Chapter 2 - The Letter Rachel Left Behind
Alexander read that sentence three times.
Do not let Camille take either of my daughters.
The paper trembled between his fingers.
He looked up.
Camille stood thirty feet away in a wedding dress that had cost more than most people earned in a year.
Five minutes earlier she had been his future wife.
Now security guards were positioned between her and the doors.
“Alexander.”
Her voice had changed.
The anger was gone.
Now she sounded wounded.
Almost gentle.
“You know me.”
He stared at her.
Apparently he didn’t.
Daniel moved closer.
“We need to clear the church.”
Alexander nodded.
The murmuring grew louder as Daniel addressed the guests.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the ceremony is canceled.”
That sentence triggered chaos.
People stood.
Phones appeared everywhere.
Camille’s mother pushed through the front row.
“This is insanity.”
Daniel blocked her.
“Not now, Mrs. Laurent.”
“My daughter is being humiliated.”
Alexander finally looked at her.
“A six-year-old just walked into this church carrying a baby and a letter from a woman I was told disappeared from my life voluntarily.”
Mrs. Laurent stopped.
Alexander held up the letter.
“And apparently your daughter knows why.”
Camille’s mother looked at Camille.
That tiny glance told Alexander more than any denial could have.
“You knew too.”
Mrs. Laurent said nothing.
Camille stepped down from the altar.
“Alexander, we need to talk privately.”
“We will.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Call the police.”
Camille’s composure shattered.
“For what?”
Alexander’s eyes hardened.
“For Rachel.”
“You don’t even know what happened to Rachel.”
“That’s exactly why I’m calling them.”
Lily tugged gently at his jacket.
Alexander looked down.
“Can we go somewhere else?”
The child’s eyes were moving nervously through the crowd.
“Too many people.”
Alexander’s anger disappeared instantly.
“Of course.”
He crouched.
“Is Hope hungry?”
Lily nodded.
“When did she eat last?”
“This morning.”
“What time?”
“I don’t know.”
Alexander looked at the baby sleeping against his chest.
He knew almost nothing about children.
He knew even less about babies.
But he knew enough to understand that something was wrong.
Hope was warm, but her cheeks looked pale.
There were dark circles beneath Lily’s eyes.
The child looked exhausted.
“Daniel.”
His brother was already beside him.
“Get Dr. Harris here.”
“Our pediatrician?”
“Now.”
Daniel nodded.
Alexander glanced toward Camille.
“Take them to the private bridal room.”
Camille laughed bitterly.
“My bridal room?”
Alexander met her eyes.
“Not anymore.”
Her face tightened.
He carried Hope toward the side corridor.
Lily stayed so close that her hand remained hooked around the fabric of his jacket.
Before they disappeared through the doorway, Lily looked backward.
At Camille.
And Alexander felt her hand tighten.
That fear wasn’t imagined.
That fear had history.
Inside the bridal suite, someone removed the champagne.
Someone else brought water, crackers, milk, and fruit.
Lily attacked the crackers.
Not like a child at a wedding.
Like someone who had missed meals.
Alexander watched her.
“When did you eat?”
“Yesterday.”
He stopped.
“You didn’t eat this morning?”
“Aunt Megan gave us toast, but then the bad man came.”
Alexander’s attention sharpened.
“What bad man?”
Lily immediately shut down.
Her shoulders rose.
Her eyes dropped.
He changed his tone.
“You aren’t in trouble.”
She said nothing.
“Lily, I promise.”
Hope woke and began crying.
Lily jumped toward her.
Alexander gently bounced the baby.
“I’ve got her.”
“She likes when you walk.”
He stood and paced.
Hope quieted surprisingly fast.
Lily stared at him.
“What?”
“You do it like Mommy.”
Alexander almost stumbled.
Before he could answer, Daniel came inside.
“The police are on their way.”
“And Camille?”
“In the church office with security.”
“She try to leave?”
“Twice.”
Alexander absorbed that.
Daniel noticed the envelope.
“What does the rest say?”
Alexander unfolded it again.
He hated the idea of reading Rachel’s final words while a room full of strangers moved around him.
But he needed answers.
He began.
Alexander,
If Lily reached you, I failed to survive.
I need you to believe one thing before you believe anything else.
I never abandoned you.
I never stopped loving you because you were poor.
I never chose another man because he had money.
I never sent the message telling you to stay away from me.
Alexander stopped.
Seven years of anger shifted underneath him.
Rachel had disappeared during the worst year of his life.
His father had suffered a massive stroke.
The family company had nearly collapsed.
Alexander had slept in his office for months trying to save it.
Rachel had been the one person who made that year bearable.
Then she vanished.
A message came from her number.
I can’t do this anymore.
Don’t contact me.
I need a different life.
Alexander had called eighty-seven times.
He remembered the number because he had counted.
Then her phone was disconnected.
He had gone to her apartment.
Empty.
He had driven to her mother’s old house.
Sold.
He had contacted friends.
Nobody knew where she had gone.
Eventually pride replaced panic.
Then grief hardened into anger.
And years later Camille entered his life.
Except Camille hadn’t entered his life later.
She had been there the entire time.
She had worked for Reed Holdings during the crisis.
She had helped Alexander manage his father’s medical care.
She had become indispensable.
A friend first.
Then a confidante.
Then eventually something more.
Alexander continued reading.
I discovered the truth two years ago.
Camille intercepted my calls.
She intercepted my emails.
She paid someone to terminate the lease on my apartment after I left Boston.
She told me you wanted nothing to do with me.
She told me you knew I was pregnant.
She showed me a letter with your signature.
Alexander’s vision blurred.
I believed it.
God forgive me, I believed it.
I was twenty-six, pregnant, terrified, and alone.
The letter said you would deny the baby publicly if I embarrassed you.
Alexander lowered the paper.
Daniel whispered, “Jesus.”
Lily looked between them.
Alexander forced himself to continue.
Years later I learned the letter was fake.
By then I was trapped in a marriage I should never have entered.
His name is Marcus Vale.
If you are reading this, do not trust him.
Do not let him near Lily.
And most of all, do not let him take Hope.
Alexander paused.
There it was again.
Hope.
Why specifically Hope?
He read faster.
Marcus thinks Hope belongs to him.
She does not.
Alexander stared at those words.
His heartbeat changed.
He looked at the baby in his arms.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
Alexander handed him the page.
Daniel read it.
Then looked at Hope.
“No.”
Alexander returned to the letter.
I cannot explain everything on paper.
There is a storage key taped beneath Lily’s backpack lining.
Locker 317.
South Station.
Everything you need is there.
But please understand this.
Camille did not begin this because of Marcus.
Marcus came later.
Camille began this because of you.
And once she realized what she had done, she spent seven years making sure the truth could never reach you.
I tried one last time.
That is why I believe I am in danger.
Protect Lily.
Protect Hope.
Tell Lily that none of this was her fault.
And if there is any part of you that once loved me, please believe that I tried to come home.
Rachel.
Alexander stared at the signature until the ink blurred.
A knock came at the door.
Daniel opened it.
A police detective stood outside.
Behind him was Camille.
A security guard held her arm.
Camille looked furious.
“I am not staying in that office while you read accusations about me.”
Alexander stood.
Hope remained against his shoulder.
Camille looked at the baby.
Something passed across her face.
Recognition.
Hatred.
Fear.
Lily immediately moved behind Alexander.
He noticed.
So did the detective.
“Ms. Laurent?”
The detective looked at Camille.
“Do you recognize these children?”
“No.”
Lily whispered.
“Liar.”
Camille’s jaw tightened.
The detective crouched slightly.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Lily.”
“And you’ve seen this woman before?”
Lily nodded.
“How many times?”
Lily looked at Camille.
“Three.”
Alexander’s stomach turned.
The detective continued.
“Where?”
Lily counted carefully on her fingers.
“Once outside Mommy’s work.”
A second finger.
“Once at our house.”
Then the third.
“And last night.”
Camille suddenly interrupted.
“That’s impossible.”
The detective looked up.
“Why?”
Camille hesitated.
And Alexander saw it.
She had answered too quickly.
The detective saw it too.
Camille recovered.
“Because I was at my rehearsal dinner last night.”
Lily stepped from behind Alexander.
“No, you weren’t.”
Camille stared at her.
Lily’s voice trembled.
“You were in the black car.”
Alexander’s chest tightened.
“What black car?”
“The one Mommy told me to hide from.”
Camille shook her head.
“This is ridiculous.”
Lily continued.
“You came after the ambulance.”
Alexander’s entire body went still.
“What ambulance?”
Lily started crying.
“The one that took Mommy.”
Hope began crying too.
Alexander handed the baby to Daniel and crouched beside Lily.
“What happened to your mother?”
Lily covered her face.
“She fell asleep in the car.”
Alexander felt cold spread through his body.
“Was there an accident?”
Lily nodded.
“Aunt Megan said somebody hit Mommy’s car.”
Camille took one step backward.
The detective immediately noticed.
Alexander looked up.
“Where is Rachel now?”
Lily sobbed.
“Aunt Megan said she went to heaven.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Seven years.
Seven years of believing Rachel had rejected him.
Seven years while his daughter grew up without him.
And now Rachel was dead.
His grief arrived so violently he had to put one hand on the floor.
Lily suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck.
Alexander froze.
Then he held her.
His daughter.
Maybe.
Probably.
But right then DNA didn’t matter.
She was a frightened child whose mother had just died.
And she had crossed a city carrying a baby because Rachel had told her that one man would protect her.
Him.
Alexander held her tighter.
Behind them, the detective’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his expression changed.
“Mr. Reed.”
Alexander stood slowly.
“What?”
“We located the accident report.”
“And?”
The detective looked at Camille before answering.
“Rachel Morgan died Tuesday night.”
Alexander stopped breathing.
“But according to the preliminary investigation…”
He paused.
“The crash may not have been an accident.”
Camille whispered, “Oh my God.”
The detective turned toward her.
And Alexander noticed something.
Everyone in the room looked horrified.
Except Camille.
May you like
Camille looked trapped.
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