Chapter 13: The Mother Who Never Died
The metal door opened with a mechanical click.
Nobody moved.
My mother's face was still burned into my memory from the monitor. The same woman who had kissed my forehead before school, attended my wedding, and supposedly died four years earlier was standing somewhere inside this building.
And Daniel was alive.
I wanted to run toward him.
I wanted to scream at her.
But the words coming through the speaker stopped me.
"Which one of you was never supposed to be born?""
Adrian's voice echoed through the basement.
Arthur stepped in front of Margaret.
"Show yourself.""
A soft laugh came through the speaker.
"Still pretending to be the head of this family, Arthur?""
A door opened at the far end of the corridor.
A man stepped into the light.
He was in his early fifties, wearing a dark suit and a white shirt. His hair was neatly combed. His face was thin, with a small scar near his left ear.
The same scar I had noticed in the photograph.
He carried a folder.
"Hello, Mother.""
Margaret's face crumpled.
"Adrian.""
He looked at her without affection.
"You look older.""
"Please. We can talk.""
"We've had twenty years to talk.""
He turned toward me.
"And you must be Nia.""
I stepped forward.
"Where is Daniel?""
Adrian smiled.
"Always Daniel.""
"Answer me.""
"He's alive. For now.""
Emily moved closer to me.
"Why are you doing this?""
Adrian examined her face.
"Because everyone in this family has spent years pretending that children are possessions.""
Emily lifted her chin.
"I'm not yours.""
His smile disappeared.
"You're right. You're not.""
He looked at Vanessa.
"Although your mother did accept quite a lot of money to keep you.""
Vanessa flinched.
"Stop.""
Adrian opened the folder.
"Would you like to see the original records?""
He spread several documents across the desk.
I recognized the hospital register immediately.
But there was something else.
A birth certificate.
Three names.
Three dates.
Three separate identities.
Then I saw a fourth document.
It was a consent form.
My name appeared at the top.
But the signature wasn't mine.
"What's this?"" I asked.
Adrian pointed to it.
"Your mother's authorization.""
I stared.
"She signed for me?""
"She signed everything.""
Margaret stepped forward.
"Adrian, please.""
He ignored her.
"Your mother believed she was doing something noble. She thought the clinic could create a perfect family by moving children between people who wanted them.""
I looked at Margaret.
"Is that true?""
She nodded through her tears.
"Your mother came to me when she discovered the first pregnancy had been manipulated. She wanted to keep the baby safe.""
"By giving her to Vanessa?""
"Yes.""
"Then what happened to Lily?""
Margaret looked toward Arthur.
"Your mother wanted another child for you. She believed you deserved to be a mother.""
I felt sick.
"She had no right.""
"I know.""
Adrian tapped the second document.
"Your mother and Dr. Whitmore arranged the second transfer. Vanessa's eggs were used.
The embryo was implanted in you. Daniel was deliberately kept unaware until after Lily's birth.""
I turned toward Vanessa.
She was crying.
"Why would Mother agree to that?""
Adrian answered.
"Because she wanted to give you something she believed you had lost.""
I stared at him.
"And you?""
His expression hardened.
"I wanted to know why my own mother had given me away.""
Margaret began sobbing.
"You were never given away.""
Adrian laughed.
"Really? Then explain why I was raised by a doctor who told me my parents were dead.""
Arthur looked down.
I suddenly understood something.
Adrian wasn't simply angry about the inheritance.
He had grown up believing his entire existence was an accident nobody wanted.
But that didn't excuse what he had done.
"You could have found your family," I said.
"I did.""
"You could have spoken to Daniel.""
"I tried.""
"Then why did you arrange his accident?""
Adrian's face went still.
"I didn't.""
The answer surprised me.
"What?""
He closed the folder.
"I arranged for Daniel to be frightened. I wanted him to understand what it felt like to lose everything. I never intended for him to die.""
Arthur stepped forward.
"Then who did?""
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
"Someone who wanted the three brothers to disappear permanently.""
Margaret whispered, "Ethan.""
Adrian nodded.
"Ethan discovered that I was preparing to expose the clinic. He thought I wanted the inheritance. He believed Daniel would help me.""
I shook my head.
"Then why did you help him?""
"Because I needed him to believe I was on his side.""
"Did you know Daniel survived?""
Adrian nodded.
"I found him after the accident. He was badly injured. I moved him somewhere safe.""
"Why didn't you bring him home?""
"Because Ethan was watching.""
I looked at the monitor.
"And my mother?""
Adrian's expression changed.
"Your mother has been working with me.""
"Why?""
"Because she knows the truth about the triplets.""
I stared at Margaret.
She was shaking her head.
"Adrian, don't.""
He turned toward her.
"Tell them.""
Margaret closed her eyes.
Then she whispered, "Daniel wasn't Arthur's biological son.""
Arthur froze.
"What?""
Margaret began crying.
"Neither were Ethan or Adrian.""
The room went silent.
I looked at the three birth records.
"Then whose children were they?""
Margaret turned toward me.
"Your mother's.""
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"My mother?""
"She was involved with Dr. Whitmore before she married your father.""
I stumbled backward.
Arthur stared at Margaret.
"You knew?""
"Yes.""
"All these years?""
Margaret nodded.
"Your mother gave birth to the triplets. Dr. Whitmore arranged for them to be placed with different families. Arthur believed they were his sons because Margaret told him they were.""
I couldn't breathe.
My mother had given birth to the three men whose lives had become tangled with mine.
Daniel.
Ethan.
Adrian.
And she had spent years controlling the truth.
I looked at Adrian.
"Why are you telling us this now?""
He pointed toward the corridor.
"Because your mother is ready to tell you herself.""
A door opened behind him.
My mother stepped into the room.
She looked older, thinner, but unmistakably alive.
She stared at me.
"Nia.""
I couldn't move.
She took one step forward.
"Sweetheart, I can explain.""
I shook my head.
"Don't call me that.""
Her eyes filled.
"I know you're angry.""
"Angry?""
My voice cracked.
"You let me bury you. You let me mourn my husband. You let my children grow up believing things that weren't true.""
She lowered her head.
"I was trying to protect you.""
I laughed bitterly.
"That's what everyone says.""
She approached slowly.
"I need you to understand one thing. Daniel is not the only person who was hurt by all this.""
I looked at her.
"Then tell me the truth.""
She took a breath.
"The triplets were not the first children involved in the clinic.""
She reached into her coat and removed a photograph.
It showed a newborn baby.
A little girl.
A hospital bracelet was wrapped around her wrist.
My mother's handwriting appeared on the back.
*NIA — 1989.*
I stared at the photograph.
"That's me.""
She nodded.
"Yes.""
May you like
Then she said the words I had never imagined hearing.
"You were the first child the clinic created.""
