Mark stood up off the floor so fast his knees popped.
The shock in his chest instantly transformed into a burning rage.
He spun around to face Eleanor, who had backed against the wall.
Mark: Who is that child inside my wall, Eleanor?
Eleanor's eyes darted frantically toward the open front door of the house.
Eleanor: Mark, listen to me, I can explain everything!
Mark: You have been keeping a child hidden in this house?
Eleanor: She isn't supposed to be here today!
Mark grabbed his phone from his dark suit jacket pocket instantly.
His hands shook violently as he unlocked the bright screen.
Mark: I am calling the police and an ambulance right now.
Eleanor: No, Mark, if you call them, the trust fund is gone!
Mark stopped typing the digits and glared at his wife coldly.
Mark: What does a trust fund have to do with this girl?
Eleanor swallowed hard, her voice trembling with intense panic.
Eleanor: She is your daughter from your first marriage, Mark.
Mark stared at her, feeling his head spin in total confusion.
Six years ago, his first wife had passed away in a hospital.
He had been told their newborn baby girl had not survived either.
He had spent years grieving a child he thought he lost.
Mark: My daughter died six years ago in the medical clinic.
Eleanor: She didn't die! I paid the nurses to say she did!
Mark stepped closer, his teeth clenched in unbelievable fury.
Mark: You lied to me about my own baby's death?
Eleanor: Your late wife left her family inheritance strictly to her child!
Eleanor: If that child lived, you wouldn't control the estate!
Eleanor: I hid her away so we could keep control of the money!
Mark felt a wave of absolute disgust wash over his entire soul.
The woman he married had stolen his child's entire life for wealth.
He pointed a shaking finger toward the front door of the mansion.
Mark: Get out of my sight before I lose control completely.
Eleanor: Mark, we have a family together, think about Lily!
Mark: You locked a small child behind a wooden panel!