my reason to fight.
\nEven when the cancer came back.
\nEven when the treatments stopped working.
\nEven when the doctors told me there was nothing left to try.
\nI kept fighting because I wanted one more morning with my daughter.
\nOne more bedtime story.
\nOne more chance to hear her call me Mommy.
\nMy tears fell onto the paper.
\nI could picture Alicia lying in her hospital bed, smiling through the pain while carrying a heartbreak I had never known existed.
\nShe had been eighteen.
\nEighteen.
\nAnd she\u2019d spent the last years of her life being a mother while fighting a disease that was slowly taking everything from her.
\nI turned the page.
\nLucas, there\u2019s something you need to understand about our wedding.
\nI never expected you to become Sophie\u2019s father.
\nI never wanted to trap you into a responsibility you didn\u2019t choose.
\nAnd I made Emily promise that she would never pressure you.
\nBut I wanted Sophie to know that her mother had been loved.
\nReally loved.
\nI wanted her to have proof that even when life was cruel, kindness still existed.
\nI wanted her to see our wedding photograph one day and know that someone looked at her dying mother and still thought she was worth marrying.
\nThat\u2019s why I asked you.
\nNot for money.
\nNot for a home.
\nNot for a legal advantage.
\nJust for one beautiful memory that I could leave behind.
\nI stopped.
\nFor several seconds, I couldn\u2019t breathe properly.
\nAll this time, I had thought our wedding was Alicia\u2019s final wish.
\nBut it had also been her final gift to her daughter.
\nI looked at Emily.
\n\u201cShe should have told me.\u201d
\n\u201cI know.\u201d
\n\u201cI would have understood.\u201d
\nEmily nodded through her tears.
\n\u201cShe knew you probably would.\u201d
\n\u201cThen why?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause she was afraid you\u2019d marry her out of pity.\u201d
\nI looked back at the letter.
\nAt the bottom was another paragraph.
\nBut the handwriting had changed.
\nThe letters were shakier, uneven, as though Alicia had struggled to hold the pen.
\nLucas, there is one more thing.
\nThree weeks before our wedding, someone contacted Emily asking about Sophie.
\nSomeone who had never shown any interest in her before.
\nSomeone who suddenly wanted to be part of her life.
\nI know people can change.
\nI know I shouldn\u2019t judge someone forever by their worst mistake.
\nBut I\u2019m frightened.
\nBecause that person didn\u2019t ask how Sophie was doing.
\nHe asked whether I was dying.
\nMy skin went cold.
\nI looked up.
\n\u201cEmily, who contacted you?\u201d
\nShe didn\u2019t answer.
\n\u201cWas it Daniel?\u201d
\nEmily slowly nodded.
\nI stared at the birth certificate again.
\n\u201cWhy would he suddenly come back?\u201d
\nEmily crossed her arms tightly.
\n\u201cBecause he found out Alicia was going to die.\u201d
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d
\n\u201cIt does when you know what he asked next.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nHer voice dropped to a whisper.
\n\u201cHe wanted to know how much money Alicia was leaving Sophie.\u201d
\nI blinked.
\n\u201cMoney?\u201d
\nEmily nodded.
\n\u201cAlicia\u2019s parents left her a trust when they died. It wasn\u2019t enormous, but it was enough to help Sophie when she grew up.\u201d
\nI looked at the other papers in the envelope.
\nThere was a statement from a financial institution.
\nThen another document.
\nThen a letter from an attorney.
\nI quickly scanned the pages.
\nThe trust was worth almost two hundred thousand dollars.
\nBut the money was supposed to remain protected until Sophie reached adulthood.
\n\u201cDaniel found out about this?\u201d
\n\u201cWe think so.\u201d
\n\u201cHow?\u201d
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d
\nI looked at Emily.
\n\u201cAnd now he wants Sophie?\u201d
\n\u201cHe says he\u2019s her father.\u201d
\n\u201cBut he\u2019s never been there.\u201d
\n\u201cThat hasn\u2019t stopped him from contacting a lawyer.\u201d
\nMy heart began pounding.
\nI picked up the last document.
\nIt was a letter addressed to Alicia.
\nThe words near the top made my stomach sink.
\nPETITION REGARDING PATERNITY AND CUSTODY.
\nI looked at Emily.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s trying to take her?\u201d
\nEmily\u2019s eyes filled with fresh tears.
\n\u201cHe says he wants custody.\u201d
\n\u201cAfter three years?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere was he when Alicia was sick?\u201d
\n\u201cGone.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere was he when Sophie needed diapers? Food? A bedtime story?\u201d
\n\u201cGone, Lucas.\u201d
\nMy voice rose.
\n\u201cThen what gives him the right to suddenly appear?\u201d
\nEmily shook her head.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to figure out.\u201d
\nI lowered my eyes to the final page.
\nThere was one more handwritten note from Alicia.
\nLucas, please don\u2019t misunderstand me.
\nI\u2019m not asking you to fight a battle that doesn\u2019t belong to you.
\nEmily and Aunt Margaret will do everything they can for Sophie.
\nBut if Daniel ever approaches you, please remember that my daughter is not a bank account.
\nShe is a little girl who loves pancakes shaped like hearts.
\nShe is afraid of thunderstorms.
\nShe sleeps with one sock on because she believes the other foot needs to breathe.
\nAnd every night, she asks me to tell her the story of the brave doctor who made Mommy laugh.
\nThat doctor is you.
\nI pressed the letter against my chest.
\nFor a long moment, neither Emily nor I spoke.
\nThen I asked a question that had been growing inside me.
\n\u201cDoes Sophie know who Daniel is?\u201d
\nEmily shook her head.
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cHas she ever met him?\u201d
\n\u201cNot since she was a baby.\u201d
\nI looked toward Margaret\u2019s car.
\nThrough the window, I could see Sophie sitting in the back seat, moving her stuffed rabbit around as though it were dancing.
\nShe was just a little girl.
\nA little girl who had already lost her mother.
\nAnd somewhere out there, a man who had abandoned her was suddenly interested in the money left for her future.
\nI folded Alicia\u2019s letter carefully.
\n\u201cWhat happens next?\u201d
\nEmily sighed.
\n\u201cMargaret wants to apply for guardianship. Alicia had been working with a lawyer, but she died before everything was settled.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd Daniel?\u201d
\n\u201cHis attorney says he wants to establish paternity and seek custody.\u201d
\nI swallowed.
\n\u201cCan he do that?\u201d
\n\u201cHe can try. The court will have to look at what\u2019s best for Sophie.\u201d
\nI stared down at the blue plastic star.
\nThen I said something that surprised even me.
\n\u201cI want to help.\u201d
\nEmily looked up.
\n\u201cLucas\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m serious.\u201d
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t understand what you\u2019re saying.\u201d
\n\u201cMaybe not.\u201d
\nI looked toward Sophie\u2019s car again.
\n\u201cBut Alicia spent her last days worrying about that little girl. I can\u2019t pretend I don\u2019t know.\u201d
\nEmily began crying.
\n\u201cShe would have been so grateful.\u201d
\nI shook my head.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t thank me yet. I don\u2019t even know what I can do.\u201d
\nWe stood there quietly.
\nThen my phone rang.
\nAn unknown number.
\nI almost ignored it.
\nBut something made me answer.
\n\u201cHello?\u201d
\nA man\u2019s voice came through.
\n\u201cDr. Lucas Bennett?\u201d
\n\u201cSpeaking.\u201d
\n\u201cMy name is Daniel Reeves.\u201d
\nEvery muscle in my body tightened.
\nI slowly looked at Emily.
\nHer expression changed when she heard the name.
\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d I asked.
\nDaniel gave a short laugh.
\n\u201cI understand you married Alicia before she died.\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cWell, congratulations, I suppose.\u201d
\nI said nothing.
\nThen his tone changed.
\n\u201cI think you and I need to have a conversation about my daughter.\u201d
\nI gripped the phone.
\n\u201cIf this is about Sophie, you should be speaking to her family and the attorneys.\u201d
\n\u201cOh, I already have.\u201d
\n\u201cThen why are you calling me?\u201d
\nThere was a pause.
\nAnd then Daniel said something I hadn\u2019t expected.
\n\u201cBecause Alicia left you something that belongs to me.\u201d
\nI frowned.
\n\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d
\n\u201cThe box.\u201d
\nMy blood ran cold.
\nI looked at the small wooden box sitting open on the hood of my car.
\n\u201cHow do you know about the box?\u201d
\nDaniel ignored my question.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a document inside it. I want it.\u201d
\nI looked at Emily.
\nShe shook her head frantically.
\n\u201cWhat document?\u201d I asked.
\nDaniel\u2019s voice hardened.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t play games with me, Doctor.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u201d
\n\u201cThen look underneath the velvet lining again.\u201d
\nMy heart stopped.
\nI had already lifted the lining.
\nI had already found the envelope.
\nBut Daniel continued.
\n\u201cNot the brown envelope, Lucas.\u201d
\nI stared at the box.
\n\u201cThe other compartment.\u201d
\nEmily suddenly grabbed my wrist.
\n\u201cHang up,\u201d she whispered.
\nI looked at her.
\n\u201cEmily, what other compartment?\u201d
\nShe was trembling.
\nOn the phone, Daniel laughed quietly.
\n\u201cSo she really didn\u2019t tell you everything.\u201d
\nThen his voice dropped.
\n\u201cListen carefully, Doctor. Whatever Alicia told you about me, there\u2019s something she never wanted you to discover.\u201d
\nI swallowed.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nDaniel answered with six words that made Emily begin shaking her head.
\n\u201cAsk her sister about the hospital.\u201d
\nAnd then he hung up.
\nI lowered the phone.
\nEmily was staring at me with terror in her eyes.
\n\u201cLucas,\u201d she whispered, \u201cplease don\u2019t open that compartment.\u201d
\nI slowly turned toward the box.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\nHer lips trembled.
\n\u201cBecause if Alicia hid what I think she hid\u2026\u201d
\nShe couldn\u2019t finish.
\n\u201cEmily. Tell me.\u201d
\nTears rolled down her cheeks.
\n\u201cThen Daniel didn\u2019t come back just because of Sophie\u2019s money.\u201d
\nI felt my stomach drop.
\n\u201cWhat else could he want?\u201d
\nEmily looked at the hospital across the street.
\nAnd in a voice barely louder than a whisper, she said,
\n\u201cLucas, three weeks before Alicia died, she discovered something about the treatment she\u2019d been receiving.\u201d
\nI stared at her.
\n\u201cWhat kind of something?\u201d
\nEmily closed her eyes.
\n\u201cSomething that made her believe she wasn\u2019t the only person in danger.\u201d
\nI looked down at the wooden box.
\nAnd suddenly, I understood why Alicia had hidden a second compartment.
\nShe hadn\u2019t simply been leaving behind memories.
\nShe had been leaving behind evidence.
\nTO BE CONTINUED \u2014 PART 4: THE SECRET HIDDEN BENEATH THE VELVET<\/strong><\/p>\nClick Here to continuous Read\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b Full Ending Story\ud83d\udc49 PART 4 \u2014 THE SECRET HIDDEN BENEATH THE VELVET<\/a><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"