Chapter 2

Samuel stared at the folder on the desk without moving so Charles decided to continue.

“Cause of death was gun shot wound to the head,” he said, keeping his tone carefully neutral as he watched his client like a hawk for any signs he needed to stop talking.

“When,” Samuel finally spoke.

Unsure which ‘when’ he meant, Charles took an educated guess and answered, “They think she died eight years ago.”

Samuel lowered his face until his forehead rested on his intertwined fingers. “And before that?”

“That’s… another matter,” Charles replied, hesitant on talking about this next part. “It seems your wife gave birth to a daughter sixteen years ago, and she’s been with child services for the better part of eight years now.”

“Who’s the father?”

“You are.”

This brought Samuel’s head back up to stare at his lawyer, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “That’s impossible.”

“I understand that,” the lawyer nodded once, dabbing at his neck again, “but I made sure to triple check the results.”

“We were never able to conceive a child, Charles, you know this. It’s why we used surrogates for the boys. How was she able to carry a child to term when we were never…”

“From what I would guess — and this is a guess — she was in the very early stages of pregnancy when she disappeared. She somehow managed to carry the child to term, then raise said child until her death.”

I have… a daughter… Samuel couldn’t get over this fact. They’d always planned for more children, but once Annie had disappeared he’d thrown out the idea of ever having more.

Without Annie there wasn’t a point.

“What’s her name?”

Charles shifted uncomfortably in his chair again. “Vivian St Peter.”

It wasn’t a name they had decided on for a daughter should they have one. Samuel wondered why she would have chosen such a name.

“Vivian was picked up just outside the St Peter’s church in a town five hours north of the city eight years ago. She was severely malnourished and injured, but has since turned into a normal young lady.”

“What aren’t you telling me? There’s more, isn’t there.”

“Yes… well… Vivian has never spoken about her past to anyone; therapists, social workers, foster families, the police, friends… She was given her name because of where she was found — St Peter’s Church is on Vivian Lane — and not because it was her birth name.” As he spoke, Charles opened the folder still on his lap and pulled out a photo, placing it on the desk so Samuel could see his daughter.

With some hesitation, Samuel picked up the photo and stared at it.

The girl was in her mid teens, her ebony hair pulled back in a haphazard ponytail. She was curled up in a chair, probably in some waiting room by the looks of it, feet tucked to one side as she read the book she held in her hands.

She was the spitting image of Annie if the photo was anything to go by and it made Samuel’s heart ache.

“Vivian…” he murmured, stroking the photo with his thumb as he stared hungrily at the girl who was supposedly his daughter.

“They caught the connection because Vivian’s DNA was put in the system when she’d been picked up as a child; when they ran Annie’s through it came up as a familial match.”

“Why didn’t they catch it earlier? Annie’s been in the system since she disappeared,” Samuel asked, voice somewhat husky as he reigned in the surge of emotions that were coming to the surface. “I made sure they had her DNA on file in case… in case this happened.”

His wife was dead. He had a daughter. His daughter had been found eight years ago and yet no one had told him? If they’d known…

“From what I understand, they only ran it through the local database, not provincial,” his lawyer replied, a frown now on his face. “I can’t understand why they wouldn’t have broadened it to provincial at least, especially in the case of a child. But Vivian wasn’t talking, and showed up in bad shape — they probably assumed she wouldn’t want to return to her parents and kept their searches small.”

“Does she speak at all?”

“Oh, yes,” Charles couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “This is her file, which is yours to go through. It explains everything in better detail. I suggest you read through it before meeting her.”

“Meeting her…” Samuel was struck by how he hadn’t so much as thought about meeting his daughter until just now. “When can I meet her?”

“Tomorrow is the earliest I could manage,” the lawyer explained, holding up a hand to stop Samuel from demanding one that very day. “You have to understand her position. She doesn’t know you’re her father — it could very well be that whatever happened before she was found was done by a man pretending to be a father to her, or worse. There is a lot we just don’t know because she won’t open up about her past.

“You have to prepare yourself for the possibility that she won’t want to come live with you, even though you are her biological father. Your sons need to hear about this from you, too, so they can figure out how to feel just as much as you need time to process it before meeting Vivian. She is going from foster families to a father and three brothers.

“This connection between you was only found a couple days ago, and I had it verified three times before bringing it to you because it’s a delicate situation on both sides and I need you to understand that, Samuel. Do you understand that?”

Samuel let his mask slip off, showing the face he wore when no one was around — void of expression. “I understand it very well, Charles. But I will also not allow anyone else to raise my daughter now that I know about her.”

Letting out a sigh, Charles stood up, placing the second folder next to the first. “I figured as much, and will make it happen one way or another, but I hope you will at least try to understand if she declines, and how forcing it won’t get you the results you want.”

But Samuel was no longer listening, his attention fixated on the photo in his hand.

Vivian…