great-recipes.grastyup.com “My uncle once asked me, ‘Are you a virgin?’ when I was already 27 years old. From that moment, I started to be afraid of him. And a few days later, when he took me to a hotel outside the city, he leaned close to my ear by the pool and whispered, ‘After the pool, come up to my room…’”

At the bottom was a handwritten note from my father.

Emily, if you’re reading this, the woman who gave birth to you may still be alive. Find her before the others do.

I stopped breathing.

“She’s alive?”

Richard nodded slowly.

“I received a letter from her two months ago. She said she wanted to see you, but she was afraid someone would stop her.”

“Where is she?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to find out.”

I looked at the address again. Beneath it was a telephone number.

My hands shook so badly that I almost dropped the paper.

I took out my phone and dialed.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Then a woman’s voice answered.

“Hello?”

I couldn’t speak.

“Hello?” she repeated, sounding worried.

I swallowed.

“My name is Emily. I think you knew my father. His name was Daniel.”

Silence.

Then I heard a sharp, broken breath.

“Oh, my God,” the woman whispered. “Emily?”