Chapter 5 - THE GIRL IN THE PORTRAIT
The Roth estate was hidden behind iron gates in Greenwich.
I'd seen photographs of it.
I'd never imagined I'd enter it under armed guard looking for a child who might be my daughter.
Gabriel drove.
Ethan followed.
Noah sat between me and Gabriel.
He had been quiet for almost an hour.
Finally, he asked:
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Do I have a sister?”
I looked at Gabriel.
Then Ethan.
“Yes.”
Noah's eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“We're going to find her.”
He smiled.
“Can she play with Rocket?”
I laughed through my tears.
“Yes.”
The gates opened.
The estate was enormous.
Stone walls.
Private gardens.
A fountain.
A chapel.
And at the center, a mansion that looked like a European palace.
Gabriel stared at it.
“I haven't been here since I was eighteen.”
“Why?”
“My father.”
We entered.
A woman in her sixties stood at the top of the staircase.
Catherine.
She looked at Gabriel.
“You came.”
“Yes.”
“She's upstairs.”
My heart stopped.
“Take me to her.”
Catherine hesitated.
“Claire…”
“Now.”
She nodded.
We climbed.
At the end of the hallway was a bedroom.
The door opened.
A little girl sat beside a window.
Seven years old.
Long brown hair.
Green eyes.
She was drawing.
She looked up.
And I saw myself.
Not exactly.
But enough.
My knees almost gave out.
She stared at me.
“Who are you?”
I couldn't speak.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Lily.”
She smiled.
“Dad.”
My heart broke.
She ran to him.
He hugged her.
Then she looked at me.
“Who is she?”
Ethan looked at me.
“My friend.”
I stared at him.
He had a reason.
I didn't understand it yet.
Then Gabriel walked into the room.
Lily's face lit up.
“Daddy!”
She ran to him.
Gabriel dropped to his knees.
He caught her.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
I couldn't breathe.
This man.
My daughter.
The connection was real.
The way he held her.
The way she trusted him.
I understood why he hadn't known.
He hadn't been her biological father.
But he had been the only father she remembered.
I stepped forward.
Lily looked at me.
“Do I know you?”
I knelt.
“No.”
“What's your name?”
“Claire.”
She smiled.
“I'm Lily.”
“I know.”
“How?”
I almost cried.
“Because I've heard about you.”
She tilted her head.
“Are you friends with Daddy?”
I looked at Gabriel.
“Yes.”
Lily smiled.
“Good.”
Then she returned to her drawing.
I looked at Ethan.
“You're going to tell her.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is watching.”
Gabriel looked around.
“Who?”
Ethan pointed toward the painting above the fireplace.
A camera was hidden inside the frame.
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“Get her out.”
We moved.
But the door slammed shut.
Locks clicked.
Then a voice came through the speaker.
“Welcome home, Claire.”
I recognized it.
My mother's voice.
I froze.
She laughed.
“You finally found your daughter.”
I looked at Lily.
Then at Noah.
Then Gabriel.
The speaker crackled.
“But you haven't found out why I gave her away.”
My mother continued:
“Ask Gabriel who Lily's biological father really is.”
Gabriel's face went pale.
I stared at him.
“Gabriel?”
He said nothing.
My mother laughed.
“You'll never guess.”
The speaker went silent.
Lily looked at Gabriel.
“Daddy?”
He stared at the floor.
Then he whispered:
“I don't know.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Claire…”
I stepped backward.
“What are you hiding?”
No one answered.
Then Gabriel finally looked at me.
And the expression in his eyes terrified me.
“Claire,” he whispered.
May you like
“I think Lily may be my daughter.”
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