Chapter 6 - Rachel Returns With One Warning
Daniel met Rachel in the library.
Police were present.
Attorneys were present.
Grace stayed upstairs with Sophie.
Victoria remained nearby but out of the initial conversation.
Rachel looked at Daniel.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel did not accept it.
He did not reject it either.
“Where is Emily?”
“At school. Safe.”
“Is she my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Did my father arrange everything?”
“Yes.”
Rachel admitted her own responsibility.
Arthur manipulated her.
He frightened her.
But she eventually understood the deception and still chose not to return.
“I was afraid you’d hate me.”
“I did hate you. I thought you let our baby die alone.”
Rachel cried.
“I know.”
Daniel asked who had been photographing Sophie.
Rachel’s expression changed.
“Thomas Vale.”
Daniel knew the name.
Thomas had been Arthur Whitmore’s longtime security director.
After Arthur died, Thomas left with a large severance payment.
Rachel said Thomas inherited Arthur’s private files.
He discovered Emily’s location.
Then he began blackmailing Rachel.
He wanted access to an old Whitmore trust Arthur had created for direct descendants.
Emily was a beneficiary.
So was Sophie.
If Daniel had two living daughters, control of certain family assets would eventually split.
Thomas wanted Rachel to help him manipulate guardianship arrangements.
She refused.
That was when he began threatening Sophie.
Victoria asked:
“Why did you keep demanding money from me?”
Rachel looked ashamed.
“Some was for Thomas.”
“And the rest?”
“To move Emily whenever he got close.”
Daniel’s attorney reviewed the transfers.
Rachel’s explanation accounted for most, not all.
About six hundred thousand dollars remained unexplained.
Rachel admitted using it for herself.
“I was scared and selfish.”
The admission mattered.
She did not turn herself into a pure victim.
Then Daniel asked the question no one wanted.
“Does Emily know who I am?”
Rachel nodded.
“She knows you’re her biological father.”
“Does she think I abandoned her?”
Rachel looked down.
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Arthur had lied to Rachel.
Rachel had lied to Emily.
Victoria had lied to Daniel.
Every adult had passed fear downward.
Daniel refused to continue the pattern.
“No one tells Emily anything else on my behalf.”
Rachel looked up.
“I want to speak to her myself.”
Then the mansion alarm sounded.
Grace’s voice screamed from upstairs.
“Sophie!”
Daniel ran.
The nursery window was open.
May you like
Grace stood beside the empty crib.
Sophie was gone.
