The room was quite after Henry's words.
"He had a daughter, but they died together in an accident."
Something inside me twisted. My heart pounded harder with each passing second. I couldn't speak, couldn't move. Killian held my hand tighter, sensing the storm building inside me.
But if the daughter really died, then who am I?
Amelia gave me a soft. confused look. "Lily... what you're saying is hard to understand. If your uncle's daughter survived the accident, it changes everything."
Me: "I know it sounds far-fetched. But nothing about my life with my parents has ever made sense. They've always treated me like an outsider, like I didn't belong."
Henry leaned forward, his brows furrowed. "That accident... it happened over twenty years ago, Your uncle was our business partner. We were close. When we heard they both died, we were devastated. There was a funeral, A closed casket."
Killian: "Closed?"
Amelia nodded. "Yes. There were no remains we could view. They said it was too... damaged."
I looked down at my hands, trying to calm the tremble in my fingers. "Then it's possible. That I survived. That they lied. Maybe the accident wasnt what it seemed.
No one said anything for a mornent. The silence stretched out, heavy with unspoken thoughts.
Killian: "What do you want to do?"
Me: "I need answers, But we can't rush into anything. We can't tell anyone yet, not even your parents."
Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
Me: "Because if I'm right, someone went to great lengths to hide the truth. And if anyone finds out we' re looking into this, they might try to stop us."
Killian gave me a long look, but finally nodded. "Alright. So what's the first step?"
Me: "Tim. If anyone can help me get the truth quietly, it's him."
That night, I sent Tim a message. "I need you. I'm not asking as a friend this time. I need someone who can uncover things no one else can. Can you help?"
He replied a few minutes later. "Say when and where."
The next day, I met Tim at a small, nondescript café on the edge of town. It was the kind of place no one asked questions and the coffee was strong enough to fuel secrets.
Tim: "You look serious."
Me: "I am. I need to know everything about my father's brother, my so called uncle. And his daughter."
Tim narrowed his eyes. "What's going on Lily?"
I hesitated, but then leaned in closer. "I think I'm her. I think I'm his daughter. And my parents, the people who raised me, might have taken me in after the accident and lied about it all."
He didn't flinch. "Okay, I'll help you. But if this is true, Lily, we'll be pulling on a thread that might unravel everything."
Me: "I know."
The investigation began the next day.
Tim worked fast, quiet, and precisely. He started digging through archives, death certificates, property records, and business filings. I helped where I could . identifying places, dates, names. But each day ended in the same place:
Nothing.
No death certificate for the daughter. No hospital admission records. No witness reports. No adoption papers. Nothing concrete about me either, no birth certificate before I turned six. It was as if I simply appeared in their lives one day.
After a week, Tim sat down across from me, his expression unreadable.
Tim: "I think they erased everything. Either they had help, or they found someone willing to cover it all up."
Me: "So... we can't prove anything?"
Tim: "I didn't say that."
He slid a small folder across the table. Inside was a picture. Me, maybe five years old, standing next to a man I didn't recognize. We were outside a small wooden cabin, near a lake.
Tim: "That's your uncle. And that photo is from the week before the accident."
I stared at it for a long time. My chest tightened. There was something hauntingly familiar about the setting the man. Like a memory trapped beneath ice, almost recognizable.
Me: "Where did you get this?"
Tim: "It wasn't easy. I had to reach out to someone who used to work with vour uncle. They kept this photo all these years. Said he was the kind of man who trusted too easily."
My throat felt dry. "This... this proves I was with him."
Tim nodded. "But it's not enought to prove who you are. Not in court. Not publicly."
Me: "And maybe I don't want to go public. Maybe I just want the truth."
Tim looked me in the eye. "Then you have it. And no one else needs to know."
That night, I sat alone on the balcony, the photo in my hand. My fingers traced the faded edges again and again.
Killian came out quietly and sat beside me.
Killian: "Still no word from Tim?"
Me: "No, not yet."
He nodded. "You've been quiet these past few days. You okay?"
I smiled faintly. "Yeah. Just tired. Everything's been a bit much."
He kissed my forehead gently. "You don't have to figure everything out all at once."
Me: "I know."
I didn't tell him. Not yet. Not because I didn't trust him, but because I wanted to keep the truth safe for just a little longer. Like a fragile seed not ready for the sun.
Over the next few days, things returned to a strange sort of normal. I stayed with Killian and his family. We cooked together, watched movies, laughed. On the surface, everything was calm. But beneath that calm, something had shifted in me. Now that I knew the truth, I saw everything differently. my childhood, my parents' coldness, their obsession with controlling me. I understood why they were always afraid of me asking questions. Why they kept me isolated, obedient. Because I was never meant to know. And they had stolen my life to protect themselves.
Tim and I agreed not to tell anyone, not yet. I didn't want pity. I didn't want revenge. Not now. What I wanted was clarity, to rebuild myself on something real, even if it was painful. But part of me couldn't stop thinking: If they were willing to fake a death, erase a child, and rewrite the past... what else were they hiding? And more importantly, where they still watching me?
So much has happened in my life that I don't even know what to think about. I want to forget everything. Tim's competition is coming up soon and I'm going to focus all my attention on this one. Tim is always there for me when I need help. He's the brother I never had. I'll be there for him and support him on this very important day.
My thoughts immediately disappeared. Now I was just thinking about what to take on the trip. I've already planned everything in my mind and I know that I'm going to have a great time with Tim and the others. One that will make me forget all the bad things.
I don't care anymore if "my parents" are still watching me or what they're up to. Because now I have my new family and Timmy by my side. I know they'll help me with everything. That's probably why I don't worry too much about it.