Chapter 8 - Sophie Heard Daniel’s Voice
I knelt in front of Sophie.
"Are you sure she called him Daniel?"
She nodded.
Margaret walked toward us.
"She's confused."
I stood so quickly she stopped.
"Don't."
"You've filled her head with adult nonsense."
"I was chained right there," Sophie whispered.
Margaret's face tightened.
Rachel stared at our mother with disgust.
"Let her speak."
I touched Sophie's shoulder.
"What did you hear?"
She looked toward the stairs.
"I was supposed to be sleeping."
Beneath them.
On a blanket.
My anger rose again.
"I heard the front door."
"What time?"
"I don't know."
"That's okay."
"Grandma said, 'You shouldn't have come here, Daniel.'"
I couldn't breathe.
"What did he say?"
Sophie's brow furrowed.
"He said he wasn't going away again."
Rachel covered her mouth.
Margaret turned toward the living room.
"That's enough."
I blocked her.
"No."
Sophie continued.
"He asked where you were."
"Me?"
She nodded.
"He said, 'Does Emily know?'"
My eyes burned.
After eight years, Daniel had asked about me.
"What did Grandma say?"
"She said you didn't know anything."
Margaret's shoulders stiffened.
"And then?"
"He asked about me."
Sophie looked confused.
"He called me Sophia first."
Rachel whispered, "What?"
"My name is Sophie."
"I know, sweetheart."
"He said, 'Where's Sophia?' and Grandma said, 'Her name is Sophie now.'"
A chill moved through me.
Why would Daniel have known her by another name?
I looked at Rachel.
"Did you name her Sophia?"
Rachel slowly nodded.
"At the hospital."
My stomach dropped.
"I didn't know that."
"When the adoption papers came to you, it had already been shortened."
I stared at Margaret.
She had changed my daughter's name before giving her to me.
One more decision stolen.
"What else did Daniel say?"
Sophie thought.
"He wanted a folder."
"The red one?"
She nodded.
"Grandma said he couldn't have it."
Margaret's face was colorless.
"Then he got loud."
"What did he say?"
Sophie looked directly at Margaret.
"He said, 'You already stole my daughter. You're not stealing the proof too.'"
Rachel began crying.
I couldn't move.
Margaret said quietly, "He isn't well."
"You spoke to him last night."
"Yes."
The admission came so easily that for a second I thought I had misheard.
"You've known where he was."
"Not consistently."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know."
"Liar."
"He left."
"With the red folder?"
Margaret didn't answer.
That was yes.
I grabbed my phone.
"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.
"Calling Daniel."
"You don't have his number."
"No. But someone does."
I called Peter.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Same.
Then I remembered the visitor records.
The rehabilitation center.
A name printed at the top.
Greenfield Neurological Residence.
I searched the number.
A receptionist answered.
"Greenfield Residence."
"My name is Emily Parker. I'm trying to reach a former patient, Daniel Brooks."
There was a pause.
"One moment."
Hold music.
My hands shook.
Then the receptionist returned.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Parker. Mr. Brooks hasn't been a resident here for several years."
"Do you have forwarding information?"
"I can't release that."
"Can you tell me when he left?"
"That information is protected."
I closed my eyes.
"Can you take my number and contact him?"
Another pause.
"Mr. Brooks left instructions regarding one person."
My pulse jumped.
"Who?"
"I need your full legal name."
"Emily Grace Parker."
Silence.
Keyboard clicking.
Then the woman's tone changed.
"Ms. Parker?"
"Yes?"
"Mr. Brooks left a sealed contact authorization for you."
My knees weakened.
"When?"
"Six years ago."
Margaret sat down.
I looked at her.
"What does it say?"
"I can't open the document, but there is a phone number attached to your authorization."
"Give it to me."
The receptionist read the number.
I entered it.
My thumb hovered over CALL.
Margaret stood.
"Emily, don't."
That was enough.
I pressed it.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
A man's voice answered.
"Hello?"
I forgot every sentence I had planned.
The voice was older.
Rougher.
But somewhere beneath it was the man I had once planned to marry.
"Daniel?"
Silence.
Then I heard his breathing change.
"Emily."
My eyes filled.
Rachel sat down heavily.
Margaret looked toward the front door.
"Where are you?" I asked.
Daniel didn't answer.
"Daniel, were you here last night?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"Because Margaret told me you still believed I abandoned you."
I looked at my mother.
"She lied."
"I know that now."
My voice broke.
"Why did you take the red folder?"
Silence.
"Daniel?"
"Because it contains the only signed copy proving what they did to Sophie's identity."
"What did they do?"
His breathing became uneven.
"Emily, I'm not talking about Rachel's name."
My skin prickled.
"What are you talking about?"
"The adoption wasn't created to hide Rachel."
I stared at my sister.
"Then why?"
Daniel lowered his voice.
"It was created to hide me."
"What?"
"Peter made me sign a denial of paternity while I was medicated."
I already knew that part.
"Why?"
"Because Henry Parker's trust doesn't only pay money to biological grandchildren."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"What else does it do?"
Daniel answered.
"It transfers voting control of Parker Development."
Rachel gasped.
My father’s company.
The business Margaret had chaired since his death.
Daniel continued.
"If Sophie is legally recognized as my daughter and Rachel's biological child, she activates a clause your father added before he died."
"What clause?"
Daniel started to answer.
Then another man's voice sounded near him.
"End the call."
Daniel went silent.
"Who is that?"
A struggle.
The phone struck something.
"Daniel?"
He shouted one sentence before the connection died.
May you like
"EMILY, PETER IS NOT YOUR LAWYER!"
📖 Read why Daniel warned me about Peter—and what the original Parker trust said would happen if Rachel ever had a third biological child in CHAPTER 9. 👇
