Chapter 2 - The Woman Eleanor Was ProtectingArthur spent the entire night reading Eleanor's letters.
The more he learned…
the less he understood.
Eleanor had known Lydia.
She had known about Grace.
She had known about Arthur's condition.
And she had apparently spent years protecting a secret Arthur had never discovered.
At sunrise, Arthur called his private investigator.
“Find Lydia Carter.”
The investigator searched for three hours.
Then called back.
“Sir, there's a problem.”
“What?”
“Lydia Carter doesn't officially exist.”
Arthur frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Her birth records are incomplete.”
“Search harder.”
“I did.”
A pause.
“There is another Lydia Carter.”
“Alive?”
“No.”
Arthur leaned back.
“Then who was the woman in the photograph?”
“I don't know.”
Eli was eating breakfast when Arthur entered the dining room.
For the first time in his life, Arthur noticed how thin a child could become from hunger.
Eli was careful with every bite.
He kept looking at the breadbasket.
Arthur pushed it toward him.
“Take more.”
Eli hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The boy took another piece.
Arthur sat across from him.
“Tell me about your mother.”
Eli's eyes lowered.
“She was kind.”
“Was she sick?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She got worse after Grace was born.”
“Did doctors help?”
“They tried.”
Arthur nodded.
“And your aunt?”
Eli looked up.
“She told Mom to run.”
“From whom?”
Eli became silent.
Arthur waited.
Finally, the boy whispered:
“Bad people.”
“What bad people?”
“I don't know.”
Arthur noticed something.
Eli was lying.
Not because he wanted to deceive him.
Because someone had frightened him.
Arthur knew that expression.
He had seen it in business meetings.
People who knew something dangerous.
People who had been warned to stay silent.
That afternoon, Arthur received another package.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Eleanor standing outside a hospital.
Beside her was Lydia.
And behind them…
Arthur himself.
Twenty-two years earlier.
He was younger.
Standing on his own legs.
His hand rested on Eleanor's shoulder.
Arthur stared at the photograph.
“I was there.”
Margaret nodded.
“Apparently.”
Then Arthur noticed something.
His younger self was holding a newborn baby.
A baby with the same distinctive blanket Grace had arrived in.
Arthur's breathing stopped.
“That's impossible.”
He turned the photograph over.
Written on the back:
The first time he held her.
Arthur looked at Grace.
His hands began shaking.
“What happened that day?”
His investigator returned with an old hospital record.
Arthur opened it.
Patient:
Eleanor Hale.
Reason for admission:
Emergency delivery assistance.
Arthur stared.
“Eleanor gave birth?”
The investigator shook his head.
“No.”
Arthur read the next line.
Patient was acting as guardian for newborn female infant.
Arthur looked up.
“Whose baby?”
The investigator hesitated.
“Lydia Carter's.”
Arthur's heart pounded.
“Why was Eleanor there?”
“We don't know.”
Then he handed Arthur another file.
“This is the important part.”
Arthur opened it.
A handwritten note from Eleanor.
Arthur must never know.
Arthur stared.
“Know what?”
The investigator pointed to the final page.
It was a medical report.
The infant's father was listed as:
Unknown.
Mother:
Lydia Carter.
Guardian:
Eleanor Hale.
Arthur's face went pale.
“Why would my wife become guardian to Lydia's baby?”
The investigator looked at him.
“Because someone requested it.”
“Who?”
He placed another page on the table.
The signature was clear.
Arthur Hale.
Arthur stared.
“I never signed this.”
The investigator nodded.
“That's the problem.”
That night, Arthur confronted Eli.
“Your mother knew my wife.”
Eli looked frightened.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She worked for her.”
“Where?”
“At the old clinic.”
Arthur froze.
“What clinic?”
Eli gave him the name.
Arthur recognized it immediately.
It was the same clinic that had treated him after his accident.
The clinic where doctors had told him his spinal injury was permanent.
The clinic where he had spent nearly a year trying experimental treatments.
Arthur stood.
“Take me there.”
Eli shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where they found Grace.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Who found her?”
Eli's eyes filled with tears.
“A man.”
“What man?”
“I don't know his name.”
“What did he want?”
Eli whispered:
“He wanted the baby dead.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“Why?”
Eli looked at Grace.
“Because she could make people remember.”
Arthur froze.
“Remember what?”
The boy shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then Grace began crying.
Arthur picked her up.
The moment her hand touched his chest…
his heart began pounding.
And for one brief second…
Arthur remembered something.
A hospital room.
Eleanor crying.
A newborn baby.
And a man standing beside the bed.
Arthur knew that man.
He had seen him recently.
May you like
He was one of Arthur's oldest business partners.
And he had been at Arthur's house two weeks earlier.
