CHAPTER 2: THE TRUTH THEY TRIED TO BURY
The mansion was no longer a place of pride that night—it became a war room.
Doctors rushed in and out. Staff whispered urgently. The once-perfect silence was replaced with chaos.
Lily sat wrapped in a warm blanket, her small hands holding a cup of soup like it was something sacred. Edward stayed beside her the entire time, watching every movement as if afraid she might disappear.
“Why didn’t she come to me?” he asked softly. “All these years… why didn’t Anna come home?”
Lily looked down.
“She tried,” she said. “But someone told her you didn’t want her anymore.”
Edward’s chest tightened.
“Who?” he demanded.
But Lily shook her head. “I don’t know. She cried a lot. She said she made a mistake trusting the wrong people.”
That’s when something dark began to form in Edward’s mind.
Someone had lied.
Someone had kept his daughter away from him.
Hours later, a location was found—a rundown apartment on the edge of the city. No heat. Barely any food.
Edward didn’t wait.
He took Lily and drove through the night himself.
When they arrived, the sight nearly destroyed him.
Anna lay on a thin mattress, pale and barely breathing.
For a moment, he couldn’t move.
This wasn’t the vibrant, stubborn girl he remembered.
This was what was left after years of suffering.
“Anna…” he whispered, falling beside her.
Her eyes fluttered open.
And when she saw him—
For a second, disbelief filled her face.
“…Dad?”
That one word shattered everything.
“I’m here,” he said, gripping her hand. “I’m so sorry. I should have found you sooner.”
Tears slipped down her temples.
“They told me… you didn’t care anymore,” she whispered.
Edward closed his eyes in pain.
“They lied,” he said. “Whoever did this—I will find them.”
But Anna shook her head weakly.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “You’re here now.”
May you like
And for the first time in fifteen years—
Father and daughter held onto each other again.
