For several seconds, Rebecca remained motionless.
Then she turned around.
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"Because I was afraid."
Alexander's expression hardened.
"Afraid of whom?"
Rebecca looked at Emily.
"Your father."
Emily felt her heart stop.
"My father?"
Rebecca nodded slowly.
"Margaret never told you who your biological father was, did she?"
Emily stared at her.
"Richard was my mother's husband."
"No," Rebecca whispered. "He wasn't."
The room seemed to tilt.
Emily grabbed the edge of the table.
"Then who was?"
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"His name was Michael Bennett."
Alexander stood up.
"Rebecca."
She turned toward him.
"You cannot keep hiding this from her."
Emily could barely breathe.
"Mom was married to someone else?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not married. But she loved him."
"Who was he?"
"A young architect who worked on one of your grandfather's development projects. Margaret met him before she became involved with Richard. They were planning a future together."
Emily looked toward Alexander.
Her grandfather's expression had changed completely.
He looked as though someone had reopened an old wound.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Emily whispered.
Alexander struggled to find the words.
"Because I believed he had abandoned your mother."
Rebecca shook her head.
"He didn't abandon her."
She looked directly at Emily.
"Michael disappeared because Richard threatened him. He had discovered the financial fraud and intended to expose everything."
Emily's hands began shaking.
"Where is he now?"
Rebecca looked down.
"I don't know."
"Is he alive?"
"I believe so."
Alexander approached her.
"Why didn't you tell me this twenty years ago?"
Rebecca's voice broke.
"Because Richard threatened my family. He told me that if I spoke, my husband would lose his business and my children would be in danger."
Emily stared at the woman.
"And you believed him?"
Rebecca began crying.
"I was young. I was frightened. I made the wrong choice."
Emily felt anger rising inside her.
"My mother disappeared. My grandfather spent years searching for her. I grew up without knowing the truth. And you stayed silent?"
Rebecca lowered her head.
"Yes."
"Why come here now?"
The woman reached into her handbag.
"Because I found something."
She removed a small envelope.
"I have kept this for twenty years."
Alexander took it.
Inside was an old photograph of Margaret and Michael standing together beneath the oak tree.
On the back was a handwritten message.
One day, our daughter will need to know that she was loved by both of us.
Emily's vision blurred.
"Our daughter?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Michael knew about you."
Emily pressed a hand over her mouth.
For years, she had believed she was simply the daughter of a woman who had disappeared into an ordinary life.
Now she was discovering that her entire identity had been shaped by secrets.
"Do you know where Michael is?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"But I know someone who does."
That afternoon, Thomas received a telephone call.
He listened carefully, occasionally asking questions.
When the conversation ended, he looked toward Alexander.
"I found a possible lead."
"Where?"
"An architectural firm in Portland. A man named Michael Bennett worked there under a different surname for several years."
Emily immediately stood.
"Can we contact him?"
Thomas nodded.
"We can try."
"Please."
Alexander looked at her.
"Emily, we need to be careful. We don't know what happened to him, or whether he wants to be found."
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"I've spent my entire life wondering why I wasn't enough for the people who left. I don't want to spend another twenty years wondering whether my father is alive."
Alexander gently embraced her.
"Then we'll look for him."
Meanwhile, at the Hale mansion, Daniel was discovering another disturbing truth.
His father had summoned him to the private library.
Richard sat behind his desk with several documents spread before him.
Victoria stood beside the fireplace.
"We need to talk about Emily," Richard said.
Daniel crossed his arms.
"What about her?"
"She has the original agreement."
Daniel nodded.
"I know."
"Then you understand the danger."
Daniel looked at his father.
"She's my wife. She's carrying my child. She's not a business threat."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"You still don't understand."
"Then explain it."
Richard pushed a document across the desk.
Daniel picked it up.
It was a copy of a confidential report dated four years earlier.
The report contained information about Emily's family background, her mother's assets, and the possibility that she was the beneficiary of a substantial trust.