Chapter 10: The Second Name on the Record
The mansion went dark.
For a moment, nobody moved.
The only sound was Ava’s breathing against my shoulder.
The chandelier that had always filled our hallway with warm light disappeared into blackness, leaving only the faint glow from the windows.
Then I heard it.
A door opening downstairs.
Slow.
Careful.
Someone was inside.
I held Ava closer.
“Maria,” I whispered.
She immediately moved toward the stairs.
“I’ll check.””
“No.””
My voice stopped her.
I looked around the room.
Not because I was afraid of whoever entered.
Because I was finally beginning to understand something.
Everyone had been protecting secrets.
Everyone had been making decisions without me.
I wasn’t going to let anyone else control what happened next.
“Stay with Ava.””
Maria nodded.
Simone looked at me.
“Darius, don’t.””
I turned toward her.
“Don’t what?””
“Go down there.””
“Why?””
Her face changed.
Because she knew.
She knew exactly who was waiting.
“You’re still hiding something.””
Her silence answered me.
I carefully placed Ava beside Maria.
“Daddy?””
I knelt down.
“I’ll be right back.””
She grabbed my hand.
“Promise?””
I looked into her eyes.
“Yes.””
I walked downstairs.
The darkness swallowed the hallway.
The mansion had never felt so unfamiliar.
Every room I passed belonged to a life I thought I understood.
The family photos.
The expensive furniture.
The memories.
All of them suddenly looked like evidence.
At the bottom of the stairs, I stopped.
The front hallway was empty.
Then a voice came from the kitchen.
“You shouldn’t have opened that letter.””
I turned.
A man stepped into the dim light.
Older.
Black.
Wearing a gray coat.
His face was familiar.
Not because I knew him.
Because I had seen him before.
In my father’s old photographs.
My stomach tightened.
“Who are you?””
The man looked at me.
“My name is Calvin.””
The name meant nothing.
But his face did.
“You knew my father.””
He nodded.
“I worked for him.””
I stared at him.
“Everyone worked for my father.””
A sad smile crossed his face.
“You’re finally asking the right questions.””
I stepped closer.
“Why are you here?””
He looked upstairs.
“To stop you from making the same mistake he made.””
I felt anger rise.
“My father made plenty of mistakes.””
Calvin nodded.
“Yes.””
A pause.
“But he spent the rest of his life trying to fix one.””
I clenched my jaw.
“Tell me about Ava.””
Calvin looked down.
“She was never supposed to be a secret.””
“Then why was she?””
He didn’t answer immediately.
That bothered me.
Everyone always needed time before telling me the truth.
I was tired of waiting.
“Speak.””
Calvin looked at me.
“Because Ava was supposed to be protected from someone.””
“Who?””
Before he answered, footsteps came from behind me.
Simone.
“You shouldn’t be here.””
Calvin looked at her.
“You knew this day would come.””
Her face went pale.
“You promised.””
“I promised your husband’s father.””
The words hit me.
My father.
Again.
I turned toward Simone.
“What did he promise?””
She looked away.
Calvin sighed.
“Darius, your father discovered something about Ava’s birth that changed everything.””
“What?””
He reached into his coat.
He pulled out a document.
Another document.
Another piece of my life hidden from me.
“This.””
I took it.
The paper was old.
Official.
I scanned the page.
Then I saw the names.
Ava’s name.
Elena’s name.
And another name.
A second child.
I looked up.
“What is this?””
Nobody answered.
I read the record again.
Two babies.
Same hospital.
Same night.
I looked at Calvin.
“Explain.””
He lowered his voice.
“On the night Ava was born, there were two infants connected to your family.””
My heart stopped.
“Two?””
“Yes.””
I looked upstairs.
At my daughter.
“What are you saying?””
Calvin swallowed.
“I’m saying Simone didn’t just hide Ava’s identity.””
The silence became unbearable.
“She hid the existence of another child.””
My hands tightened around the document.
“No.””
Simone closed her eyes.
“Darius…”
I turned toward her.
“You knew?””
She started crying.
“Yes.””
The word broke something inside me again.
“How many secrets are there?””
She covered her face.
“I was trying to protect Ava.””
“From what?””
She looked at me.
And this time, her fear was different.
Not fear of being caught.
Fear of remembering.
“The other child.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What happened to them?””
Nobody answered.
Then Calvin said:
“That’s the question your father spent years trying to answer.””
I looked at him.
“And?””
Calvin’s expression changed.
“He never found the child.””
The room went silent.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Again.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a child’s voice whispered:
“Are you Ava’s daddy?””
My blood turned cold.
I looked upstairs.
At my daughter.
May you like
The voice continued.
“Because I think I’m your other daughter.””
