Chapter 4 - THE DAUGHTER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEADThe woman introduced herself as Amelia.
She did not cry.
She did not hug Eleanor.
She simply stood in the doorway as though she had rehearsed this moment a thousand times.
Nicholas couldn't stop staring at her.
There was something familiar about her face.
Not enough to prove anything.
Enough to make his heart race.
“Who are you?”
Amelia looked at him.
“I already told you.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“I'm your sister.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Nicholas looked at his mother.
“Is she telling the truth?”
“Yes.”
The word destroyed something inside him.
“You let me believe I was an only child.”
“I thought she was dead.”
“But she wasn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Eleanor looked at Amelia.
“Because someone took her.”
Nicholas turned toward Amelia.
“Who?”
Amelia's eyes hardened.
“Thomas Harrington.”
Amelia told the story slowly.
She had been born four years before Nicholas.
Her mother had been Eleanor.
Her father had been Nicholas's father.
But the family never wanted her.
She was born with a heart condition.
The doctors warned she might not survive infancy.
Thomas Harrington offered to pay for her treatment.
Then he disappeared with her.
Eleanor spent years searching.
By the time she found the hospital records, Amelia had been declared dead.
The death certificate was forged.
Nicholas's father believed she had died.
But Thomas had placed her with another family.
A family in Ohio.
Amelia grew up believing her biological parents had abandoned her.
Then, at twenty-one, she discovered a sealed adoption record.
The name Eleanor Hale appeared.
She began searching.
And eventually found the truth.
Nicholas looked sick.
“Why come back now?”
Amelia looked at him.
“Because Thomas is dead.”
Nicholas frowned.
“What?”
“He died six months ago.”
Eleanor's face changed.
“That's impossible.”
Amelia nodded.
“Exactly.”
Nicholas looked between them.
“What do you mean?”
Amelia opened her purse.
She removed a death certificate.
Thomas Harrington had died six months earlier.
But beneath it was another document.
A bank transfer.
Made yesterday.
From an account bearing his name.
Nicholas stared.
“Someone is using his account.”
Amelia nodded.
“Someone who wants you to think he's dead.”
That evening, they returned to the mansion.
The atmosphere had changed.
The mansion no longer felt like Nicholas's home.
It felt like evidence.
Every room contained possibilities.
Every painting might hide a camera.
Every employee might have been bought.
Every locked drawer might contain another secret.
Nicholas ordered a complete security sweep.
His attorney brought in a private cybersecurity team.
Within hours, they found twelve hidden cameras.
Five microphones.
Two tracking devices.
And one encrypted server beneath the library floor.
Nicholas stared at the equipment.
“How long?”
The technician shook his head.
“Some of these have been here for years.”
Nicholas felt sick.
“Who had access?”
The technician hesitated.
“Your household staff.”
Nicholas looked at Eleanor.
She understood immediately.
“Victoria.”
But then the technician shook his head.
“Not just her.”
He turned the monitor.
A list of user credentials appeared.
Nicholas recognized one name.
His blood ran cold.
Eleanor Hale.
His mother stared at the screen.
“That isn't mine.”
The technician pointed.
“The account was created twelve years ago.”
The exact year Eleanor disappeared.
Nicholas looked at her.
“Did you install these?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
The technician opened another file.
A payment history.
Thousands of dollars had been transferred monthly.
To one recipient.
Nicholas read the name.
Amelia Hale.
He looked at his sister.
She went pale.
“I never received that money.”
Eleanor stepped backward.
Someone had been using Amelia's identity.
Someone had been paying themselves through her name.
Then the server displayed one final folder.
PROJECT MOTHER.
Nicholas opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Eleanor.
Taken that morning.
Standing inside the mansion.
Another photograph.
Amelia.
Another.
Nicholas.
Another.
Victoria.
The final image was Lily, the seven-year-old daughter of the housekeeper who worked for Nicholas.
Nicholas froze.
“Why is she here?”
Nobody answered.
A notification appeared.
SUBJECTS CONFIRMED.
Then another.
PHASE TWO BEGINS FRIDAY.
May you like
Nicholas stared at the screen.
Friday was tomorrow.
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