Chapter 12 - THE MAN WHO STOLE A DEAD MAN'S NAME
Edward descended the staircase slowly.
He wore a dark wool coat and carried no weapon.
That somehow made him more frightening.
Eleanor stepped backward.
“Stay away from my daughters.”
Edward smiled.
“Your daughters?”
He looked toward Lily and Emily.
“Yes.”
“Then you know who they are.”
“I know exactly who they are.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
“Edward Whitmore?”
Edward laughed.
“That name hasn't belonged to me for years.”
“Then who are you?”
Edward stopped.
“Thomas Reed.”
Daniel stared.
“That was my father's middle name.”
Edward smiled.
“Exactly.”
Eleanor looked at Rebecca.
“Why did he pretend to be Charles?”
Rebecca answered.
“Because Charles trusted him.”
Edward's expression hardened.
“Charles was a fool.”
“You killed him?”
“No.”
Edward looked toward Daniel.
“Your father died naturally.”
“Then why steal his identity?”
“Because he had already stolen mine.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Edward walked toward the fireplace.
“Charles knew our father wanted me to inherit.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because I was born outside the marriage.”
Eleanor's eyes narrowed.
“So the trust excluded you.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you took Charles's identity.”
Edward nodded.
“By the time anyone realized, I controlled everything.”
Margaret had lied.
Daniel had lied.
But Edward seemed almost proud of his lies.
Eleanor asked,
“What do you want from my daughters?”
Edward looked at Lily.
“I want what your family took from me.”
“My children are not property.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“They're evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“That the Whitmore bloodline was never what they claimed.”
Edward reached into his coat.
He removed a photograph.
It showed three infants.
One had a yellow bracelet.
One had blue.
One had white.
Eleanor stared.
“You have the original photograph.”
“Yes.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From the hospital.”
“Why keep it?”
“Because it proves the babies were deliberately separated.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“Who ordered it?”
Edward looked at her.
“Your father.”
Eleanor froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to hide the third child.”
“Why?”
Edward's expression changed.
“Because the third child wasn't his granddaughter.”
Eleanor stared.
“Then whose?”
Edward looked at Daniel.
“Mine.”
The room went silent.
Daniel's face turned white.
“You're lying.”
Edward smiled.
“Am I?”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You never had children.”
“Not officially.”
Eleanor's heart pounded.
“Who was the mother?”
Edward looked at Rebecca.
“Sarah Bennett.”
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
Eleanor suddenly understood.
The seventeen-year-old girl.
Sarah's daughter.
Edward's daughter.
But why had she been hidden?
Edward continued.
“She was born seventeen years ago.”
Eleanor frowned.
“But Sarah supposedly gave birth in 2009.”
“She did.”
“Then how could the girl be seventeen?”
Edward smiled.
“Because the records were altered again.”
Eleanor felt dizzy.
“How many identities does this family have?”
Edward laughed.
“More than you could imagine.”
A sound came from outside.
Cars.
Several cars.
Edward looked toward the window.
“She's here.”
“Who?”
He smiled.
“Margaret.”
Eleanor's stomach tightened.
The front door opened.
Margaret entered with two men.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Mom.”
Margaret ignored him.
She looked at Edward.
“You shouldn't have come back.”
Edward smiled.
“You've been waiting for me.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I've been waiting for the truth to die.”
Eleanor looked between them.
“You know each other.”
Margaret nodded.
“He was the reason everything began.”
Edward laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Eleanor.
“She was.”
Margaret's face went pale.
Eleanor frowned.
“What did I do?”
Edward stepped closer.
“You trusted your father.”
“That isn't a crime.”
“No.”
He looked at Lily.
“But your father trusted the wrong person.”
Margaret suddenly pulled out a small envelope.
“Enough.”
Edward stopped.
Margaret held it up.
“I have the original record.”
Everyone froze.
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Give it to me.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because once you read it, nothing will ever be the same.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“That's already true.”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
For the first time, Eleanor saw genuine fear.
Margaret handed the envelope to Daniel.
“Open it.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he did.
His face changed instantly.
“What?”
Eleanor took the document.
Three names.
Three births.
Three mothers.
But the third baby's father wasn't Edward.
It wasn't Daniel.
It wasn't Eleanor's father.
It was someone else.
Eleanor read the name again.
Her blood ran cold.
She knew that name.
It belonged to the man who had been standing beside her father in old family photographs.
The man everyone believed had died twenty years ago.
Her father's business partner.
Robert Hale.
Daniel stared at her.
“Who is Robert Hale?”
Eleanor whispered,
“My godfather.”
Edward laughed.
“And now you understand.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“What?”
Margaret's voice broke.
“Robert Hale was never your godfather.”
She pointed toward the document.
“He was your biological father.”
Eleanor froze.
The room spun.
Daniel stared at her.
Rebecca covered her mouth.
And Edward quietly said,
“That means Lily, Emily, and the third child are connected to a family you never knew existed.”
Then the lights went out again.
May you like
This time, nobody heard the gunshot.
They heard a child scream.
