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The living room fell silent except for the ticking of the old wall clock. Linda’s mouth tightened into a thin line, while Emily stared at her father in confusion. Archer Sullivan leaned forward, his expression intense.
“What do you mean, you found her?” Archer asked quietly, his cultured voice barely containing his eagerness.
<b>58 </b>
Frank rubbed his weathered hands over his face. “Linda was pregnant with twins. A boy and a girl.” His voice cracked. “The delivery was difficult. The boy… he didn’t make it. Only Emily survived.”
“Linda was unconscious after the delivery. The doctors had given her something strong for the pain.” Frank continued, his voice growing steadier as he finally unburdened himself of the secret he’d carried for nearly two decades. “I went home to get some things–clothes, toiletries–and when I was walking back through the hospital’s rear entrance, I heard a baby crying.”
He took a deep breath, his work shirt stretching across his chest. “There was a cardboard box by the dumpster. Inside was a baby girl–Jade–wrapped in a blue nket. So tiny. So perfect. I couldn’t understand how anyone could just… leave her there.”
“Did you ask around? Report it?” Archer pressed, leaning forward, his expensive suit creasing slightly at the elbows.
Frank nodded. “I asked everyone in the hospital if they knew anything. No one imed her. The security cameras near that exit weren’t working. It was clear she’d been deliberately abandoned.”
“So you just… took her?” Archer’s voice held no judgment, only curiosity.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of her going to a foster home or orphanage. So I convinced a doctor to list her as Linda’s second twin.” Frank looked up, his eyes wet. “By the time Linda woke up from the anesthesia, we told her
she’d had twin girls.”
“You lied to me for eighteen years?” Linda’s voice was dangerously low, her painted nails digging into her forearms.
“I did what I thought was right,” Frank replied, not backing down. “She needed a home. We’d just lost our son. It
felt… meant to be.”
Archer sat back, processing the information. The leather of the couch creaked beneath his weight. “So Jade Morgan isn’t your biological daughter. She was abandoned at birth.” He looked at the medical records in his hands. “The timing matches perfectly with when my brother’s girlfriend disappeared.”
“What happened to your brother?‘ Frank asked, a hint of genuine concern in his voice.
“He died fifteen years ago,” Archer <b>said </b>softly, a sh of old grief crossing his features. “He never knew he had a child. His girlfriend vanished without exnation.”
The assistant who had apanied Archer shifted ufortably by the door, his eyes darting periodically to the window as if expecting trouble.
Archer stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the neighborhood with its cracked sidewalks and chain- link fences. After a moment, he turned back to Frank, his posture straightening as ifing to a decision.
“I want to thank you, Mr. Morgan, for what you did,” he said sincerely. “For taking care of her all these years. For giving her a home when she had none.”
Frank nodded, epting the gratitude with quiet dignity despite his shabby surroundings.
“If she is who I think she is–my brother’s daughter–I promise you she’ll be well provided for,” Archer continued. “The Sullivan family takes care of its own.”
“If she wants to go with you,” Frank said softly, a protective edge to his voice. “It’s her choice. It’s always been her
choice.”
Linda scoffed, the sound harsh in the quiet room. “Choice? What about us? We’ve sacrificed for eighteen years! Fed her, clothed her, put up with her attitude-” Her voice rose with each grievance.
“Linda,” Frank warned, shooting her a silencing look.
Archer reached for his wallet, the ck leather gleaming as he pulled it from his inside pocket. “As I said, the Sullivan family is prepared to show our gratitude.” He pulled out a sleek ck card. “This card contains five million dors as a token of our appreciation for raising her.”
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