Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH ABOUT MY MOTHER
I stared at Daniel.
"That isn't funny."
"I'm not joking."
He placed a folder on the table and slid it toward me.
Inside were copies of adoption records, medical documents, and a letter signed by my mother's sister.
The records showed that Evelyn had given birth to a daughter when she was nineteen. The baby's father had disappeared, and Evelyn had been unable to care for the child.
My mother, Margaret, had adopted the baby privately.
The child's name was Harper.
My name.
I read the documents twice.
"Why did my mother never tell me?"
"Because she was afraid Evelyn would return and demand custody."
"She was my mother."
Daniel nodded.
"She raised you. She loved you. Nothing in these records changes that."
I looked at the letter.
Evelyn had written that she had tried to contact Margaret several times but had been turned away. After Margaret died, she discovered that the property trust she had inherited was being managed by Richard Caldwell's company.
She believed the money had been diverted.
Daniel had helped her investigate.
"How did you meet her?"
"She contacted me after learning I was alive. She had documents showing Richard's involvement in the charitable foundation fraud."
I thought of the woman in the photograph.
"Why was she wearing my mother's ring?"
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"Because Margaret gave it to her before she died."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Why?"
"She wanted the two of you to reconcile. She hoped you would eventually learn the truth."
For several minutes, I could not speak.
My entire life seemed to have shifted beneath my feet.
But the documents revealed something more troubling.
Richard had used the property trust as collateral for loans. If the loans defaulted, several buildings—including the commercial space where my design firm operated—could be seized.
And Julian had signed the latest guarantee.
I turned to Daniel.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because the transfers are scheduled to close tomorrow."
"Can we stop them?"
"Only if we can prove the signatures were forged and establish who benefited from the stolen funds."
He looked at me carefully.
"Harper, your firm processed some of the invoices. Richard plans to blame you."
My stomach dropped.
"He's going to frame me."
Daniel nodded.
"He has already prepared a statement claiming you authorized the transfers."
Then he pulled out a final page.
May you like
It was a draft confession bearing my name.
And at the bottom was a signature that looked exactly like mine.
