Chapter 13: The Letter That Destroyed My Family
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the pounding of my own heart.
My mother was dead.
I had buried her three years earlier, holding her hand until the nurses told me there was nothing more they could do. I had watched the color disappear from her face. I had kissed her forehead and promised I would be okay.
And now Victoria Hale stood in an abandoned mansion, telling me that my mother hadn't died from cancer.
She had been murdered.
"You're lying," I whispered.
Victoria flinched.
"I wish I were.""
"Then prove it.""
She pushed the black box toward me. Inside lay the hospital bracelet, the photograph of the newborn twins, and the letter bearing my mother's signature.
I refused to touch it.
"My mother raised me alone. She worked double shifts to pay for my schoolbooks. She sold her wedding ring when we couldn't afford rent. She never abandoned me.""
"I know," Victoria said.
"Don't you dare tell me what you know about her.""
My voice echoed through the empty room.
Daniel stood beside the window, his hands clenched at his sides. Our father sat on the edge of the bed, pale and exhausted, while Officer Cole pressed a fresh bandage against his shoulder.
Ethan remained close to me, gripping my sleeve.
Victoria looked at him and lowered her voice.
"I know what you're thinking, Clara. You're wondering how a woman who loved you could give away your brother.""
"I'm wondering why anyone should believe you.""
"Because I have spent twenty-six years living with what happened.""
She opened the letter.
"The transfer was supposed to be temporary. Your mother was told that Richard and I would take Daniel until our baby died, and that afterward, both children would be returned to her.""
My father shook his head.
"That isn't what she agreed to.""
Victoria turned on him.
"You weren't there when Richard made the offer.""
"I was the boys' father!""
"And you were too frightened to stop him!""
The words struck him hard enough that he looked away.
Victoria continued.
"Your mother signed the papers because Richard threatened to have Daniel declared medically unfit and placed in state custody. He had doctors willing to falsify the records. She believed she could save one child by cooperating, then recover the other when she had enough evidence.""
I stared at the signature.
"Why would she write, 'Leave Clara with me'?""
Victoria swallowed.
"Because Richard wanted both children separated from her permanently. She insisted that at least one of you remain with her. She believed that if she surrendered Daniel temporarily, she could protect you both.""
"Did she ever get him back?""
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because the records were altered, and Richard made sure the adoption appeared legal. By the time your mother discovered the truth, Daniel had already been moved to another state.""
Daniel finally turned from the window.
"Who told my adoptive parents I was an orphan?""
"Martin Shaw," Victoria answered.
"He arranged the paperwork. He told them your biological mother had died during childbirth.""
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"My mother was alive.""
"Yes.""
"And she searched for me?""
Victoria nodded.
"Until the day she died.""
I wanted to believe her.
That was the worst part.
Somewhere inside me, the little girl who had waited by the window for her father to return wanted desperately to believe that my mother had never stopped trying to bring our family together.
But the woman I had become needed proof.
"Tell me about her death," I demanded.
Victoria looked at the floor.
"Three years ago, your mother contacted Richard. She had found evidence that the original transfer documents were being kept at the old estate. She wanted to expose the arrangement and recover Daniel's identity.""
"Then what happened?""
"She went to meet him. Adrian Vale followed her.""
My father's face drained of color.
"No.""
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"Adrian told us later that she had fallen down the basement stairs. He said it was an accident. Richard ordered him to call an ambulance, but by the time they arrived, she was gone.""
I couldn't breathe.
"You're telling me Richard knew?""
"Yes.""
"And he let me bury her believing she had died naturally?""
Victoria nodded.
My hands began to shake.
"Why?""
"Because he was afraid the investigation would uncover the adoption scheme. He had convinced himself that the lie had protected Daniel. He didn't want to admit that it had destroyed your mother.""
I looked at the letter again.
The signature was unmistakable.
But a signature wasn't proof of what Victoria claimed.
I turned toward Cole.
"Can you verify any of this?""
He nodded carefully.
"I can request the original medical records, the autopsy report, and the transfer documents. If there was evidence of a suspicious death that was suppressed, we can reopen the investigation.""
"Can you arrest Adrian?""
"Not without locating him and establishing probable cause.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"Then let's find him.""
Before anyone could answer, my phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
I answered.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Clara Bennett. I believe we have unfinished business.""
Adrian.
I recognized his voice immediately.
"Where are you?""
"Somewhere your mother once visited.""
My stomach tightened.
"What do you want?""
"The original register. Bring it to the old chapel on the north side of the estate. Come alone.""
"I don't have the original.""
A brief silence followed.
"Your mother kept a copy of the final page. She hid it somewhere you would find it after her death.""
My eyes moved toward the black box.
The hospital bracelet.
The photograph.
The letter.
Then I remembered the small brass key I had carried since the night the ballroom erupted into chaos.
I reached into my pocket.
The key's scratched handle bore the same tiny symbol I had noticed on the hidden documents.
A lighthouse.
My mother's favorite symbol.
She used to tell me that a lighthouse didn't stop the storm. It simply gave lost people a way home.
I had always thought it was just something she said to comfort me.
Now I wondered whether she had been trying to tell me something.
Adrian spoke again.
"Bring the key, Clara. If you want to know who killed your mother, you have until midnight.""
The call ended.
Daniel stared at me.
"You're not going.""
"He knows something about her death.""
"And he wants you alone.""
"Then I'll make sure I'm not alone.""
Cole shook his head.
"We'll set up a controlled meeting. I'll have officers cover the chapel.""
Victoria suddenly seized my arm.
"No! You don't understand. Adrian will kill anyone who gets in his way.""
I pulled free.
"Then tell me where he keeps the original register.""
She hesitated.
"Victoria," my father warned.
Her expression crumpled.
"There's a safe beneath the chapel floor. Richard used it to store documents he couldn't trust to his attorneys.""
"How do we open it?""
Victoria looked at the brass key in my hand.
"That key doesn't open the safe.""
She turned toward the wall behind the bed.
"It opens the compartment containing the safe's combination.""
My father stared at her.
"You knew where it was all along?""
"I knew where Richard hid it. I didn't know what he had put inside.""
I looked at Cole.
"Then we go to the chapel.""
Cole shook his head.
"Not until backup arrives.""
I glanced at the clock.
11:37 p.m.
Twenty-three minutes until midnight.
My phone buzzed with another message.
This time, it contained a photograph of my mother's grave.
Someone had placed a white envelope against the headstone.
Beneath the image were eight words.
*Your mother died trying to save you both.*
Then a second message appeared.
*Ask Daniel what he remembers about that night.*
I turned toward my brother.
He had gone completely still.
"Daniel?""
He stared at the photograph, his face suddenly pale.
Then he whispered, "I remember the car.""
"What car?""
He looked at me with horror in his eyes.
"The night our mother disappeared, I was in the back seat.""
May you like
He swallowed.
"And the man driving wasn't Richard.""
