Chapter 3
Marcus read the message three times.
Then he looked toward the staircase.
"Is Lily asleep?"
I nodded.
He walked to the front door and checked the lock.
Then he looked through the window.
"Marcus, what are you doing?"
"Making sure nobody followed us."
The simple answer frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
He returned to the living room.
"Tell me everything about Daniel."
I took a deep breath.
I had spent six years trying not to remember that relationship.
Now every detail seemed to be crawling back.
"I met him at a charity fundraiser when I was twenty-eight."
Daniel Reed was thirty-six at the time.
He owned a construction company and seemed to know everyone.
He was handsome.
Confident.
The kind of man who remembered your favorite drink and sent flowers to your office.
For the first three months, he made me feel like the most important woman in the world.
Then the rules started.
He didn't like my friends.
He questioned why I needed to work.
He criticized the clothes I wore.
Eventually, he began deciding where I could go.
Whenever I resisted, he accused me of disrespecting him.
I told Marcus how Daniel once showed up unexpectedly at my workplace because I hadn't answered his calls.
How he embarrassed me in front of my coworkers.
How he apologized afterward with expensive jewelry.
"Why didn't you leave sooner?" Marcus asked quietly.
I looked at him.
"Because he never started with the worst behavior."
Marcus lowered his eyes.
I continued.
"By the time I realized how bad things had become, I was afraid of what he'd do if I left."
One evening, Daniel took my car keys during an argument.
He told me I wasn't allowed to leave until I apologized.
I waited until he fell asleep.
Then I took my spare key and drove to my aunt's house.
I never went back.
Marcus listened without interrupting.
"I stayed with Aunt Ruth for two months," I explained.
"That's when I found out I was pregnant."
He nodded slowly.
"And Daniel?"
"I blocked him. I changed my number. I moved."
"But he kept looking for you?"
"At first."
I remembered seeing his car parked near my aunt's neighborhood.
I remembered anonymous messages.
Some sounded apologetic.
Others were angry.
Eventually, they stopped.
I thought he'd moved on.
I prayed he had.
Marcus looked toward the phone.
"And now he's back."
I nodded.
There was one thing I hadn't told him.
One detail I had tried to convince myself wasn't important.
"Marcus, I need to tell you something else."
He sat straighter.
"What?"
"About two months before our wedding, I received a letter."
His eyes narrowed.
"From Daniel?"
"Yes."
"What did it say?"
I stared at my hands.
"He said he knew about Lily."
Marcus went still.
I continued.
"He demanded to meet her. He said he'd found out I had a daughter."
"Did you answer?"
"No."
"Did he threaten you?"
"Not directly."
I hesitated.
"He wrote that I couldn't keep his child from him forever."
Marcus stood again.
"Nia."
I looked up.
"You told me he didn't know about Lily."
"I believed he didn't when she was born."
"But you knew before we got married."
My chest tightened.
"Yes."
He walked away.
I followed him into the kitchen.
"Marcus, please."
He turned.
"Do you know how much this hurts?"
Tears filled my eyes.
"I know."
"No, Nia. I don't think you do."
His voice trembled.
"I love Lily more than anything. I would do anything to protect her."
"I know."
"But if there was a man looking for her, threatening your peace, I should have known."
I lowered my head.
"You're right."
He looked surprised.
I wiped my cheeks.
"I should have told you. I was scared, and I made the wrong decision."
Marcus leaned against the counter.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he asked, "Do you still have the letter?"
I nodded.
"It's in a box upstairs."
"Bring it."
I retrieved the old envelope from the back of my closet.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
The paper had yellowed slightly.
Daniel's handwriting was familiar.
He had written that he knew I was raising a daughter and that he would not allow another man to replace him.
Marcus read it carefully.
Then he pointed to a sentence near the bottom.
"Look at this."
I leaned closer.
Daniel had written:
"Someone close to your new family understands why I deserve the truth."
My stomach dropped.
I had forgotten that sentence.
At the time, I assumed Daniel was bluffing.
But now I remembered Evelyn's expression in church.
The certainty in her voice.
The way Vanessa smirked while Lily cried.
"Marcus," I whispered, "your mother knew."
He looked at me.
"We don't know that."
"How else would she know Daniel's name?"
"She didn't say his name."
"No. But she knew Lily had another biological father."
Marcus stared at the letter.
Then he reached for his phone.
He called Evelyn.
She answered immediately.
"Marcus, thank goodness. I've been worried sick."
"Mom, how do you know about Daniel Reed?"
There was silence.
Then Evelyn said, "Who?"
"Don't do that."
"Marcus, I don't appreciate your tone."
"Did you contact a man named Daniel Reed?"
She sighed.
"Nia has clearly filled your head with more stories."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"Answer the question."
"I was only trying to protect you."
My breath caught.
Marcus looked at me.
"From what?"
"From being made a fool of."
He spoke slowly.
"Did you tell Daniel about Lily?"
Evelyn hesitated.
Then said something that made my stomach turn.
"A father has a right to know his child."
Marcus stared at the phone.
"You contacted him?"
"I did what any responsible mother would do."
I covered my mouth.
Marcus's voice hardened.
"You had no right."
"Marcus, don't be ridiculous."
"You went behind our backs?"
"Nia deceived you!"
He raised his voice.
"That does not give you permission to put my daughter in danger!"
Evelyn scoffed.
"Oh, please. Daniel is a respectable businessman."
I froze.
A respectable businessman.
That was exactly how people had described Daniel when I met him.
Marcus looked at me.
"Mom, where did you meet him?"
"At Vanessa's office."
My eyes widened.
Marcus went silent.
Then he asked, "Vanessa knows him?"
Evelyn answered too quickly.
"Of course she does. They've been friends for years."
I felt as if the floor had disappeared beneath me.
Vanessa.
The woman who had spent six years trying to break my marriage.
She knew Daniel.
And she had helped bring him back into our lives.
Marcus ended the call.
For several seconds, he stood motionless.
Then he looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
I blinked.
"What?"
"I'm sorry I didn't see what my mother was doing."
I shook my head.
"Marcus, I kept things from you."
"Yes, you did."
His voice was gentle but firm.
"And we need to deal with that."
He took my hands.
"But you were frightened. That doesn't excuse the secrecy, and it doesn't give anyone permission to threaten you."
I began crying.
He pulled me into his arms.
I buried my face against his chest.
For the first time all day, I felt something other than panic.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared from Vanessa.
He opened it.
There was a photograph of Daniel standing beside a silver luxury car.
Underneath, Vanessa had written:
"He's coming for what belongs to him. And this time, Nia won't be able to hide."
Marcus's expression changed.
He held the phone tightly.
Then he looked toward Lily's bedroom.
May you like
"Nobody is taking our daughter."
But neither of us knew that Daniel had already made his next move.
