Chapter 3: The Name He Never Knew
Mr.
Oleso knelt beside the girl, but she stepped back until her shoulders touched the wall.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Lily.”
“Lily what?”
Her eyes moved toward the woman in magenta.
“Mama said my full name is Lily Elena Oleso.”
The room went silent.
“Daniel, don’t listen to her,” the woman said.
“Someone coached this child.”
Daniel looked up at his wife.
“Vanessa, who brought her here?”
“She appeared at the gate two days ago.
I was trying to find out where she belonged.”
“In a pet bowl?” Ruth asked.
Vanessa pointed at the maid.
“You will not speak to me that way in my house.”
Daniel stood.
“Answer the question.”
“I already did.”
Lily bent down and began gathering the spilled rice with her fingers.
Daniel gently caught her wrists.
“No,” he said.
“You never have to eat from the floor again.”
“But Mrs.
Oleso said—”
“I’m Mrs.
Oleso,” Vanessa interrupted.
“And this girl has been lying since she arrived.”
Lily’s chin trembled.
“Mama told me Mrs.
Oleso would be kind.”
Daniel removed his coat and wrapped it around her narrow shoulders.
“Where is your mother?”
“At St.
Anne’s Hospital.”
Vanessa’s hand tightened around Ruth’s phone.
Daniel stared at Lily.
“What is your mother’s name?”
“Elena Vale.”
His knees struck the floor before his hands found the edge of the table.
“Elena is alive?”
“She got sick,” Lily whispered.
“She gave me the locket and a letter.
She said if she didn’t wake up, I had to find you.”
“What letter?” Daniel asked.
Lily pointed at Vanessa.
“She took it.”
Vanessa gave a brittle laugh.
“There was no letter.”
“I saw the envelope,” Ruth said.
“It had Mr.
Oleso’s name written across the front.”
“You saw nothing.”
“I saw you put it in your handbag.”
Daniel held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Vanessa dropped Ruth’s phone onto the table.
“I will not be interrogated by my husband in front of the staff.”
“Then we’ll speak privately after you give me Elena’s letter.”
“There is no letter!”
Lily flinched.
Daniel moved between them.
“Ruth, please make Lily something warm.”
“I want to stay with you,” Lily said.
“You can see me from the kitchen table.”
Ruth reached for her hand.
“How does soup sound?”
Lily looked at the scattered rice.
“Am I allowed bread, too?”
Daniel closed his eyes for one second.
“As much as you want.”
While Ruth prepared the food, Daniel called St.
Anne’s Hospital and put the phone on speaker.
“I’m asking about Elena Vale,” he said.
“I was told she is a patient.”
The receptionist paused.
“Your relationship to Ms.
Vale?”
“I may be the father of her child.”
Vanessa moved toward the phone, but Daniel raised one hand.
The receptionist lowered her voice.
“Ms.
Vale is here, but her file says no visitors.
Those instructions came from Mrs.
Oleso.”
Daniel turned slowly.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I was protecting you from a scheme.”
“You knew Elena was alive.”
“I knew a woman was using her name.”
The receptionist spoke again.
“Sir, the contact number on the restriction belongs to someone named Vanessa Oleso.”
Ruth set a bowl of soup before Lily.
Vanessa’s eyes followed every movement.
Daniel picked up his keys.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
“You cannot take that child anywhere,” Vanessa said.
“She came looking for me.”
“And you have no proof she is yours.”
Daniel took Lily’s hand.
Vanessa stepped into the doorway.
“You walk out with her, Daniel, and I call the authorities.”
His phone rang before he could answer.
The hospital’s number appeared on the screen.
“Mr.
Oleso?” a nurse said when he answered.
“Elena Vale has regained consciousness.
She asked for you.”
Daniel’s fingers tightened around the phone.
May you like
“But you need to come quickly,” the nurse continued.
“Someone has just authorized her transfer to another facility.”
