Chapter 13 - THE NIGHT THE BABY DISAPPEARED
The first thing I saw was the empty maternity room.
The second thing I saw was the open window.
My heart stopped.
“No.”
I ran forward.
Arthur grabbed me.
“Don't.”
“My baby!”
The nurse was standing near the bed.
She looked terrified.
“The baby is still inside you,” she said quickly.
I stopped.
“What?”
“The baby hasn't been born.”
For one second, I couldn't understand.
Then I realized the threat wasn't about kidnapping my child.
It was about controlling me.
Someone wanted me frightened enough to make a mistake.
Jonathan found a device attached beneath the hospital bed.
“A transmitter.”
Arthur's expression darkened.
“Someone has been tracking her.”
Bennett looked at his phone.
The unknown call had left a message.
One sentence.
COME TO THE OLD CARTER ESTATE. ALONE.
Bennett looked at me.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“I'm coming.”
Arthur shook his head.
“You're eight months pregnant.”
“I know.”
“You are not going anywhere.”
I looked at him.
“My entire life, everyone has made decisions for me.”
He stopped.
“I won't let another person control what happens to my child.”
Arthur finally nodded.
“But you stay beside me.”
We went to the old Carter estate.
The house had been abandoned for years.
Inside, dust covered the furniture.
A single light burned in the hallway.
Thomas was waiting.
He looked older than the photographs.
But his smile was exactly the same.
“You came.”
Arthur raised his weapon.
“Where is the evidence?”
Thomas laughed.
“Always the soldier.”
He looked at me.
“You have your mother's courage.”
“What do you want?”
“The trust.”
“You can't have it.”
“I don't need the trust.”
He smiled.
“I need the child.”
Bennett stepped forward.
“You're not touching my wife.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You still think you have authority.”
Bennett's jaw tightened.
Thomas continued.
“You were created to inherit.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your mother used you.”
“My mother?”
“Victoria was only a pawn.”
Bennett looked stunned.
Thomas explained that Victoria had been recruited years earlier by someone who wanted the Carter inheritance.
She married into the family.
She gained access to Bennett.
Then she discovered Sophia's existence.
Everything changed.
Thomas needed Sophia pregnant.
Because her child would activate the hidden trust.
I looked at Thomas.
“Who hired you?”
He smiled.
“Your grandmother.”
I froze.
“My grandmother is dead.”
“Yes.”
“She couldn't hire you.”
“She could leave instructions.”
Thomas revealed a recorded message.
Caroline Monroe appeared on the screen.
She looked old.
Tired.
But determined.
“If you're watching this,” she said, “then the family has reached the point I feared.”
I stared.
She continued.
“The person who inherits must never know about the trust before the child is born.”
Then she looked directly into the camera.
“And if anyone attempts to control Sophia, activate the protection clause.”
The video ended.
Jonathan stared at Thomas.
“What protection clause?”
Thomas smiled.
“The child becomes untouchable.”
“What does that mean?”
“Every person who attempted to manipulate the mother loses access to the family fortune.”
I looked at Victoria's name on the documents.
Then Bennett's.
Then Daniel's.
Thomas nodded.
“Exactly.”
The entire conspiracy had been designed to make everyone believe they were fighting over money.
But the real purpose of the trust was to expose anyone willing to hurt the mother for it.
Thomas looked at me.
“Your mother understood people better than anyone.”
I asked:
“Did you kill her?”
He was silent.
Then he said:
“No.”
“Who did?”
Thomas looked at Daniel.
Daniel stepped forward.
“It was Helen.”
I stared.
“Bennett's mother?”
“Yes.”
“She killed my mother?”
Daniel nodded.
“Helen discovered that Eleanor was going to expose her.”
Victoria began crying.
“I didn't know.”
Bennett looked at his mother.
“You knew?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew enough.”
Bennett turned away.
He couldn't look at her anymore.
Then sirens approached.
Police surrounded the property.
Thomas smiled.
“I knew they were coming.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“Then why stay?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Because there is one final truth.”
“What?”
He pointed at my father.
“Ask Richard why he lied about your birth.”
I turned.
My father looked devastated.
“Dad?”
He whispered:
“You were born three weeks before your mother married Michael.”
I frowned.
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You were born somewhere else.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
He looked at Thomas.
“St. Mary's Hospital.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
My father reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old birth certificate.
The name of the mother was Eleanor.
The name of the father was blank.
But the attending physician's name was Daniel Reed.
I looked at Daniel.
He smiled.
“Now you know why everyone was afraid of your birth.”
I touched my stomach.
“Why?”
Daniel answered:
“Because your child isn't simply the heir.”
May you like
He looked at Bennett.
“The child is proof that the original bloodline survived.”
