The Name From The Past

Margarethe: Sarah... You're telling me Sarah is your mother?

Child: Yes, ma'am. Sarah Miller. She's in the city hospital right now.

Margarethe: That's impossible... She vanished without a trace. The police closed the case years ago!

Child: My mom said she had to run away a long time ago because bad people were trying to hurt her.

Margarethe: Run away? From this house? From me?

Child: She told me she lost her family's trust fund and everything they owned because of a bad contract her uncle made her sign.

Margarethe's face drained of all color as the old family legal battles flooded back into her memory—the disputed inheritance, the foreclosed family estate, and the corrupt relatives who took everything.

Margarethe: Her uncle... Richard... He told me Sarah ran off with the trust fund money herself!

Child: My mom never had any money! We lived in a tiny apartment on the edge of town! She worked three jobs just to buy groceries!

Margarethe: He lied to me... He set her up so he could claim the whole estate settlement for himself!

Child: Can I have my mom's locket back now, please?

Margarethe stared down at the small girl, her stern posture beginning to crumble under the weight of a sudden, terrifying realization.

Margarethe: Who are you? What is your name, child?

Child: My name is Lily.

Margarethe: Lily... Sarah's baby...

Child: My mom said if anything ever happened to her, I should look for the big iron gates with the crest on them, but I was too scared to knock on the door.

Margarethe: She told you to come here?

Child: She said the lady in the big mansion might help me, but then you yelled at me and pushed me down...

Margarethe looked down at her own hands, suddenly horrified by the cruelty she had just shown to a child standing on her doorstep.

Margarethe: Oh God... What have I done?

Child: Are you going to call the police on me now?

Margarethe: No... No, little one. I'm not calling the police.

Margarethe's thumb pressed firmly against the small latch on the side of the gold locket. With a soft click, the casing opened up.