Chapter 12: The Missing Daughter
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Eleanor stood in the doorway of Room Twelve, staring at the photograph of the two newborn babies.
Lily held the hospital bracelet in one hand and the amended birth certificate in the other.
I clutched my mother's letter.
"Explain," I said.
Eleanor stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
"Your mother discovered that another baby had been born at St. Agnes on the same night as Lily. The child's mother was a young woman named Sophie Bennett.""
"Why does the note call her Sophie Hart?""
"Because Richard arranged for her identity to be changed.""
"Why?""
Eleanor looked at Lily.
"Because he wanted to hide the fact that Vanessa had given birth to twins.""
Lily's face went white.
"Twins?""
Eleanor nodded slowly.
"Two girls were born that night. One was placed with an adoptive family under the name Lily Sinclair. The other disappeared from the hospital records.""
I stared at the photograph.
The babies were wrapped in identical white blankets. One wore a blue ribbon around her wrist. The other wore a silver one.
My mother had written a tiny letter beside the blue ribbon.
*L.*
Beside the silver ribbon was another letter.
*S.*
I looked up.
"Where is the other girl?""
Eleanor took a breath.
"We don't know.""
"How can you not know?""
"Because the records were altered. Catherine believed Richard had arranged for the second baby to be taken to another family, but she couldn't establish where.""
"Did Vanessa know she had twins?""
Eleanor shook her head.
"She was told that one baby had died during delivery. Richard arranged for the medical staff to separate the records before she regained consciousness.""
Lily staggered toward a chair.
"He told her I was the only one?""
"Yes.""
"And he let her believe the other baby was dead?""
"Yes.""
Lily covered her mouth.
For eighteen years, she had believed her birth mother had surrendered her because she didn't want a child.
Now she was discovering that her mother might never have known what had happened to her other daughter.
I looked at Eleanor.
"Why did Mom get involved?""
"Because Catherine discovered the altered records while investigating the missing company money. Richard had used the same network of forged documents to hide the transfers and the children's identities.""
"What does one have to do with the other?""
Eleanor looked toward the hospital bracelet.
"Your father needed someone to sign documents on behalf of the trust. He believed that if he could establish Vanessa's daughter as the sole surviving contingent beneficiary, he could manipulate the inheritance provisions and gain control of Catherine's shares.""
I frowned.
"But Lily didn't know anything about the company.""
"She didn't need to. Richard intended to use her identity to satisfy the trust's conditions, then claim the shares through a separate agreement Vanessa had signed.""
Lily looked up.
"He was going to steal my inheritance, too?""
"Yes.""
She stared at the floor.
"Why would he do that to me?""
Eleanor's voice softened.
"Because he saw you as a means to an end.""
I felt anger rise so quickly that I could barely breathe.
Richard hadn't simply hidden the truth.
He had turned children into legal instruments, altered their records, and treated their lives as pieces on a board.
"Who is Sophie Bennett?"" I asked.
Eleanor hesitated.
"She was a seamstress at Catherine's studio. She worked with your mother before the company expanded.""
"Was she married?""
"No.""
"Did she know about the second baby?""
"According to Catherine's notes, she believed her child had been placed in protective care. She was told she would be contacted when the investigation into Richard's business dealings was complete.""
I swallowed.
"Was she ever contacted?""
Eleanor shook her head.
"No.""
"Where is she now?""
"We don't know.""
I looked at the photograph again.
Two babies.
Two identities.
Two lives shaped by a lie.
My mother had tried to protect both children, but she had died before she could finish what she'd started.
I wasn't going to let that happen again.
"We need to find Sophie Bennett.""
Eleanor nodded.
"I've already started looking.""
I turned toward her.
"How long have you known about the twins?""
Her silence was answer enough.
"How long?""
"Since Catherine's death.""
I stared at her.
"You knew?""
"I suspected. Catherine left me a note explaining that a second child existed, but she never gave me the baby's name. I searched for years, but the trail ended at a private adoption agency that had closed.""
"You could have told us.""
"I didn't have proof.""
"You didn't even tell us you suspected it!""
Eleanor lowered her head.
"You're right.""
I wanted to shout at her.
I wanted to demand that she explain how so many adults could know fragments of the truth and still allow two children to grow up in ignorance.
But Lily was crying quietly beside me.
So I sat beside her.
She leaned against my shoulder.
"I spent my whole life wondering why I wasn't enough," she whispered.
I closed my eyes.
"You were always enough.""
"Then why did everyone leave me?""
I had no answer that could repair eighteen years of absence.
I could only hold her hand.
After a while, Eleanor placed a small folder on the table.
"There's something else Catherine left behind.""
I opened it.
Inside were copies of letters addressed to a woman named Sophie Bennett. The earliest was dated two weeks before my mother's death.
Dear Sophie,
I have found evidence that Richard altered the hospital records. Your daughter is alive, and I believe I know where she was taken. I cannot tell you everything yet, but I promise I will not stop looking.
The next letter was dated three days later.
It had never been sent.
Richard knows I have the records. If anything happens to me, Eleanor will know where to begin. Please don't lose hope.
I looked at Eleanor.
"Did you ever deliver these letters?""
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because I never found Sophie.""
I picked up the final envelope.
It was addressed to the police, but it had no postage mark.
Inside was a statement signed by Catherine.
It described the forged prescriptions, the missing funds, and the altered birth records.
At the bottom was a sentence written in bold ink.
I believe Richard Hart intends to make me disappear before I can expose him.
I stared at the words.
My mother had known she was in danger.
And she'd still tried to protect us.
A knock sounded at the door.
The hospital supervisor opened it.
"Miss Hart, I'm sorry, but there's a woman at the main desk asking for you.""
"Who?""
He glanced at a note.
"She says her name is Sophie Bennett.""
My heart began to pound.
"Did she say why she's here?""
The supervisor hesitated.
"She says she received a message that her daughter has been found.""
I looked at Lily.
She stood so quickly that her chair scraped across the floor.
"Where is she?""
"Waiting in the lobby.""
We hurried upstairs.
A woman stood beside the reception desk, wearing a worn brown coat and holding a photograph in both hands. Her hair had turned almost completely gray, though she couldn't have been much older than my father.
When she saw us, she began to cry.
"I knew Catherine would find you," she whispered.
I approached her carefully.
"Are you Sophie Bennett?""
She nodded.
Then she looked at Lily.
For one long moment, she simply stared.
Finally, she reached into her coat and pulled out a small silver ribbon.
It matched the ribbon in the photograph.
"I was told my daughter died," she said.
"But I never believed it.""
Lily's face crumpled.
"Sophie, I think there may have been a mistake.""
Sophie shook her head.
"No, sweetheart. There was a mistake. But it wasn't the one you think.""
She turned toward me.
"Your mother found my baby. She promised she would bring her home.""
"Then why didn't she?""
Sophie looked down at the photograph.
"Because someone convinced her that bringing the baby home would put both girls in danger.""
I felt a chill spread through me.
"Who?""
Sophie swallowed.
"Richard Hart.""
Lily stepped forward.
"Where is the other baby?""
Sophie closed her eyes.
"I don't know her name.""
She opened the photograph and pointed to the baby wearing the silver ribbon.
"This was my daughter.""
Then she pointed to the baby wearing the blue ribbon.
"And this was Vanessa's.""
I stared at the photograph.
Sophie wiped her cheeks.
"But when I returned to the hospital the next morning, the nurses told me my baby had been transferred. They said she needed specialized care.""
"Where was she transferred?"" I asked.
"To a private clinic outside the city.""
"Did you go there?""
"Yes. But the clinic had no record of her. Richard told the police I was unstable and had imagined the entire pregnancy.""
My stomach turned.
"And Catherine?""
Sophie looked at me with desperate eyes.
"She found me months later. She said she had evidence that my daughter was alive. She promised to find her.""
"Did she tell you where?""
"No. She said it was safer if I didn't know.""
I glanced at Eleanor.
Her expression had become troubled.
"Sophie," she said carefully, "did Catherine ever mention a family named Sinclair?""
Sophie shook her head.
"No.""
"What about a girl named Lily?""
Sophie stared at Lily.
Then she whispered, "No. But she did mention another name.""
"What name?"" I asked.
Sophie reached into her handbag and removed a folded letter.
The paper was old, its edges softened by years of handling.
"I received this after Catherine died. I never understood what it meant.""
She handed it to me.
The letter contained a single sentence.
The second daughter is safe, but she must never learn who her father really is.
Beneath it was a signature.
Richard Hart.
Lily took the paper from my hand.
She read it once.
Then again.
Her face changed.
"Her father?""
Sophie began to cry.
I stared at Richard's signature.
If he was the father of the second baby, why had Catherine hidden the child's identity?
And why had she believed that learning the truth would put the girl in danger?
My phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
*Stop looking for the second daughter. Richard already knows you found Sophie.*
A second message followed.
*And the girl you're searching for isn't the one you think.*
I looked up.
Across the lobby, a young woman stood beside the glass entrance.
She had dark hair, green eyes, and a silver ribbon tied around her wrist.
She was looking directly at Lily.
Then she smiled.
May you like
And whispered through the glass, where only I could read her lips:
*Hello, sister.*
