Chapter 6: The Woman Who Had Been Dead for Six Years
My father refused to go home.
He insisted on driving straight to the old lake house.
I sat beside him while Nia remained in the hospital parking lot with Daniel's number written on a piece of paper.
I hadn't decided what to do with her.
I wasn't sure I ever would.
The lake house stood at the end of a narrow road surrounded by pine trees. My parents had bought it when I was twelve.
It was the place where my mother taught me to fish.
The place where Dad celebrated his fiftieth birthday.
The place where I had last seen my mother before the accident.
When we arrived, the porch light was on.
My father unlocked the door.
"She's here," he said.
I stared at him.
"Mom?""
He nodded.
The door opened before I could knock.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Her hair was silver now, and her face carried faint scars near her left temple.
But her eyes were exactly the same.
The same eyes that used to watch me sleep when I was sick.
The same eyes I had searched for in every photograph after her funeral.
"Marcus.""
I couldn't speak.
She took one step toward me.
"Baby.""
Then I broke.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her so tightly that she gasped.
For several minutes, neither of us said anything.
I could smell her perfume.
Lavender.
The same scent she had worn when I was a child.
"You're alive," I whispered.
She held the back of my head.
"I'm so sorry.""
I pulled away.
"Six years.""
Her eyes filled.
"Marcus—"
"Six years, Mom. I visited your grave every Christmas.""
She started crying.
"I know.""
"You knew?""
She nodded.
"Your father told me.""
I looked toward Dad.
He stood near the doorway, his head lowered.
I stepped away from her.
"Both of you lied to me.""
My mother reached for my hand.
"Please sit down. There's something you need to understand.""
I almost refused.
But then she mentioned Ethan.
"Olivia is planning to use your son to take everything.""
I sat.
My mother placed a thick photograph album on the table.
Inside were pictures of Olivia from the years following the accident.
At first, she looked ordinary.
Smiling at company events.
Attending family dinners.
Standing beside my father.
Then the photographs changed.
Olivia outside a courthouse.
Olivia meeting an unknown man.
Olivia entering a private medical clinic.
"Your sister was terrified after the accident," Mom explained.
"But over time, she became convinced that your father owed her everything because he had protected her.""
Dad looked down.
"She believed I would eventually hand her the company.""
"And when you didn't?"" I asked.
"She started looking for ways to force me.""
My mother turned another page.
A photograph showed Olivia standing beside a man in a business suit.
"That's Victor Hale," she said.
"Who is he?""
"Olivia's former financial adviser. He helped her create companies that secretly purchased shares in Hayes Construction.""
Dad nodded.
"I discovered the transfers last year.""
I leaned forward.
"How much?""
"Nearly eighteen percent of the company.""
My mouth fell open.
"How did she get that much?""
"Through shell companies and falsified investment agreements.""
Mom touched my arm.
"She wanted control without anyone realizing she was building a majority position.""
I looked at the photographs.
"Then why involve me?""
My father answered.
"Because you own twenty-two percent of the company.""
I stared at him.
"What?""
"Your grandfather left those shares to you. They were placed in a trust until you turned thirty.""
I remembered the inheritance documents I had signed years ago.
I had never paid much attention to them.
"Olivia needed my shares.""
"Exactly," Dad said.
"And the fake baby?""
My mother took a deep breath.
"She needed a reason to make you dependent on her.""
I frowned.
"Explain.""
"Olivia believed that if she could convince you that you had a child, you would become emotionally vulnerable. She planned to persuade you to sign guardianship and estate documents naming her as the child's representative.""
I remembered the forged agreement.
"Then she could control my shares?""
"Indirectly," Dad replied.
"She intended to use the guardianship arrangement to influence your decisions and challenge your father's authority.""
I sat back.
The entire scheme was larger than I had imagined.
But one question remained.
"Where is Ethan?""
My mother looked at Dad.
He opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, a knock sounded at the door.
Three sharp knocks.
Dad moved toward the entrance.
My mother grabbed my wrist.
"Don't open it.""
"Why?""
She whispered, "Because Olivia knows we're here.""
Dad looked through the window.
A black SUV was parked outside.
Two men stood beside it.
One held a document folder.
The other was speaking into a phone.
Dad stepped away from the door.
"Everyone stay back.""
Then the phone on the kitchen table rang.
My mother glanced at the screen.
Her face drained of color.
"Who is it?"" I asked.
She turned the screen toward me.
*OLIVIA HAYES.*
I answered.
"Where's my son?""
Olivia laughed softly.
"Hello, big brother.""
"Where is Ethan?""
"Safe.""
"Give him back.""
"That's not how this works.""
I gripped the phone.
"What do you want?""
"I want Dad to stop pretending he's innocent. I want his shares transferred. And I want you to sign a statement confirming that he's been mentally unstable.""
"You're insane.""
"Maybe. But I have something you don't.""
"What?""
She paused.
Then I heard a baby's cry.
My entire body went cold.
"Is that Ethan?""
"Of course.""
"Let me speak to him.""
"He's only a baby, Marcus. He can't exactly hold a conversation.""
"Olivia, listen to me. Whatever you think Dad did, don't involve the child.""
Her voice suddenly hardened.
"Don't tell me what to do with my own son.""
I stared at the phone.
"Your son?""
She laughed again.
"Did nobody tell you?""
My mother moved closer.
Olivia continued.
"Ethan isn't just your child. He's the only reason I agreed to carry out this entire plan.""
I frowned.
"What does that mean?""
"It means your precious father has been hiding another secret.""
Then she said something that made my mother collapse into a chair.
"Marcus, Ethan wasn't conceived through a clinic.""
My throat tightened.
"Then how?""
Olivia lowered her voice.
"Ask Mom what happened during that hospital stay six years ago.""
I looked at my mother.
She was shaking.
"Mom?""
She covered her face.
Olivia continued.
"Your father knows. He helped arrange everything.""
I turned toward Dad.
He looked like a man who had just watched his entire life collapse.
"Tell me she's lying," I said.
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Tell me!""
My mother finally lifted her head.
"Marcus, when Olivia was injured in the accident, she was given a blood transfusion. Later, she discovered she had a rare medical condition that made carrying a child difficult.""
I stared at her.
"What does that have to do with me?""
My mother began crying.
"She used your medical records. She used your identity. But she didn't use your genetic material.""
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
"Then whose?""
My father closed his eyes.
Olivia answered from the phone.
"Mine, Marcus.""
I couldn't breathe.
She continued.
"Ethan is biologically mine. But the woman who carried him was Nia.""
I turned toward the empty doorway.
My wife had carried my sister's child.
The fake pregnancy had been real in one terrible sense.
There had been a baby.
Just not mine.
Olivia's voice became almost cheerful.
"And here's the best part, brother. Tomorrow, I'm going to introduce Ethan to the shareholders as the future heir of Hayes Construction.""
I gripped the phone.
"You can't do that.""
"Watch me.""
Then she added:
"Unless you want the world to discover what Dad really did six years ago.""
The call ended.
My mother began sobbing.
I turned toward my father.
"What did you do?""
He opened the folder he had brought from the car.
Inside was a hospital record, dated six years earlier.
At the bottom was a signature.
My father's.
And beside it was a handwritten note:
*TRANSFER AUTHORIZED — PATIENT IDENTITY TO REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL.*
I looked up.
"Whose identity did you hide?""
Dad's voice cracked.
"Your mother's.""
He took another document from the folder.
"This is the original accident report. The one Olivia paid someone to erase.""
I unfolded it.
There was a second victim listed.
A woman who had been in the car with my mother and Olivia.
A woman whose name I had never heard.
*ELENA MORGAN.*
My mother grabbed my arm.
"Marcus, that's your aunt Claire's real name.""
I stared at her.
"Claire was in the car too?""
Mom nodded.
"And she wasn't supposed to survive.""
Outside, the two men began pounding on the front door.
Then a voice shouted through the wood.
"Richard Hayes! Open up! We have a warrant for your arrest!""
My father looked at me.
For the first time in my life, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
"Son," he whispered, "if they arrest me tonight, Olivia wins.""
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
It contained a photograph of Ethan sleeping in a crib.
But beneath the photograph was a second image.
A hospital wristband.
And the name printed on it wasn't Ethan Hayes.
It was a name that made my blood run cold.
*MARCUS RICHARD HAYES JR.*
I looked at my mother.
She shook her head.
"That's impossible.""
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Because you had a twin, Marcus. And Olivia has been using his identity for years.""
