Chapter 14 - EMILY’S SECOND LETTER
The second letter was read at the Bennett mansion six weeks later.
Lucas sat with Lily, Clara, Rose, David, Hannah, Margaret, and Sophia.
Emily had written separate sections to each daughter.
To Clara, she wrote that the day she discovered her first baby survived was both joyful and devastating.
She promised she would never stop searching.
To Lily and Rose, she wrote that they had entered the world holding hands.
She described Lily as loud and determined.
Rose had been quiet and observant.
Richard separated them before Emily regained consciousness.
Eleanor convinced her that Rose had died.
To Lucas, Emily wrote about betrayal.
You will blame yourself for trusting Richard.
Do not.
Trust is not the crime.
What he did with your trust is the crime.
But when the truth reaches you, act.
Do not protect the Bennett name.
Protect the children who were harmed by it.
Lucas stopped reading.
Tears fell onto the pages.
Clara took the letter and continued.
Emily’s final request was that the Bennett estate be converted into a home for families searching for children taken through fraudulent adoptions.
She wanted the family fortune used to reunite people rather than control them.
Lily wiped her eyes.
“We should do it.”
Clara looked around the mansion.
“You want strangers living here?”
“They won’t be strangers.”
“They will be looking for their families.”
Rose raised her hand hesitantly.
“Can the garden stay?”
Lucas smiled through his grief.
“Yes.”
“The garden stays.”
Sophia touched the old photograph of Emily.
“She knew she might die.”
Margaret shook her head.
“She believed Lucas would eventually find the truth.”
Lucas looked toward the staircase where the wedding had ended.
Emily had trusted him.
He had failed to question the lies soon enough.
He could not change that.
He could decide what the mansion became next.
The following morning, workers removed the wedding decorations.
May you like
The white roses were replaced with yellow flowers.
Emily’s favorite color.
