The three hour drive down toward the gulf coast was filled with quiet tension.
Mark focused his eyes on the highway while Lily slept softly in her car seat.
He kept thinking about the morning he received news of Sarah's supposed tragic death.
The grief had almost broken his spirit until he chose to live for Lily.
Now he discovered that the woman he grieved had abandoned them for money.
He pulled the car up to a small blue beach cottage listed on the electric bill.
The yard was simple with potted flowers lined up along the front porch steps.
Mark unbuckled Lily and walked up the front wooden steps with a heavy heart.
He knocked firmly on the front door while holding his breath in suspense.
A woman with short brown hair opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks.
It was Sarah, looking older and wearing plain clothes instead of designer dresses.
Sarah: Mark... how did you ever find this place?
Mark: Vanessa's greed finally exposed your sick secret scheme.
Sarah looked down at six year old Lily and tears immediately filled her eyes.
Sarah: Oh my goodness, Lily has grown so much bigger.
Mark: Do not step any closer to my daughter right now!
Sarah: Please let me explain why I had to disappear back then!
Mark: You let us believe you were dead for three long years!
Sarah stepped aside and invited them into the small living room with shaking hands.
Sarah: Dangerous people were coming after our family because of my debts.
Mark: We could have fought them together as a real family!
Sarah: Vanessa convinced me that you two were safer without my troubles.