Chapter 10: The Daughter Diane Stole
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
Diane Reed had raised my sister.
The same woman who had stood beside Marcus in the lounge on my wedding day, discussing how easily my inheritance could be transferred into his name.
The same woman who had helped my uncle steal money from my father's company.
And apparently, the woman who had taken my sister from my mother nearly thirty years ago.
I looked at Eleanor.
“Tell me that's not true.””
Eleanor lowered her eyes.
“I wish I could.””
Olivia stood beside the desk, holding her phone.
“Then Grace has been living with the people who destroyed her family?””
“Possibly,” Eleanor replied.
“But we need to be careful. We don't know what Grace was told.””
I picked up the photograph of the baby.
“She's been raised to believe Diane is her mother.””
“That's what the adoption records indicate,” Eleanor said.
I felt sick.
“How could someone do that to a child?””
Eleanor didn't answer.
My phone rang.
Samuel Price.
I answered immediately.
“Tell me everything you know about Grace.””
“Not over the phone,” he said.
“I have records, but you need to understand something first.””
“What?””
“Diane didn't simply raise Grace. She made sure the girl never had access to her original identity.””
I looked at the old hospital document.
“Was Grace told she was adopted?””
“No. Diane told her she was born prematurely and that her biological mother had died.””
My throat tightened.
“She told her my mother was dead?””
“Yes.””
“And what about my father?””
Samuel paused.
“Diane told Grace that Richard Carter abandoned her before she was born.””
I closed my eyes.
My father had spent years searching for his missing daughter.
Meanwhile, Grace had been growing up believing he never wanted her.
“Does Marcus know?””
“He knows everything.””
I opened my eyes.
“Then why is he marrying her?””
“Because Thomas discovered that Grace could claim part of Richard's estate. Marcus was instructed to get close to her, just as he did with you.””
I gripped the phone.
“Was their relationship fake?””
“I can't answer that. But I can tell you that Marcus was investigating her legal identity months before he proposed.””
Eleanor moved closer.
“Samuel, this is Eleanor Whitmore. Do you have proof of Diane's involvement in the kidnapping?””
“Yes. I have a copy of the original hospital security report, and I have a statement from a nurse who was working that night.””
“Where are you?””
“Cambridge. I'll send you the address.””
Before ending the call, Samuel added something.
“Nia, there's one more thing.””
“What?””
“Grace contacted me yesterday.””
My heart skipped.
“Why?””
“She found a photograph in Diane's study. A photograph of Richard and your mother holding her as a baby.””
I looked down at the picture in my hand.
“She knows?””
“Not everything. But she knows Diane lied about her birth.””
I swallowed.
“What did she ask you?””
Samuel's voice softened.
“She asked whether she had a sister.””
Tears filled my eyes.
I had imagined finding my sister many times after learning she existed.
I had imagined a dramatic reunion, a long embrace, perhaps even a tearful conversation about the years we'd lost.
I hadn't imagined that she might be sitting somewhere, wondering whether she had ever belonged to anyone.
“Did you tell her about me?””
“No. I told her to wait until I could verify the records.””
I looked at Eleanor.
“Can we meet her?””
“Not until we know she's safe,” Eleanor replied.
I returned to the phone.
“Samuel, I need you to arrange a meeting.””
He hesitated.
“She has a wedding tomorrow.””
“I know.””
“And Marcus is watching her.””
“Then we'll have to move carefully.””
After the call ended, Olivia paced the room.
“We need to get to her before Marcus does.””
Eleanor shook her head.
“Marcus already knows Nia is searching for Grace. He'll expect us to appear at the wedding.””
“Then what do you suggest?”” I asked.
Eleanor opened the metal cabinet again and removed a thin folder.
“Your father anticipated that someone might try to use Grace's identity to challenge your inheritance. He prepared a separate legal provision.””
She handed me a document.
It was an amendment to the family trust.
I scanned the first page.
The wording was complicated, but one section stood out.
If Grace's identity were confirmed, she would receive forty percent of the estate, provided that she voluntarily accepted the inheritance and was not acting under coercion.
I looked up.
“So Marcus needs her to claim the money.””
“Exactly,” Eleanor said.
“And if he can persuade her that you and your father stole her birthright, he can make her believe she's entitled to take everything from you.””
I shook my head.
“He wants us to fight.””
“Yes.””
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“He planned two weddings to steal one inheritance.””
Olivia sat down.
“Then we tell Grace the truth.””
Eleanor looked at me.
“There's a problem.””
“What?””
“Diane may have spent twenty-eight years preparing Grace to believe that your family abandoned her. If we approach her with accusations, she may see us as enemies.””
I looked at the photograph.
“Then I won't approach her as a lawyer. I'll approach her as her sister.””
The next morning, Samuel met us at a small hotel in Cambridge.
He was thinner than I expected, with silver hair and tired eyes. He carried a brown leather folder and kept checking the entrance.
When he saw me, he stood.
“You look like your father.””
I swallowed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
He gestured toward the chair.
“I knew Richard for twenty-five years. He never stopped looking for Grace.””
I sat down.
“Show me the records.””
Samuel opened the folder.
Inside were copies of hospital reports, adoption documents, and several photographs.
One showed a young Diane holding a newborn baby.
Another showed Thomas standing outside the hospital.
The final photograph was the one that made my hands shake.
It showed Diane entering the hospital's maternity ward on the night Grace disappeared.
A nurse's handwritten statement was attached.
I saw Mrs. Reed leave with the infant. She told me the child's father had authorized the transfer. I later learned that the father had never been contacted.
I stared at the page.
“Why didn't the nurse report this?””
“She did. Her report disappeared.””
“Who made it disappear?””
Samuel looked at me.
“Daniel Brooks.””
The name landed like a stone.
“Daniel?””
Samuel nodded.
“He was working as a junior attorney for your father's company at the time. Thomas asked him to handle the hospital's legal correspondence.””
I remembered the list of names from my father's study.
Thomas.
Diane.
Marcus.
Daniel.
Four people connected to the same crime.
“Was Daniel involved in my mother's death?””
Samuel shook his head.
“I don't know. But he helped cover up Grace's disappearance.””
I stared at the photograph again.
“What happened to the nurse?””
“She died two years ago. But before she passed, she gave me a recorded statement.””
Samuel placed a small memory card on the table.
I looked at him.
“What's on it?””
“The truth about who ordered the kidnapping.””
My phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
*Grace wants to meet you. Alone. Tonight.*
I looked up sharply.
Samuel read the message.
His expression changed.
“That's not possible.””
“Why?””
“Grace doesn't have this number.””
Eleanor immediately reached for her phone.
“Someone is using her identity.””
Another message arrived.
*Come to the old chapel behind the country club. Don't bring Eleanor. If you tell anyone, I'll disappear again.*
I stared at the screen.
Then I looked at Samuel.
“Could it really be Grace?””
He didn't answer.
Instead, he opened his folder and removed a recent photograph.
It showed Grace standing beside Marcus outside a restaurant.
She had dark hair, my mother's eyes, and a small scar above her left eyebrow.
I touched the photograph.
I had never met her.
Yet something about her face felt painfully familiar.
Samuel lowered his voice.
“There's one way to know if that message came from your sister.””
He pointed to the scar.
“Ask her what happened when she was six years old.””
“What happened?””
Samuel looked toward the window.
“Diane told her it was a kitchen accident.””
He paused.
“But the hospital records say she was brought in after being found outside the Carter family home.””
I stared at him.
“My childhood home?””
Samuel nodded.
May you like
“Grace was there.””
And suddenly, the old oak tree, the hidden box, and the missing years of my sister's life seemed connected in a way I couldn't yet understand.
