Chapter 2: The Letter That Was Never Meant to Be Found
Darius read the first paragraph again.
Then he read it a third time, as if the words might rearrange themselves into something less horrifying.
The letter was addressed to a woman named Marjorie Wells, the director of a private residential children's facility outside Boston.
It began with a polite greeting.
The rest made Darius's blood run cold.
Dear Ms. Wells,
As discussed, I would like to confirm the arrangements for Kayla Carter's placement. Her father is emotionally attached and may resist the transition, so it is essential that the process be handled discreetly.
I understand that your facility provides structured behavioral intervention for children who demonstrate persistent defiance. Please ensure that no unnecessary contact with outside family members occurs during the initial adjustment period.
I will arrange the required documentation and payment.
Brittany Carter.
Darius lowered the paper.
The room seemed to shrink around him.
“Explain this.””
Brittany stared at the letter.
“Darius, it's not what you think.””
“Then tell me what to think.””
“Kayla has been having behavioral problems.””
“She is six!””
“She throws tantrums. She refuses instructions. She cries whenever anyone corrects her.””
“She cried because you shaved her head!””
Brittany's mouth tightened.
“That was a mistake.””
“A mistake?”” He held up the letter.
“You were planning to send my daughter away!””
“I was exploring an option.””
“An option?””
“Please stop shouting.””
Darius laughed once, without humor.
“You were prepared to send my child to a facility without telling me, and you're worried about my volume?””
Kayla stood beside Evelyn, clutching the older woman's hand.
She had stopped crying, but every raised voice made her shoulders jump.
Darius noticed.
He lowered his voice immediately.
“Mom, take Kayla downstairs. Please.””
Evelyn studied him.
“Darius, I don't want to leave you alone with her.””
“Neither do I,” he replied, looking directly at Brittany.
“But my daughter needs to get out of this room.””
Evelyn nodded.
She wrapped her cardigan around Kayla's shoulders and led her toward the door.
As they passed Brittany, Kayla shrank against her grandmother.
Brittany noticed and let out an exasperated sigh.
“Honestly, Kayla, I'm not going to hurt you.””
The little girl flinched.
Darius turned so sharply that Brittany stopped speaking.
“Don't talk to her.””
“But she's acting as though I'm some kind of monster!””
“Then stop behaving like one.””
Evelyn guided Kayla out.
At the doorway, the little girl looked back at her father.
“Daddy?””
He immediately softened.
“Yes, princess?””
“Can I sleep in your room tonight?””
Darius felt something twist painfully inside his chest.
“Every night you want to, sweetheart.””
“Even if my hair looks funny?””
He crossed the room and crouched in front of her.
“Especially then.””
Kayla touched the side of her head.
“Will you still do our princess appointments?””
Darius swallowed.
“Of course. We'll find a way to make them special.””
She nodded, then disappeared down the hallway with Evelyn.
When the door closed, Darius turned back to Brittany.
“Sit down.””
She stared at him.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
For a moment, she seemed ready to argue. Then she lowered herself onto the edge of the velvet chair Kayla had occupied minutes earlier.
The sight made Darius's stomach turn.
He placed the letter on the vanity.
“How long have you been arranging this?””
Brittany crossed her legs.
“I spoke to Marjorie twice.””
“When?””
“Last week.””
“Last week?””
“She has a waiting list. I wanted to understand the process before making any decisions.””
“You made a decision when you started discussing my daughter with strangers behind my back.””
“I am not a stranger to this family!””
“You are her aunt by marriage. You are not her mother.””
Brittany's eyes flashed.
“And what exactly have you been doing as her father? Working until midnight? Missing dinner? Leaving me to manage the household and your daughter's behavior?””
Darius went still.
There it was.
The accusation she had been waiting to make.
He had worked late. He had missed school performances and once arrived halfway through a parent-teacher meeting. Since his first wife, Olivia, died four years earlier, he had buried himself in work more often than he wanted to admit.
He had hired tutors, nannies, and housekeepers. He had bought Kayla a beautiful bedroom and filled it with toys.
But he had never believed money could replace a parent.
He had tried to be there whenever he could.
And Brittany knew exactly which regrets to use against him.
“You wanted to send her away because I work too much?”” he asked.
“I wanted to help her.””
“By shaving her head?””
Brittany looked away.
“I lost my temper.””
“You frightened her. You humiliated her. Then you made her believe I wouldn't love her anymore.””
“I didn't mean—”
“You said those words to a six-year-old.””
Brittany's voice hardened.
“She needs to understand that the world doesn't revolve around her.””
Darius leaned forward.
“The world doesn't have to revolve around my daughter. But she deserves to feel safe in her own home.””
He picked up the letter.
“And this?””
Brittany pressed her fingers together.
“The facility specializes in difficult children.””
“Kayla is not a difficult child.””
“She has been acting out since you started letting her sleep in Olivia's old room.””
The name of his first wife landed between them like a slap.
Darius stared at Brittany.
“Leave Olivia out of this.””
“I'm simply saying that you have never allowed this family to move on.””
“Move on from what?””
“From a dead woman!””
The words burst out of Brittany before she could stop them.
Silence followed.
Darius's face became frighteningly still.
Brittany quickly stood.
“I didn't mean it like that.””
“You used my daughter's dead mother to justify sending her away?””
“She needs stability!””
“She has a home.””
“She has a father who barely has time for her!””
“And she has a stepmother who apparently cannot be trusted alone with her.””
Brittany recoiled as if he had struck her.
“I'm your wife.””
“Yes,” Darius replied.
“And I am beginning to wonder how well I know you.””
He folded the letter and placed it inside his jacket.
“Until I understand exactly what you've been doing, you will not be alone with Kayla.””
Brittany stared at him.
“You cannot be serious.””
“I am completely serious.””
“You can't throw me out of my own home over a misunderstanding!””
“This is my home, Brittany. And Kayla's. You can stay in the guest wing while we sort this out, but you will not approach her without my permission.””
Her face flushed.
“You are going to regret humiliating me like this.””
Darius walked toward the door.
“No, Brittany. The only thing I regret is not seeing this sooner.””
He left her standing beside the vanity.
For several seconds, Brittany did not move.
Then she grabbed her handbag and pulled out her phone.
Her fingers shook as she searched her contacts.
She selected a number saved under a single letter.
*M.*
The call connected on the fourth ring.
“You found the letter?”” a woman's voice asked.
“No,” Brittany whispered.
“Darius did.””
There was a pause.
“What did he read?””
“Everything.””
“Did he see the attachment?””
Brittany froze.
“What attachment?””
The woman on the other end fell silent.
Then she said, very carefully, “Brittany, tell me you didn't leave the second document in that envelope.””
Brittany looked down at the empty space beneath her handbag.
Her stomach dropped.
“What second document?””
The woman's breathing changed.
“Listen to me. If Darius has that document, we have a much bigger problem than the placement arrangement.””
Brittany pressed a hand against her mouth.
“What does it say?””
But the call ended.
She stared at her phone, then rushed toward the door.
She had to find the document before Darius did.
Because the letter about sending Kayla away was only the beginning.
May you like
And the paper she had forgotten inside that envelope contained a name she had spent four years trying to keep out of the Carter mansion.
A name that belonged to a woman who was supposed to be dead.
