Gabriella placed an old document on the table.
At the bottom was a name Margaret recognized immediately.
Eleanor Whitmore.
Margaret vaguely remembered Anthony mentioning that name decades ago.
Then Gabriella revealed something shocking:
The house they had bought in 1982 may have belonged to Eleanor’s family long before Margaret and Anthony ever lived there.
An old photograph showed a young Anthony standing outside the house beside a woman Margaret had never seen.
On the back, Anthony had written:
“For Elena. For our daughter.”
Edward stared at the photograph.
“Dad had a daughter?”
Gabriella shook her head.
“No.”
Then she explained that Anthony had secretly spent decades investigating the house’s history and communicating with Elena Whitmore’s family.
Margaret was devastated.
Why had Anthony hidden all of this from her?
Before Gabriella could explain, the doorbell rang.
A woman named Claire Bennett was standing outside.
She said her mother was Elena Whitmore.
And she had something Anthony had left behind.
A recording.
Margaret pressed play.
Then Anthony’s voice filled the room.
And his first words changed everything.