Chapter 2 - The Dark Secret
By the time I pulled into our driveway, my phone had sixty missed calls.
Most were from my mother, but a few were from Trevor, Lauren’s wealthy new husband.
Greg met us in the garage, pulling me into a tight embrace the moment I stepped out of the car.
I sent Sophie upstairs to watch cartoons, promising her some ice cream later.
Once she was out of earshot, I plugged David’s flash drive into our kitchen laptop.
Greg leaned over my shoulder as the blurry newspaper clipping appeared on the screen.
"Infant Found Abandoned in Freezing Temperatures," the headline read.
I played the audio file David had included.
It was a recording of my father and Lauren whispering behind the bridal tent.
“You promised me that child would never be at my wedding,” Lauren’s voice hissed through the speakers.
“I told the adoption agency to place her out of state!” my father replied angrily.
“It’s not my fault Megan chose that exact agency and fell in love with her!”
Greg slammed his fist onto the kitchen counter.
“They manipulated the entire system,” Greg said, his voice trembling with absolute rage.
“Your father paid off the agency to cover up Lauren’s teenage pregnancy.”
It all made sickening sense now.
Lauren had gone to a "boarding school in Europe" during her senior year.
She had actually been sent away to hide her pregnancy to protect my father’s political career.
When she gave birth, she abandoned the baby at a hospital instead of following the legal adoption process.
My father had used his wealth to track the baby down and secretly push her through a private agency.
But fate intervened, and Greg and I ended up adopting the little girl my sister threw away.
Suddenly, headlights swept across our living room windows.
May you like
A black luxury sedan pulled up to our curb.
My parents had arrived.
