CHAPTER 3: THE TRUTH ABOUT LILY

The next morning, Adeline entered Lily's hospital room.

The little girl sat up in bed eating pancakes.

The moment she saw Adeline, she smiled.

"Hi, Doctor."

Adeline smiled back.

Then she noticed something.

Lily's eyes.

Green.

Exactly like hers.

Her heart skipped.

A terrifying possibility entered her mind.

She turned toward Ethan.

His face told her everything.

"Ethan..."

His eyes filled with tears.

"I wanted to tell you."

The room became very quiet.

"What are you saying?"

Ethan swallowed hard.

"Lily is yours."

Adeline stopped breathing.

The world disappeared.

The child she had spent the entire night treating.

The child she had comforted.

The child she had felt strangely connected to.

Was her daughter.

Five years ago, after Ethan disappeared, complications during Adeline's pregnancy nearly killed her.

When she woke after emergency surgery, she was told her baby had died.

But the hospital administrator had made a terrible mistake.

A paperwork error during a transfer between facilities.

The newborn survived.

Authorities couldn't locate Ethan.

Adeline remained unconscious for days.

The baby entered temporary care.

Before the mistake was discovered, the child had already been placed with Ethan's relatives under emergency guardianship.

Months later, Ethan finally learned the truth.

His daughter was alive.

By then he was still living under protection.

Unable to contact Adeline.

Unable to reveal himself.

Unable to risk exposing either of them.

So he raised Lily alone.

Every birthday.

Every school event.

Every scraped knee.

Every bedtime story.

He had carried the burden of that secret.

And every year he hoped one day Adeline would learn the truth.

Adeline looked at Lily.

Lily looked back.

Then asked softly,

"Are you crying because I said something wrong?"

Adeline broke.

She crossed the room and wrapped her daughter in her arms.

"No, sweetheart."

Her voice trembled.

"I'm crying because I finally found you."

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