PART 17 – The Call I Had Been Waiting For Finally Came, but I Was Still Not Prepared for What the Lawyer Wanted to Discuss

I had almost convinced myself that the lawyer would need several more days.

Then my telephone rang.

I recognized his number immediately.

For a moment, I simply stared at the screen.

I had spent so much time waiting for this call.

Now that it had arrived, I felt nervous about answering.

I picked up.

"Mrs. Wilson, it's me."

His voice sounded serious.

He told me he had continued reviewing the additional documents.

I sat down.

I wanted to hear what he had discovered.

He explained that he had been examining the records connected to Lily's five previous adoption attempts.

I asked whether he had found anything else.

He paused.

I could hear him turning pages.

He told me that he wanted to discuss the information carefully because he didn't want me to misunderstand what the records established.

I gripped the telephone.

"Have you figured out why those families withdrew?"

He didn't give me a simple answer.

Instead, he explained that the documents needed to be considered together rather than separately.

I understood that much.

But I was tired of waiting.

I wanted to know what had happened.

He asked whether I could come to his office again.

I agreed.

After ending the call, I looked toward Lily.

She was still the little girl I had brought home.

Nothing about her had changed.

But I knew that the questions surrounding her adoption were not going to disappear.

I collected my things.

Before leaving, I made sure everything at home was settled.

Then I took my keys.

The drive brought back memories of my first visit to his office.

I remembered sitting across from him while he opened the folder.

I remembered reading the third page.

I remembered how frightened I had been.

This time, I wanted to be calmer.

I wanted to listen before reacting.

I wanted to understand every detail.

When I arrived, the lawyer welcomed me into his office.

The folder was there again.

I recognized it immediately.

He had arranged several documents on his desk.

I sat down.

He explained that he had been trying to establish how the additional records related to the earlier adoption attempts.

I asked him whether the five families had all received the same information.

He explained that he was still examining what could be confirmed.

I didn't want an uncertain answer.

So I waited.

He looked at me.

Then he said that the discovery raised important questions about the information available during the adoption process.

I felt my stomach tighten.

I asked whether he believed I should have been told about the documents before Lily came home.

He didn't rush to answer.

He explained that he needed to distinguish between what had been formally included in the records and what the newly discovered papers actually established.

I nodded.

I wanted him to be precise.

This was not an ordinary disagreement about paperwork.

It concerned my daughter.

He opened the folder.

I looked at the pages.

The same documents that had frightened me during our first meeting were now arranged in front of us.

I took a slow breath.

I was ready to listen.

Click here to continue reading: PART 18: I Finally Asked the Question That Had Followed Me Since the First Visit, and the Lawyer Returned to the Missing Third Page