CHAPTER 4 – THE LIE THAT STARTED THE WAR
CHAPTER 4 – THE LIE THAT STARTED THE WAR
By noon, Bayford had its headline.
LOCAL BILLIONAIRE TAKES IN ABANDONED BABY FOUND AFTER STORM.
The article spread faster than floodwater.
Television stations praised Walter Holloway as a hero.
Social media called him "the billionaire with a heart."
Thousands shared the story.
Very few asked the question that mattered most.
Where was Emma's mother?
Caroline saw the article from the motel lobby television.
She couldn't look away.
The camera showed Walter carrying Emma into his home.
He looked awkward.
Protective.
Terrified.
Exactly the way she had hoped.
Tears streamed silently down Caroline's face.
"Thank you," she whispered to the screen.
Then she turned away before anyone noticed her crying.
Back at Holloway Manor...
Walter hired a pediatric nurse for temporary help.
Her name was Sofia Ramirez.
Within five minutes she noticed something.
"This baby has excellent routines."
Walter looked surprised.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone loved her."
She lifted Emma gently.
"See how she settles when she's held this way?"
Walter nodded.
"Someone carried her constantly."
Sofia smiled sadly.
"Babies don't learn security by accident."
Walter thought about the handwritten note.
Whoever Emma's mother was...
She hadn't abandoned love.
She had abandoned hope.
At headquarters...
Victoria made a different plan.
She wasn't cruel.
At least, she didn't think she was.
She believed she was protecting her father.
Protecting the company.
Protecting their reputation.
Which made the next decision much easier to justify.
She hired a private investigator.
"I want everything."
The investigator nodded.
"About whom?"
"The baby's mother."
"If she's missing?"
"Find her."
"And if she doesn't want to be found?"
Victoria's expression hardened.
"Everyone wants something."
Forty-eight hours later...
The investigator called.
"I found a lead."
Victoria closed her office door.
"I'm listening."
"A woman named Caroline Bennett."
"Go on."
"Twenty-six."
"No criminal history."
"Former nursing assistant."
"Recently unemployed."
"Medical debt."
"Shelter records."
"Possible postpartum depression."
Victoria leaned back.
"So she's unstable."
The investigator hesitated.
"I didn't say that."
"You implied it."
"No."
"I said she asked for help repeatedly."
Victoria barely heard him.
An opportunity had already formed in her mind.
If the public believed Emma's mother had willingly abandoned her...
Then no one would question Walter keeping the child.
If the mother returned...
Everything became complicated.
Very complicated.
Victoria picked up her phone.
"Prepare a statement."
"What kind?"
"A statement saying the family supports the legal adoption process."
The investigator frowned.
"The mother hasn't surrendered her parental rights."
Victoria looked out the window.
"She left the baby."
"Legally that isn't the same thing."
Victoria smiled without warmth.
"It will be by the time I'm finished."
That evening...
Walter rocked Emma to sleep while soft piano music played through a speaker in the nursery.
Within seconds...
Emma relaxed.
He remembered the note.
She likes music before she sleeps.
He looked down at the tiny child sleeping against his shoulder.
Somewhere...
A mother knew this exact lullaby worked.
Somewhere...
A woman was probably wondering whether her daughter had eaten.
Whether she was warm.
Whether anyone had held her when she cried.
Walter quietly made a promise.
"I don't know who you are."
He gently tucked the blanket around Emma.
"But if you're alive..."
"I'll make sure she knows you loved her."
Outside the nursery door...
Victoria had just arrived.
She heard every word.
And in that instant, she realized something dangerous.
If Walter ever met Emma's mother...
He might help reunite them.
May you like
And Victoria had already decided...
That could never happen.
