Her Buried Baby Returned Eight Years Later
CHAPTER 2 - The Funeral Without a Body
Eight years earlier, Amelia was married to Nathan Hawthorne.
They met at university and married despite Beatrice's objections.
Beatrice believed Amelia's family lacked the social position required of a Hawthorne wife. She treated Amelia politely in public and cruelly in private.
When Amelia became pregnant, Beatrice's behavior changed.
The first Hawthorne grandchild would inherit thirty percent of a family trust. Until the child turned eighteen, both parents would control the voting rights attached to those shares.
Beatrice had managed the Hawthorne company since her husband's death.
Lily's birth would end her absolute control.
Amelia went into labor early while Nathan was attending a business conference overseas.
The delivery was difficult. Amelia suffered serious bleeding and lost consciousness shortly after holding her daughter.
When she woke, Beatrice was beside her bed.
"The baby didn't survive."
Amelia screamed until nurses sedated her.
Beatrice arranged a private funeral with a sealed coffin. She claimed the baby's condition was too severe for viewing.
Nathan returned the following day.
He believed the same lie.
Neither parent saw Lily's body.
Their grief slowly destroyed their marriage.
Beatrice told Nathan that Amelia blamed him for being absent. She told Amelia that Nathan wanted to forget the baby and start again.
Letters between them disappeared.
Arguments replaced comfort.
Within eighteen months, Amelia and Nathan divorced.
Nora's letter revealed the truth.
Beatrice paid a clinic administrator to create false death records. Nora was told that Amelia had signed private adoption papers and wanted no future contact.
Nora raised Lily with genuine love.
Years later, while applying for Lily's passport, she discovered that the adoption number belonged to another child.
She confronted Beatrice.
Beatrice threatened to have Lily taken away.
Nora remained silent out of fear, but she began gathering evidence.
She kept payment receipts, clinic records, and a recording of her confrontation with Beatrice.
After Nora became ill, her younger brother, Calvin, moved into her home. He took control of her money and treated Lily as a burden.
When Nora died, Calvin sold the house and placed Lily in foster care. He kept the survivor benefits intended for the child.
Lily ran away carrying the watch and the letter.
Amelia contacted the police and child protection services. She also called Nathan.
He arrived at the restaurant within an hour.
When he saw Lily, he stopped in the doorway.
The child looked like Amelia, but the small dimple beside her mouth belonged to him.
Nathan knelt several feet away.
"Did your mother ever tell you about your father?"
Lily nodded.
"She said he might not know I was alive."
Nathan began crying.
Amelia handed him Nora's letter.
He read his mother's name and covered his face.
"She watched us bury an empty coffin."
Amelia's voice hardened.
"She watched us blame each other while she raised her company on our daughter's inheritance."
Nathan looked toward the door.
Beatrice's car was gone.
But she left something behind.
The waiter found a mobile phone beneath the table nearest the entrance.
The screen displayed a message Beatrice had just received.
Calvin has the girl. Destroy the watch before she talks.
Nathan slowly raised his head.
Calvin had not merely mistreated Lily.
He had been working for Beatrice.
The child had escaped foster care, but the people who profited from her disappearance were still trying to take her back.
