She Played His Dead Wife's Song, And the Billionaire Knew the Truth
Chapter 4 — The Doctor Who Buried A Child
Dr. Adrian Cross looked like a man who had spent years being afraid of footsteps behind him.
He entered the mansion under guard, holding a leather case against his chest. Celeste demanded he be removed at once, but Julian stopped her with one look.
"No," Julian said. "Let him speak."
Cross looked at Lily.
His face collapsed.
"I knew this day would come."
Julian stepped toward him.
"Then start talking."
Cross opened the leather case and removed a sealed envelope.
"Elena did not die in childbirth," he said.
Celeste shouted, "That is a lie."
Cross ignored her.
"She survived long enough to hold her daughter."
Julian's face went still.
For five years, he had lived with the image of Elena dying alone.
Now even that grief had been stolen.
Cross continued.
"Elena overheard Celeste and your half-brother Victor arguing outside her room. Victor wanted control of the Vale estate. As long as you had a living child, he would never get close to the inheritance line. Celeste agreed to help him if he promised her control of the family foundation."
Victor.
Julian's half-brother.
The man who had comforted him at the funeral.
The man who had encouraged him to stop asking questions.
Lily looked frightened.
Julian moved closer to her chair without taking his eyes off Cross.
"Why did you sign the death certificate?"
Cross lowered his head.
"Because they threatened my wife. Because I was a coward. Because Elena begged me to save the baby, and I thought hiding her was the only way."
He handed Julian the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena in a hospital bed, holding newborn Lily against her chest.
On the back, written in Elena's weak handwriting, was one sentence:
Tell Julian I loved him, and tell our daughter the song.
Julian pressed the photo against his chest.
Celeste's voice became cold.
"All of this is meaningless. A dying woman's note. A frightened doctor. A street child with a stolen song."
Nora entered the room at that exact moment.
"The DNA results are in."
No one moved.
Nora looked at Julian first.
Then at Lily.
"She is your daughter."
Celeste's mask finally broke.
She turned toward the door, but guards blocked her.
Then Lily spoke for the first time.
"Where is my mother's ring?"
Everyone looked at her.
Julian frowned. "What ring?"
Lily looked at Celeste's hand.
"The one she wore when she held me."
Celeste slowly lowered her hand.
On her finger was Elena's sapphire wedding ring.
The final lie had been sitting in plain sight for five years.
