Chapter 7 - THE MAN IN THE FAMILY PORTRAIT The investigation returned to Connecticut.
The investigation returned to Connecticut.
Daniel brought Emily and Grace to a secure location while DNA testing confirmed what his heart already knew.
Emily was his daughter.
Lily accepted her faster than anyone expected.
Their first conversation was awkward.
Their second lasted three hours.
By morning, they were laughing.
For Daniel, the sound was almost painful.
His family had gained something beautiful in the middle of something horrifying.
Then Elena discovered the photograph.
It hung inside Daniel's father's old study.
A family portrait taken fourteen years earlier.
Daniel.
Marcus.
Their parents.
Charles Voss.
And a woman standing near the edge.
Elena recognized her.
“That’s Vivian's mother.”
Daniel stared at her.
Vivian had told him her parents died when she was young.
Another lie.
Detective Cole identified the woman.
Rebecca Hale.
Former financial controller at Bennett Technologies.
She had disappeared the same year Eleanor supposedly died.
The network tightened.
Vivian had not randomly entered Daniel's life.
She had been placed there.
Daniel remembered their first meeting.
A charity gala.
An accidental spilled drink.
A conversation.
A romance.
Now every memory felt contaminated.
Had Vivian ever loved him?
Or had the entire relationship been an assignment?
Elena found him alone later.
“You can't rewrite every good moment because you discovered a lie.”
Daniel looked at her.
“How do I know which moments were real?”
“You don't.”
“That’s supposed to help?”
“No. It's supposed to be true.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
Elena had become the one person who refused to tell him what he wanted to hear.
Perhaps that was why he trusted her.
Then the security system alerted them.
Someone was approaching the estate.
One person.
Walking.
Daniel went outside with police.
A woman appeared at the gate.
Barefoot.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Vivian.
She collapsed before reaching Daniel.
At the hospital, she woke hours later.
Daniel stood beside her bed.
“Where's Charles?”
Vivian whispered, “He's dead.”
Daniel stared.
“Who killed him?”
Vivian looked toward the door.
May you like
Then at Daniel.
“Your mother.”
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