Chapter 4: The Son Who Shouldn't Exist
Daniel read the words again.
*One of my sons is not who he claims to be.*
For several seconds, the study seemed to shrink around him. The clock on his mother's mantel ticked steadily, indifferent to the fact that everything Daniel believed about his family had just collapsed.
He looked at Grace.
“How many sons did my father have?””
“Your mother told me you were an only child.””
“I was.””
Grace hesitated.
“Then perhaps she discovered something about your father's past.””
Daniel shook his head.
“She wouldn't write something like this without proof.””
He placed the photograph beneath the desk lamp and examined the handwriting. The ink was faded, but every letter matched his mother's familiar, elegant script.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Mr. Hayes?”” Andre called.
“The police have arrived. There's also someone here asking for you.””
“Who?””
“A woman named Evelyn Cross. She says she worked for your mother.””
Daniel exchanged a glance with Grace.
“My mother never mentioned anyone by that name.””
“She says she has something your mother left behind.””
Daniel unlocked the door.
Andre stood in the corridor, his expression unusually tense. Behind him waited a woman in her late fifties, wearing a charcoal coat and carrying a weathered leather handbag.
Her silver hair was tucked beneath a dark scarf. She looked tired, but her eyes were sharp.
“Mr. Hayes,” she said.
“I'm sorry about your wedding.””
“Who are you?””
“Evelyn Cross. I was your mother's personal accountant for nearly twenty years.””
Daniel stared at her.
“My mother's accountant retired six years ago.””
“Her public accountant did. I handled the private records.””
“Why haven't I heard of you?””
“Because Eleanor wanted it that way.””
Evelyn glanced at Grace.
“And because she was afraid someone in this house was monitoring her communications.””
Daniel stepped aside.
“Come in.””
Evelyn entered the study and placed her handbag on the desk. She did not sit down.
“Your mother contacted me two days before she died,” she said.
“She told me that if a silver key ever appeared at your wedding, I was to bring you a document.””
Grace's fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.
“You knew about the key?””
“I helped Eleanor find it.””
“Then why didn't you come forward sooner?”” Daniel demanded.
“Because your mother instructed me to wait until the person she feared made the first move.””
Daniel gave a bitter laugh.
“Someone may have tried to poison me at the altar. I think we're past waiting.””
Evelyn opened her handbag and removed a thick envelope sealed with red wax.
“Your mother believed Victoria would eventually attempt to gain control of your company. But she was not her greatest concern.””
“Who was?””
Evelyn looked directly at Daniel.
“Your father.””
The room fell silent.
Daniel stepped backward.
“My father is dead.””
“No,” Evelyn said.
“Your father disappeared. Those are not the same thing.””
She broke the seal and spread several documents across the desk.
The first was a birth certificate.
The second was a hospital record.
The third was a photograph of two newborn boys lying side by side in a hospital nursery.
Daniel stared at the picture.
Both babies had dark hair. One wore a blue identification band. The other wore a white one.
“What am I looking at?””
“Your birth records,” Evelyn replied.
“Or rather, the records your mother managed to recover.””
Daniel picked up the hospital document.
His mother's name appeared beneath the heading for the first infant.
His father's name appeared beneath the heading for the second.
Daniel frowned.
“Why are there two?””
“Because Eleanor gave birth to twins.””
The words seemed to echo through the room.
“No.””
“Your mother delivered two boys at a private hospital in Connecticut. The second infant was declared dead shortly after birth.””
Daniel's hand began to tremble.
“My mother never told me I had a twin.””
“Because she was told he died.””
Evelyn turned the photograph over.
On the back, someone had written two names.
*Daniel Thomas Hayes.*
*David Thomas Hayes.*
Daniel looked at Grace.
She appeared just as stunned as he felt.
“Why did my mother believe the second child was alive?”” he asked.
“Because, three months before her death, she found an insurance policy in your father's old files. It had been issued in the name of David Hayes and renewed every year for more than thirty years.””
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Thirty years?””
Evelyn nodded.
“Your mother began investigating. She discovered payments made to a private medical facility, followed by transfers to accounts in several countries. The trail eventually led to a man who looked almost exactly like your father.””
“My father had a second child?””
“Your father had two sons. What happened to the second one is the question.””
Daniel stared at the photograph.
He remembered his childhood: the birthday parties, the Christmas mornings, his father teaching him to ride a bicycle. There had been no mention of another baby. No photograph. No explanation.
“How could my mother live with this secret?””
“Because she spent years believing the baby had died. When she finally discovered otherwise, she was too frightened to tell you before she understood who had taken him.””
Daniel slammed his palm against the desk.
“Taken him? Who takes a newborn from his own mother?””
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“Someone who wanted control over the Hayes family.””
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Then a man's voice.
“Daniel?””
Marcus.
Daniel immediately gathered the documents.
“Stay here,” he whispered to Grace.
He stepped into the corridor and found Marcus standing beside Andre. His best man had returned without his jacket, and his tie hung loose around his collar.
“Where have you been?”” Daniel demanded.
“Trying to keep your wedding from turning into a police circus.””
“You left after I told you to stay.””
“I needed air.””
“You drove away in your car.””
Marcus looked past Daniel into the study.
“What's going on in there?””
“Nothing that concerns you.””
“I'm your best friend.””
“Then stop giving me reasons to doubt you.””
Marcus's face tightened.
“Daniel, I don't know what Grace has told you, but she's manipulating you.””
Daniel moved closer.
“Did you meet Victoria at a restaurant three weeks before my mother died?””
Marcus went completely still.
That was enough.
Daniel felt something inside him break.
“You were supposed to be in Boston that day.””
Marcus swallowed.
“I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
“Not here.””
“Now.””
Marcus glanced at Andre.
“Can we speak privately?””
“No.””
For the first time, Marcus looked frightened rather than annoyed.
“Your mother was investigating things she didn't understand,” he said.
“She was sick. She became suspicious of everyone.””
“You knew about the investigation?””
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel leaned toward him.
“Did you know I had a twin brother?””
Marcus's eyes flickered.
It was a tiny movement, but Daniel saw it.
“Oh, my God,” Daniel whispered.
“You knew.””
Before Marcus could answer, a crash came from inside the study.
Daniel spun around.
Grace screamed.
He rushed through the doorway.
The window stood open. A curtain whipped in the cold air, and Evelyn lay beside the desk, blood running from a cut above her eyebrow.
The envelope was gone.
Grace knelt beside Evelyn.
“Someone came through the window!””
Daniel rushed to the sill.
Below, a narrow ledge led toward the garden roof. A dark figure disappeared behind the hedge.
“Andre!”” Daniel shouted.
The security chief raced past him.
Daniel turned back to Evelyn.
“Who took the documents?””
Evelyn struggled to focus.
“I saw his face.””
“Who?””
Her fingers closed around Daniel's wrist.
“Your brother.””
Then she fainted.
May you like
And from the corridor, Marcus whispered a sentence that made Daniel's blood run cold.
“He wasn't supposed to come back until after the wedding.””
