The Maid Was His Daughter's Real Mother

Emma appeared in the kitchen doorway wearing her blue party dress.

She looked at Sophie.

"Why are you crying?"

No one answered.

Emma had grown close to Sophie during the previous three weeks. Sophie had prepared her favorite lunches, helped with her reading and quietly sang a lullaby Emma remembered from recurring dreams.

Evelyn had noticed that connection.

That was why she forced Sophie into the kitchen before Liam returned.

Liam knelt beside Emma.

"Sweetheart, Sophie knew you when you were a baby."

Emma looked between them.

"Is she my mother?"

Sophie wiped her face.

"I gave birth to you. But Liam is your father. Nothing will ever change that."

Emma approached Sophie carefully.

"Did you leave me?"

"Never."

"Then why didn't you find me?"

Sophie began crying again.

"I thought you were in heaven."

Emma wrapped her arms around her.

Liam turned away, struggling to control his anger.

That evening, a DNA test was arranged. The result confirmed that Sophie was Emma's biological mother.

Evelyn continued defending herself.

"If this becomes public, Emma will lose her stability. Sophie could challenge the adoption and take her away."

Sophie faced Liam.

"I don't want to destroy her family."

"You are her family," he answered.

Liam ordered a complete audit of the Hartwell Foundation. Investigators uncovered payments to the maternity home, the clinic administrator and a private attorney who had manufactured the adoption papers.

They also found letters Sophie had written after learning Emma might be alive.

Every letter had been intercepted by Evelyn's office.

But one discovery confused Liam.

Four years earlier, shortly before Caroline died, she had hired a private investigator to search for Sophie Bennett.

Caroline had uncovered the truth.

Liam searched his late wife's study and found a locked drawer. Inside were photographs of Sophie, copies of the forged adoption documents and a small video drive.

Evelyn tried to take it.

Liam stopped her.

"Why are you afraid of what Caroline left behind?"

He connected the drive to his computer.

Caroline appeared on the screen, visibly weakened by illness.

"If you're watching this, Evelyn has prevented me from telling you the truth."

She held up a folder bearing Sophie's name.

Then she revealed why she had remained silent.

Evelyn had threatened to take Emma away from Liam if Caroline exposed the illegal adoption.