Chapter 1 - The Secret Behind the Frozen Door
“Because Celeste knows exactly who my daughter’s father is.”
Hannah’s confession hung between us like a loaded gun.
I looked at the little girl trembling beneath those two winter coats. She couldn’t have been older than four. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips dry, and every breath came with a faint, frightening whistle.
“What’s her name?” I asked.
“Lily.”
I touched the child’s forehead. The heat coming from her skin was alarming.
“Get her coat. We’re going to the hospital.”
Hannah caught my wrist. “Please, Mr. Whitaker. You don’t understand. If Celeste finds out—”
“I don't care what Celeste thinks.”
“She’ll take Lily away from me.”
That stopped me.
I had threatened men over less than the possibility of someone harming a child. Yet Hannah looked more frightened of my fiancée than she did of me.
I called my personal physician and ordered an ambulance. While we waited, I noticed a photograph tucked beneath a cracked picture frame.
A younger man stood beside Hannah, holding a newborn baby. His face was partially hidden, but the silver ring on his right hand was unmistakable.
I had seen that ring before.
My younger brother, Nicholas, had worn the same one until the night he died six years ago.
I picked up the photograph.
“Hannah,” I said carefully, “why do you have a picture of my brother?”
May you like
Her face crumpled.
Then she looked at Lily and whispered, “Because Nicholas wasn't supposed to die.”
