Chapter 2 - THE PAPERS IN THE FIRE
For one second, nobody moved.
Then I ran.
Pain exploded through my face.
I didn't care.
Mom touched the flame to the corner of the envelope.
Paper caught instantly.
"No!"
I slammed into her.
We crashed against the wall.
The lighter fell.
The burning envelope dropped onto the rug.
Dad rushed forward.
Travis got there first.
He stomped on the flames.
Madison screamed at all of us.
"Have you people lost your minds?"
I dropped to my knees.
Half the envelope was black.
But several papers inside had survived.
My hands shook as I pulled them free.
Dad grabbed my shoulder.
"Give those to me."
Travis seized his wrist.
"Back off."
Dad swung at him.
Travis ducked.
The punch missed.
Dad stumbled into the wall.
I looked down at the first page.
CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH.
My vision blurred.
Not from the injury.
From the name.
Infant Female Hale.
Mother: Caroline Eleanor Hale.
Father: Not Listed.
Date of birth.
My birthday.
"No."
The word came out like air leaving my lungs.
Mom started crying.
I had seen her cry before.
Usually when Madison was upset.
Never because of me.
"Emily, please."
I looked at her.
"You told me you gave birth to me."
"I raised you."
"That's not what I asked."
Dad wiped blood from his knuckles.
"We gave you a home."
I stared at him.
"Did you steal me?"
Madison stopped yelling.
Even she went silent.
Mom shook her head.
"No."
"Then explain this."
"It wasn't like that."
"Explain it!"
My scream tore through my injured jaw.
I nearly collapsed from the pain.
Travis caught my shoulder.
"Emily."
I pulled away.
I needed the truth more than I needed comfort.
Mom covered her mouth.
Dad spoke instead.
"Your mother couldn't take care of you."
"Caroline?"
He flinched when I said the name.
That was enough.
"You knew her."
Dad looked away.
"She was unstable."
"Where is she?"
"Dead."
Travis stepped closer.
"How?"
Dad's eyes narrowed.
"Car accident."
"When?"
Dad hesitated.
Travis noticed.
"So you don't know."
"I know enough."
I unfolded another damaged document.
It wasn't an adoption record.
It was a handwritten letter.
Most of the bottom had burned.
But the first lines remained.
Rose,
If anything happens to me, protect Emily.
Do not let Richard or Linda know where she is until I return.
My hands began trembling harder.
The letter was signed with one name.
Caroline.
I looked at my parents.
"You weren't supposed to know where I was."
Neither answered.
Travis took the letter.
His face hardened.
"Richard."
Dad glared at him.
"How did you find her?"
Dad's silence answered for him.
My knees nearly gave out.
Grandma Rose hadn't been my grandmother.
She had been hiding me.
From them.
"Why?"
Mom started sobbing.
"We loved you."
I laughed.
It hurt.
"You just hit me with a wrench."
Her crying stopped.
I held up the birth certificate.
"Why did you take me?"
Dad stepped forward.
"Because Rose couldn't raise a baby."
"Then why lie?"
"Because it was easier."
"Easier for who?"
Nobody answered.
Sirens sounded faintly in the distance.
Travis had called the ambulance after all.
Dad's expression changed.
"We need to get rid of those papers."
I backed away.
"No."
"Emily."
"No."
He lunged.
Travis intercepted him.
They slammed against the dining table.
Plates shattered.
Madison screamed.
Mom grabbed the birth certificate from my hand.
I caught the edge.
It ripped in half.
"You psycho!"
Madison grabbed my hair from behind.
I screamed.
Then Travis shoved Dad away and pulled Madison off me.
"Don't touch her!"
Madison slapped him.
He stared at her.
She immediately realized she'd made a mistake.
"Travis—"
"We're done."
Her face went blank.
"What?"
"You heard me."
Outside, red and blue lights flashed against the windows.
Mom panicked.
"Richard."
Dad stared toward the driveway.
Then he looked at me.
There was something cold in his eyes.
Not fear.
Calculation.
He leaned close enough that only I could hear.
"You think those papers make you special?"
I stared at him.
He smiled.
"Wait until you find out why Caroline really disappeared."
Paramedics entered seconds later.
Two police officers followed.
I was taken to the hospital.
Mom, Dad, and Madison were questioned.
Travis rode behind the ambulance in his car.
Three hours later, after scans showed a fractured cheekbone but no brain bleed, a detective entered my hospital room.
Her name was Detective Sarah Coleman.
She carried a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was my jade pendant.
"Emily."
She sat beside the bed.
"We ran the name Travis gave us."
I waited.
"Eleanor Hale is alive."
My heart stopped.
"She is?"
"Yes."
The detective hesitated.
"And when we contacted her attorney about the pendant..."
May you like
She leaned closer.
"Eleanor Hale said she wants to see you immediately."
