Chapter 17 - THE FOURTH FILE
The word hung in the penthouse like a sentence.
Four.
Eleanor stared at Margaret.
“Four children?”
Margaret nodded.
“Four.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“How could there be four?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Because the fourth was never born at the hospital.”
Eleanor's heart pounded.
“Then where?”
Margaret walked toward the old photograph.
“Your father arranged a private delivery.”
“Why?”
“To keep the birth off the books.”
“Whose child?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Yours.”
Eleanor froze.
“My child?”
“No.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Your father's.”
Eleanor stared.
“Then who was the mother?”
Margaret looked toward Robert.
“Me.”
Silence.
Robert closed his eyes.
Eleanor felt sick.
“You and my father?”
“Yes.”
“Then the fourth child…”
Margaret nodded.
“Was born before you.”
Eleanor couldn't speak.
Margaret continued.
“She was taken away.”
“By whom?”
“Charles Whitmore.”
“Why?”
“Because she carried the same genetic marker.”
Eleanor looked at Lily and Emily.
“So this started before I was born.”
“Yes.”
“How long has this family been doing this?”
Margaret's voice became quiet.
“Generations.”
Eleanor felt overwhelmed.
Then Emily tugged at her sleeve.
“Mommy?”
“What?”
“Can I tell you something?”
Eleanor knelt.
“Of course.”
Emily whispered,
“Grandma showed me a room.”
“What room?”
“A room with lots of pictures.”
“Of whom?”
“Us.”
Eleanor's heart tightened.
“Where?”
Emily pointed toward the hallway.
“Behind the red door.”
Eleanor looked at Margaret.
“You said the red door was in my father's office.”
Margaret nodded.
“Then we're going.”
Daniel followed.
“No.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because that's where everything began.”
“Exactly.”
They left the penthouse before dawn.
The old family property stood outside Philadelphia.
It had been abandoned for years.
The red door was still there.
Eleanor recognized it immediately.
The moment she touched the handle, memories flooded back.
A little girl.
A woman crying.
A man shouting.
A baby crying.
Then her father's voice.
“Take her.”
Eleanor opened the door.
Inside was a small room.
Shelves covered every wall.
Files.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Birth certificates.
Four boxes.
Each marked with a number.
ONE.
TWO.
THREE.
FOUR.
Eleanor opened the first.
It contained her childhood records.
The second contained Lily.
The third contained Emily.
The fourth contained the seventeen-year-old girl.
Eleanor opened it.
The first photograph showed Sarah Bennett.
The second showed Robert.
The third showed a baby.
But the fourth photograph made Eleanor stop.
It showed a fifth child.
A boy.
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
“Who is he?”
Daniel stared.
“I don't know.”
Margaret stepped into the room.
Her face changed.
“That file wasn't supposed to be here.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“Who is the boy?”
Margaret didn't answer.
Robert entered behind her.
He saw the photograph.
His face went white.
“No.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You know him.”
Robert shook his head.
“No.”
“Tell me.”
“That isn't possible.”
“Why?”
Robert stared at the photograph.
“Because he died.”
Eleanor frowned.
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
“Then why is he here?”
Robert didn't answer.
Margaret whispered,
“Because someone recreated his identity.”
Eleanor looked at the file.
“Who?”
Margaret said,
“Edward.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Edward had a son?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Margaret looked toward Eleanor.
“Right now?”
Eleanor waited.
“Probably watching us.”
The lights flickered.
A noise came from the hallway.
Everyone froze.
Then the door slammed shut.
Daniel tried the handle.
Locked.
A voice came through the intercom.
“You shouldn't have opened the fourth file.”
Eleanor recognized it.
Edward.
“You're here.”
“Not exactly.”
“Where is Lily?”
“She is safe.”
“Bring her back.”
“First, you need to understand.”
“What?”
“The fourth child wasn't a person.”
Eleanor frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It was an identity.”
Eleanor stared.
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
The room fell silent.
Edward continued.
“Your father created a false identity for you.”
“Why?”
“To make you disappear.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“From whom?”
“From the people who wanted you dead.”
She looked at Margaret.
“Who?”
Edward laughed.
“Ask your mother.”
Eleanor turned.
Margaret looked devastated.
“You were supposed to become someone else.”
“Who?”
Margaret whispered,
“Sarah Bennett.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
“You wanted me to live as Sarah?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Sarah was protected.”
Eleanor stared.
“Then why didn't you?”
Margaret looked at the floor.
“Because Robert found you first.”
Robert shook his head.
“I saved her.”
“You used her.”
“I loved her.”
“You loved what she represented.”
Eleanor stepped between them.
“Enough.”
She turned toward the intercom.
“Edward, where is Lily?”
A pause.
Then his voice softened.
“She's with the person who can answer the final question.”
“Who?”
“The girl you thought was missing.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
“Emily?”
“No.”
“The seventeen-year-old?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Edward answered,
“Your father.”
Eleanor stared at the speaker.
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the room beneath you.”
Everyone froze.
Jonathan looked at the floor.
“There may be a basement.”
Eleanor looked at Margaret.
“You knew.”
Margaret nodded.
“I knew he survived.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wasn't the same man anymore.”
Eleanor's stomach tightened.
“What happened to him?”
Margaret whispered,
“He became the person who started all of this.”
A hidden panel opened beneath the bookshelf.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Eleanor stared into it.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Don't go down there.”
She looked at him.
“My daughter is down there.”
“We don't know that.”
“I do.”
She took the first step.
Then the second.
The air grew colder.
At the bottom was a steel door.
A small red keyhole sat in the center.
Eleanor took the red key from her pocket.
She hadn't realized she was still carrying it.
She inserted it.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
One screen showed Lily.
She was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Another screen showed Emily.
Another showed the seventeen-year-old girl.
Another showed Margaret.
Another showed Robert.
And another showed Eleanor herself.
A camera had been following her for years.
Eleanor whispered,
“Who is watching us?”
A voice came from behind the monitors.
Her father's voice.
“Your real father.”
Eleanor turned.
An older man stepped from the shadows.
He looked at her.
She recognized him immediately.
Her father.
Alive.
He smiled.
“You finally came home.”
Eleanor couldn't move.
Daniel whispered,
“Dad?”
The man looked at him.
“You're not my son.”
Daniel froze.
The man turned back to Eleanor.
“You are.”
Eleanor's heart pounded.
“You kidnapped Lily.”
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
He pointed toward the largest screen.
Lily looked directly into the camera.
Then she smiled.
“Mommy?”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Lily!”
Her father smiled.
“She has something you need.”
“What?”
He pressed a button.
Lily lifted a small envelope.
Eleanor stared.
The envelope carried her name.
But beneath it was another name.
A name Eleanor had never seen before.
Her father whispered,
“Open it.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because it contains the truth about your birth.”
She stared at the envelope.
Then Lily spoke through the screen.
“Mommy, there's something else.”
“What?”
Lily's face became frightened.
“Grandma told me never to tell you.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
“What did she tell you?”
Lily whispered,
“Daddy isn't Daddy.”
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The screen went black.
And somewhere behind Eleanor, a door locked itself.
