“Forgive Me, Daughter”
Emily paused as she stepped out of her flat, startled by the unfamiliar voice calling her name. “Emily, love, wait Ive been waiting for you all morning. The childrens home gave me your address.”
“Who are you?” Emily asked sharply, glancing at her watch.
“Im Im your dad, Em,” the man said hesitantly, offering a tentative smile.
“Youre mistaken. I dont have a fathernever have.” Her tone was icy as she turned away, hurrying toward her car parked nearby. Outwardly, she kept her composure, but inside, her heart pounded, and her cheeks burned as if on fire.
She slid into the drivers seat, fastened her seatbelt, and started the engine.
“Emily, please, just five minutes! I need to talk to you!” The man rushed toward the car, arms outstretched, but she pulled away, leaving him standing helplessly on the pavement.
Later, at a petrol station, she sipped her coffee and called her husband.
“Tom, some madman showed up at the flat Keep an eye on Jacob when you take him out, alright?” Her voice wavered despite her efforts to sound calm.
“What madman?” Tom chuckled. “Secret admirer, maybe?”
“Not funny. Im heading to work.”
“Alright, love. Dont worryIll watch Jacob like a hawk.”
Emily hung up, her mind racing. Shed grown up without parents, raised in a childrens home after her mothers early death from illness. No relatives had stepped forward, and her father had been a mysteryuntil now.
At lunch, her colleague Sophie noticed her distraction. “Youre miles away today.”
“Just tired,” Emily lied, forcing a smile.
All day, the strangers words haunted her. What if he really was her father? Why appear now, after all these years? By evening, shed convinced herself it didnt mattershe had Tom and little Jacob. That was family enough.
But when she returned home, her stomach dropped. Tom and the stranger sat at the kitchen table.
“Tom, have you lost your mind?” she hissed, fighting tears.
“Emily, just hear him out,” Tom urged. “He didnt know you existed. Your own wordseveryone deserves forgiveness.”
The man, William, spoke gently. “I loved your mother, Anna. We planned to marry, but I was drafted. My mother lied, told me Anna had married someone else. I only learned the truth when my mother confessed on her deathbedthat Anna had you, that shed been alone”
Emilys tears fell freely.
William continued, “I found Annas grave. And then I found you. Ive been alone my whole life but now I have a daughter, a grandson. I want to make things right.”
The next morning, Emily, Tom, and Jacob stood on the train platform. When William approached, Emily met his gaze and smiled for the first time.
As he held Jacob, William whispered, “Forgive me, love.”
Emily wept in his arms, feeling a warmth shed never knownthe love of a parent.
A month later, William returned for good. Emily had forgiven him, and in doing so, found a piece of herself she hadnt known was missing.
Tom squeezed her hand. “You were righteveryone deserves a second chance.”
Emily nodded, smiling through her tears. Some wounds take time to heal, but forgiveness? Thats where healing begins.
