I stopped breathing.
The room disappeared.
“What?”
Daniel looked horrified.
“I didn’t read the rest.”
There was more.
I unfolded the paper.
My grandmother’s handwriting continued.
The truth about your mother, your father, and Garrett began before you were born. The family you believe you belong to was built on a secret.
My vision blurred.
At the bottom of the page was one final line.
The woman who knows the truth is alive, and she has been waiting for you to find her.
Then came a name.
A name I had never seen before.
A name that made Detective Ruiz, standing near the doorway, suddenly go completely still.
Because she recognized it.
“Charlotte,” she whispered.
I looked up.
“What?”
She stared at the paper.
“That woman…”
Her voice lowered.
“She was reported missing twenty-eight years ago.”
I looked back at the name.
And for the first time in my life, I wondered if the biggest lie Garrett ever told me was not about money.
