Chapter 7: The Voice From Ava’s Past
The phone felt heavier with every second.
I stood in the middle of the mansion, surrounded by the people who had shaped Ava’s entire life without my knowledge.
Simone.
Maria.
Marcus.
And now a stranger claiming to be the woman who gave birth to my daughter.
My daughter.
That was the only thing I could hold onto.
Not blood.
Not paperwork.
Not secrets.
The little girl upstairs who called me Daddy.
“Where are you?”” I asked.
The woman on the phone was silent.
Then she answered.
“I’m outside.””
My eyes moved toward the front door.
Everyone saw my expression change.
Simone immediately stepped forward.
“No.””
That one word made me look at her.
“No?””
Her face was full of panic.
“Darius, please don’t do this.””
I stared at her.
“Don’t do what?””
“Let someone else come in and destroy what we have.””
I laughed quietly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I couldn’t believe she still thought she could protect the illusion.
“What we have?””
My voice dropped.
“Simone, I don’t even know what we have anymore.””
She looked like I had slapped her.
Maria stood behind her, silent.
Marcus walked toward the door.
“I’ll get her.””
I stopped him.
“No.””
Everyone looked at me.
“I need to do this.””
I opened the door.
The night air rushed into the hallway.
Standing outside was a woman.
Black.
Early thirties.
Her hair was pulled back loosely, and her face carried the exhaustion of someone who had spent years waiting for something impossible.
Her eyes moved past me.
Then she saw Simone.
And her expression changed.
Not anger.
Pain.
“You.””
Simone stepped backward.
Elena’s voice shook.
“After all these years.””
I looked between them.
“You two know each other.””
Elena looked at me.
“Yes.””
A long silence followed.
Then she looked toward the staircase.
“Is she here?””
I knew exactly who she meant.
I didn’t answer.
Not yet.
Instead, I stepped aside.
“Come inside.””
Elena entered slowly.
She looked around the mansion.
The perfect walls.
The expensive decorations.
The life she had missed.
Her eyes stopped on a framed picture of Ava.
Three years old.
Smiling.
Wearing the yellow dress she loved.
Elena touched her mouth.
A small sound escaped her.
“She looks like…”
She stopped.
I watched her carefully.
“Like who?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Like my mother.””
Nobody spoke.
I hated how much that hurt.
Because some part of me wanted to reject her.
I wanted to say she was lying.
I wanted to protect the life I knew.
But then I remembered the bracelet.
The documents.
The photograph.
All the things that had been hidden from me.
“Elena,” I said, “I need answers.””
She nodded.
“I know.””
“Start from the beginning.””
She looked at Simone.
Simone looked away.
Elena took a deep breath.
“Three years ago, I gave birth to Ava.””
The room became silent.
“She was healthy. She was perfect.””
Her voice broke.
“I held her for six hours.””
I looked upstairs.
Six hours.
Someone else had held my daughter before me.
Someone else had heard her first cries.
“Then what happened?””
Elena closed her eyes.
“Someone told me there was a problem.””
Marcus looked down.
Maria clenched her hands.
I noticed.
“You all knew.””
Nobody denied it.
Elena continued.
“They said my baby had complications. They told me she needed special care.””
She swallowed.
“But when I woke up, Ava was gone.””
My stomach tightened.
“What did the hospital say?””
“That there had been a mistake.””
Her laugh was empty.
“A mistake.””
She looked at Simone.
“But it wasn’t.””
Simone finally spoke.
“You don’t know what happened.””
Elena turned toward her.
“I know exactly what happened.””
Her voice became stronger.
“You took my daughter.””
Simone’s eyes filled with tears.
“I saved her.””
Everyone froze.
Saved her.
The word hung there.
I looked at Simone.
“What does that mean?””
She looked at me.
For the first time, I saw the person beneath the lies.
Someone who had convinced herself she was the hero.
“I thought I was protecting her.””
Elena shook her head.
“You were protecting yourself.””
Simone looked away.
I stepped between them.
“Why?””
Nobody answered.
I looked at Simone.
“Why did you do it?””
She whispered:
“Because I lost my baby.””
The room went quiet.
“I couldn’t accept it.””
Her voice cracked.
“I came home with empty arms. Everyone looked at me with pity. Everyone knew I had lost something.””
She looked upstairs.
“Then I saw Ava.””
Elena’s face hardened.
“You saw my child.””
Simone cried.
“I saw hope.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
She looked at me.
“You saw what you wanted.””
She lowered her eyes.
A silence followed.
Then Elena said something that changed everything.
“There’s another reason Simone took Ava.””
Everyone turned toward her.
I frowned.
“What?””
Elena looked at Simone.
“Tell him.””
Simone said nothing.
“Elena.””
The woman’s voice became colder.
“Tell him why you were so desperate to keep my daughter.””
Simone stepped backward.
Maria whispered:
“No.””
Elena looked at me.
“Because Ava wasn’t the only thing she took.””
My heart started racing.
“What else?””
Elena reached into her bag.
She pulled out an old envelope.
“This was found after the hospital investigation.””
She handed it to me.
My fingers felt numb as I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Not from Elena.
Not from Maria.
From someone else.
A name at the bottom.
A name I recognized.
My own mother’s signature.
I looked up.
“What does my mother have to do with this?””
Nobody answered.
May you like
Then Elena said quietly:
“Your family knew before you did.””
