Chapter 4 - THE SON WHO HAD BEEN STOLEN
For several seconds, I could not understand what Thomas had just said.
Daniel was his son.
Lily was his daughter.
Both of them were mine.
And Richard had known.
I stared at Thomas as if I were looking at a stranger.
“You're saying Daniel is your son?”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“But Richard raised him.”
“I know.”
“And I believed Richard was his father.”
“I know.”
I shook my head.
“No. That's impossible.”
Thomas didn't argue.
Instead, he reached into his coat and pulled out another envelope.
“This is why I came back.”
I didn't take it.
“What is it?”
“Your original hospital record.”
My fingers trembled as I accepted it.
The paper was old.
Yellowed.
The edges were brittle.
At the top was the name of a hospital I remembered visiting more than once after Richard and I married.
I looked at the date.
The same date I had given birth.
My eyes moved downward.
Mother: Eleanor Bennett.
Then:
Father: Thomas Hale.
And beneath that:
Twin births.
My breath caught.
I looked at Thomas.
“Why did I never see this?”
“Because it was removed from the hospital archive.”
“By Richard?”
“By Victor.”
I stared at the document.
“What happened that night?”
Thomas sat down.
“I need to tell you everything.”
I remained standing.
“Then tell me.”
He took a long breath.
“After the war, I came home six months later than expected.”
“You told me you came back.”
“I did.”
“Why didn't I see you?”
“Because Richard made sure you didn't.”
I closed my eyes.
Thomas continued.
“I went to your house.”
“You never reached me.”
“I waited outside for three hours.”
I looked at him.
“I was inside.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“Richard came outside.”
I froze.
“He told me you were married.”
“I wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
“He told you I didn't love you?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“He said you had moved on.”
Thomas looked down.
“I believed him because I had just returned from war. I was exhausted. I had no idea what he had already done.”
“What had he done?”
Thomas looked at me.
“You were pregnant.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“You had told Richard.”
“I told him nothing.”
“He knew.”
“How?”
“Your sister.”
My heart stopped.
“My sister?”
“She had seen you with me.”
I remembered.
My sister Margaret had always been protective of me.
She had also been close to Richard.
I suddenly felt sick.
“She told him.”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He threatened to expose you.”
“Expose me for being pregnant?”
“For carrying my children.”
I looked at Lily.
She was sitting silently on the stairs.
She had heard everything.
I walked toward her.
“Lily…”
She looked up.
“I'm your mother.”
She stared at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Then why did you call yourself Grandma?”
I knelt.
“Because I didn't know.”
“But you loved me.”
“Every day.”
“Even when I was little?”
“Every day.”
“Then why didn't you find me?”
I had no answer that could repair fifty years.
“I tried.”
“But you didn't know where I was.”
“No.”
She wiped her eyes.
Thomas crouched beside us.
“I searched too.”
Lily looked at him.
“And you're my father?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then she whispered:
“I have two parents.”
Thomas smiled through tears.
“You always did.”
Lily hugged him.
I watched them.
For fifty years, I had believed my child was gone.
Now she was standing in front of me.
And yet happiness was mixed with grief.
Because I had missed everything.
Her first steps.
Her first day of school.
Her birthdays.
Her childhood.
Every moment had happened without me.
Daniel entered the room.
He looked exhausted.
He had been on the phone with the police.
He stopped when he saw Lily crying.
“What happened?”
She looked at him.
“I'm your sister.”
Daniel froze.
He looked at me.
“Mom?”
I nodded.
He looked at Thomas.
“And you're my father.”
Thomas nodded.
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
I approached him.
“Daniel…”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“My father was Richard.”
“Richard raised you.”
“He was my father.”
“He wasn't your biological father.”
Daniel's breathing became heavier.
“Then who was?”
Thomas answered.
“Me.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You abandoned us.”
Thomas's expression broke.
“I was told you were dead.”
“And Lily?”
“I was told she died.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“So everyone lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
Daniel turned away.
“Of course.”
He walked toward the window.
I followed.
“You don't have to accept this today.”
He shook his head.
“I need to know everything.”
“You will.”
He turned.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did you know I was your son?”
“No.”
“Did you know Lily survived?”
“No.”
He looked at Thomas.
“Then who knew?”
Thomas answered:
“Richard. Victor. Margaret.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Aunt Margaret?”
“Yes.”
He grabbed the edge of the table.
“She knew?”
“Yes.”
“She watched me grow up.”
“Yes.”
“She watched Mom grieve.”
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at the old documents.
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of Victor?”
“Yes.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Everyone was afraid of Victor.”
I looked at Thomas.
“Then why did Victor do all this?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Because he believed the Carter trust should have belonged to him.”
“But Victor isn't a Carter.”
“No.”
“Then why did he have control?”
“Because Richard's father appointed him trustee.”
Daniel looked at the papers.
“And what happens now?”
Thomas pointed toward the trust agreement.
“The original trust activates when both biological children are reunited.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“So it has activated.”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
I answered.
“It means Victor no longer controls the estate.”
Daniel looked at me.
“And who does?”
“You.”
He stared.
“Mom?”
“No.”
I touched Lily's shoulder.
“Her.”
Lily's eyes widened.
“The trust belongs to the twins.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Both of us?”
“Yes.”
He looked toward the document.
“But it says first surviving descendants.”
Thomas shook his head.
“That's the clause Victor wanted everyone to misunderstand.”
“What does it really say?”
Thomas pointed.
“The estate belongs equally to the biological children of Eleanor Bennett and Thomas Hale.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“So Victor spent decades stealing money he never owned.”
“Yes.”
“And Richard?”
“He helped.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted you to believe you were the heir.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“I was his puppet.”
“You were a child.”
“I was an adult when he died.”
“He had spent your entire life controlling what you believed.”
Daniel sat down.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Lily asked:
“What about the other child?”
I looked at her.
“What other child?”
She pointed toward the old birth certificate.
“The record says twin births.”
Daniel and I stared.
Thomas frowned.
“There were two.”
“Then where is the other one?”
Silence.
I looked at Thomas.
He shook his head.
“I thought there were only two.”
Daniel stood.
“Wait.”
He took the birth record.
“There is another line.”
I stepped closer.
The ink was faded.
But beneath the names of the twins was a third entry.
Infant C.
No name.
No gender.
No death record.
I felt the room go cold.
“What is Infant C?”
Thomas stared at the document.
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked toward the hidden chest.
“There must be another file.”
We searched everything.
The photographs.
The hospital papers.
The adoption records.
Nothing.
Then Lily found something beneath the blanket.
A small envelope.
She opened it.
Inside was a hospital tag.
Three letters were printed on it.
C.B.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
Daniel turned the tag over.
There was handwriting on the back.
Child transferred before registration.
I felt dizzy.
“Transferred where?”
Nobody answered.
Then the house phone rang.
The sound echoed through the empty hallway.
Daniel answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice came through.
Daniel's face changed.
“Who is this?”
The caller laughed.
“You found the twins.”
Daniel froze.
The voice continued.
“But you haven't found the third child.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Who are you?”
“I am the man who kept your family alive.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“Victor.”
The caller laughed.
“Yes.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“What happened to the third child?”
Victor was silent for a moment.
Then:
“She is alive.”
My heart stopped.
“She?”
Victor continued.
“And she has been living in your family for thirty years.”
The line went dead.
I stared at Daniel.
“A third child.”
Thomas whispered:
“Another daughter.”
Lily looked frightened.
“Where is she?”
Then we heard a noise from upstairs.
May you like
A door closing.
Someone was in the house.
