Chapter 13 - THREE DAUGHTERS, THREE IDENTITIES
When the emergency lights came back on, Lily was gone.
Eleanor screamed her name.
“Lily!”
Emily stood beside Claire, crying.
Daniel rushed toward the hallway.
“Lily!”
Nothing.
The back door was open.
Cold air rushed through the cabin.
Eleanor ran outside.
Footprints led toward the lake.
She followed them.
“Lily!”
Her voice echoed across the frozen water.
Then she saw a small yellow coat near the trees.
She ran toward it.
It was Lily's.
But Lily wasn't wearing it.
Eleanor stopped.
Her heart pounded.
Someone had taken her.
Behind her, Daniel arrived.
“We'll find her.”
Eleanor turned.
“This is your fault.”
“I know.”
“You let them control everything.”
“I know.”
“You lied about my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then fix it.”
Daniel looked at the lake.
“I will.”
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Eleanor looked at her phone.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Where is my daughter?”
A man's voice replied.
“She's safe.”
“Who are you?”
“You know me.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
“Edward?”
“No.”
The voice paused.
Then said,
“Robert.”
Eleanor felt the world disappear beneath her.
“Robert Hale?”
“Yes.”
“My godfather.”
A quiet laugh.
“That's what your family called me.”
“Where is Lily?”
“With someone who knows what she really is.”
“Give her back.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
The voice became colder.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What is it about?”
“Blood.”
The call ended.
Eleanor stared at the phone.
Rebecca walked toward her.
“Who was it?”
“Robert Hale.”
Rebecca's face went white.
“He's alive.”
Eleanor nodded.
“And he has Lily.”
Daniel clenched his fists.
“We need to find him.”
Edward stepped out of the cabin.
“He wants you to find him.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because he wants the final child.”
Eleanor's heart pounded.
“What final child?”
Edward looked toward Emily.
“No.”
Eleanor stepped in front of her.
Edward shook his head.
“Not Emily.”
“Then who?”
“The third girl.”
Eleanor stared.
“She is already seventeen.”
Edward nodded.
“And Robert believes she belongs to him.”
Eleanor remembered the girl.
Sarah.
The seventeen-year-old.
The girl who had walked into the mansion holding a photograph.
She wasn't just a witness.
She was the third child.
But if she was seventeen, then the timeline was wrong.
Eleanor looked at Rebecca.
“Explain the dates.”
Rebecca nodded.
“The birth records were altered.”
“How?”
“Sarah Bennett gave birth in 2009.”
“To the girl we met.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“Sarah disappeared.”
“Where?”
“Canada.”
Eleanor frowned.
“Why?”
“To protect her daughter.”
“From whom?”
“Robert Hale.”
Eleanor felt sick.
“What did Robert want?”
“The child.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed she was the key to controlling the Whitmore fortune.”
Eleanor looked at Edward.
“And you?”
Edward smiled.
“I wanted the truth.”
“You kidnapped Lily.”
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
Edward looked toward Daniel.
“Your brother.”
Eleanor froze.
“I don't have a brother.”
Edward laughed.
“That's what you were told.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Don't.”
Eleanor turned toward him.
“What is he talking about?”
Daniel looked away.
“Eleanor…”
“What?”
“I had a brother.”
“Had?”
“He died.”
“When?”
“When I was twelve.”
Edward smiled.
“That's the story.”
Eleanor stared.
“You're saying he's alive.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“I am.”
Everyone turned.
A man stood beside the trees.
He looked remarkably like Daniel.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Same dark hair.
Eleanor stared.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“Michael.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
Michael looked at him.
“Hello, brother.”
Eleanor felt dizzy.
“You knew?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I thought he died.”
Michael laughed.
“That was the point.”
He looked toward Eleanor.
“Robert Hale raised me.”
Eleanor's blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted a replacement.”
“A replacement for Daniel?”
Michael nodded.
“When Daniel became too difficult to control, they needed another son.”
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
“You never told me.”
“I didn't know.”
Michael smiled.
“You didn't know much.”
He stepped closer.
“You were always the good son.”
Daniel looked devastated.
“And you were always the secret.”
Michael nodded.
“Exactly.”
Eleanor's phone rang again.
This time, Lily's voice came through.
“Mommy?”
Eleanor's heart broke.
“Lily!”
“Mommy, I'm okay.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“Are you with Daddy?”
There was silence.
Then Lily whispered,
“Not Daddy.”
“Who is with you?”
A man's voice answered.
“Your father.”
Eleanor froze.
“My father is dead.”
The man laughed.
“Not the father you think.”
The call ended.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
Michael smiled.
“You finally understand.”
“No.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“My father is dead.”
Michael shook his head.
“Your legal father is.”
Eleanor's breath caught.
“Then who is my biological father?”
Michael pointed toward the photograph in her hand.
“Robert Hale.”
Eleanor couldn't move.
The man she had trusted.
The man she had called Uncle Robert.
The man who had supposedly died twenty years ago.
Her biological father.
The father of the third girl.
The man who had Lily.
And suddenly the entire story made terrifying sense.
Robert hadn't been stealing children.
He had been reclaiming them.
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
“Where would he take Lily?”
Daniel whispered,
“Home.”
“Where?”
Michael answered.
“To the place where this family began.”
Eleanor stared.
“Where?”
Michael smiled.
“New York.”
He handed her a folded piece of paper.
An address.
Manhattan.
A penthouse overlooking Central Park.
Eleanor recognized it immediately.
Her father's old apartment.
The one that had been sealed after his death.
She looked at Michael.
“Why are you helping me?”
Michael's expression changed.
“Because Robert doesn't know one thing.”
“What?”
Michael looked toward Emily.
“She isn't the daughter he thinks she is.”
Eleanor froze.
“What does that mean?”
Michael smiled faintly.
“It means the third child isn't the real danger.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Your wife is.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
Before she could respond, Michael disappeared into the trees.
Daniel stared after him.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
COME TO MANHATTAN ALONE.
OR LILY DIES.
Eleanor read it.
Then another message arrived.
May you like
And bring the original birth record.
Because the final page contains your real name.
