Chapter 5: The Second Birth Certificate
Thomas replayed the recording three times.
Each time, the same words emerged.
Lily has a twin.
Each time, the room became quieter.
Finally, Thomas switched off the device.
He looked at Mrs. Bennett.
“Tell me everything.””
The housekeeper sat down heavily in the chair beside the desk.
“I don't know where the other child is.””
Thomas stared at her.
“You were there.””
“Yes.””
“You helped Daniel arrange the adoption.””
“Yes.””
“And you're telling me you don't know where Lily's twin is?””
Mrs. Bennett looked down at her hands.
“I know where the child was eleven years ago. I don't know where she is now.””
Victoria made a small choking sound.
Thomas turned toward her.
“She?””
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Don't.””
“It's a girl?””
Nobody answered.
Thomas stepped closer.
“Victoria, is Lily's twin a girl?””
Victoria finally nodded.
Lily sat on the edge of the desk chair.
She was holding the brass key with both hands.
“I have a sister?””
Thomas looked at her.
“Yes, sweetheart.””
“Does she look like me?””
He swallowed.
“I imagine she does.””
“Does she know about me?””
Victoria suddenly slammed her palm against the desk.
“STOP!””
The sound startled Lily.
Victoria's breathing was uneven.
“This is not something a seven-year-old needs to hear.””
Thomas's voice hardened.
“She's already heard enough to know you've been lying to her.””
“I was protecting her!””
“From her own sister?””
Victoria looked toward the safe.
Then she whispered:
“From the people who wanted her dead.””
Thomas stared.
“What people?””
Victoria walked toward the window.
Outside, the rain had become heavier.
“Eleven years ago, Daniel discovered that Sarah Hayes had been involved in something much bigger than a hospital mix-up.””
Mrs. Bennett slowly raised her head.
“Victoria, don't.””
“Why not? He's already found the room.””
Thomas stepped forward.
“Found what?””
Victoria turned.
“Sarah had worked as an accountant for the Carter Foundation. She discovered that millions of dollars were being moved through fake charities and shell companies.””
Thomas's expression changed.
“The foundation?””
Victoria nodded.
“Daniel was investigating the missing money. Sarah helped him collect documents.””
Mrs. Bennett shook her head.
“Daniel never told me that.””
“Because he didn't trust you with everything.””
Thomas looked at the folders on the desk.
“Who was stealing the money?””
Victoria didn't answer.
Thomas picked up a financial report.
The first page contained a list of transfers.
Several names had been highlighted.
One of them belonged to Victoria.
Another belonged to a company registered in Delaware.
And the third was a name Thomas recognized immediately.
His own.
He dropped the paper.
“What is this?””
Victoria looked at him.
“You signed the original authorization.””
“I never approved these transfers.””
“You signed hundreds of documents.””
“Not these.””
“Daniel used your authority while he was building the foundation.””
Thomas picked up the report again.
His signature was unmistakable.
He had signed something, but the pages had been mixed together.
He remembered the day.
A board meeting.
A stack of documents.
Daniel telling him everything was routine.
“Why would my brother use my signature?””
Victoria answered quietly.
“Because he was trying to find out who was stealing the money.””
Thomas looked at her.
“And you?””
Victoria didn't respond.
He understood.
“Were you involved?””
She shook her head.
“I was involved in the foundation. I wasn't stealing from it.””
Mrs. Bennett spoke from the chair.
“Then why did you pay Eleanor Hayes?””
Victoria spun around.
“Be quiet!””
Thomas froze.
“Pay Eleanor?””
The housekeeper opened her handbag.
From inside, she removed a small envelope.
It was old, yellowed, and sealed with tape.
“Daniel found this in Victoria's personal safe three weeks before he died.””
Victoria rushed toward her.
“Margaret!””
Thomas caught her arm.
“Let her speak.””
Mrs. Bennett placed the envelope on the desk.
Inside were several photographs and copies of bank transfers.
The first photograph showed Eleanor standing outside a private medical clinic.
The second showed Victoria handing her a thick envelope.
The third showed Eleanor holding a young child.
Thomas stared at the picture.
The child appeared to be about three years old.
On the back, someone had written:
Payment received. No further contact.
Thomas felt his stomach tighten.
“Victoria, what did you pay this woman for?””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I was paying her to stay away.””
“From whom?””
“From Lily.””
Lily looked up.
“Was she going to take me?””
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
Thomas's face darkened.
“Why?””
“Because Eleanor believed Lily belonged to her family. She wanted to take both children and raise them herself.””
Mrs. Bennett shook her head.
“That's not true.””
Victoria looked at her.
“You weren't there.””
“I was there when Daniel confronted Eleanor. She never wanted Lily. She wanted the second baby.””
Thomas looked at the photographs.
“Where was the second baby?””
Mrs. Bennett hesitated.
Then she said something that made Thomas step backward.
“The second child was placed with a family in Connecticut.””
Victoria covered her face.
Thomas stared.
“Who arranged it?””
“Daniel.””
“Without telling me?””
“He thought it was the safest way.””
“Was the family paid?””
Mrs. Bennett nodded.
“Not to hide the child. To provide a stable home.””
Thomas paced across the room.
“So Daniel separated twins, hid the truth from Victoria, and arranged a private adoption?””
“He believed he was protecting both children.””
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“He protected everyone except me.””
Thomas turned toward her.
“You knew where the girl was.””
Victoria looked away.
“Not at first.””
“But later?””
She said nothing.
Thomas picked up another document.
It was a second birth certificate.
The child's name was written in black ink.
*AVA HAYES.*
Date of birth: November 14.
Mother: Sarah Hayes.
Father: Unknown.
Thomas stared at the page.
“Where is Ava now?””
Victoria's silence answered him.
Mrs. Bennett began to cry.
“I don't know.””
Thomas looked toward the safe.
“Then we're going to find out.””
He searched through the folders.
There were medical records, adoption papers, letters, and several photographs.
Then he found a thin red folder.
Inside was a printed email dated three weeks earlier.
The sender's name was unfamiliar.
The subject line read:
*SHE KNOWS ABOUT THE TWINS.*
Thomas opened it.
Daniel,
I have located Ava. She is no longer living with the family who adopted her. Someone has been following her for months.
I believe the person responsible is connected to the foundation.
You need to tell Lily before it's too late.
Please call me.
H.
Thomas read the message again.
“H.””
He looked at Henry Whitmore's business card.
Then at the date.
Three weeks before Daniel died.
Thomas reached for his phone.
“I need to call Henry.””
Victoria suddenly grabbed the red folder.
“No!””
Thomas pulled it away.
“Why are you so desperate to stop us?””
“Because you don't understand what you're getting into!””
“Then explain it!””
Victoria's eyes darted toward Lily.
“Not in front of her.””
Lily stood.
“I want to know about Ava.””
Victoria shook her head.
“Sweetheart, you don't understand.””
“She's my sister.””
Lily's voice cracked.
“Does she know I'm here?””
Thomas crouched.
“We're going to find her.””
Victoria grabbed his shoulder.
“You can't promise that.””
Thomas looked at her.
“Why not?””
She leaned close.
“Because Ava disappeared six months ago.””
The room went silent.
Thomas slowly stood.
“Six months?””
Victoria nodded.
“Daniel knew she was missing. He spent weeks trying to find her.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because he made me promise.””
“Promise what?””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“That if he failed, I would keep Lily away from the investigation.””
Thomas looked toward the desk.
The photograph of Daniel and Eleanor sat beneath the hospital record.
He picked it up.
Then he noticed something strange.
In the background, behind the hospital entrance, stood a man in a dark coat.
His face was partially hidden.
But Thomas recognized the watch on his wrist.
It was the same watch he had given Daniel for his fortieth birthday.
The watch Daniel had been wearing when he died.
Thomas's fingers tightened around the photograph.
“That's not possible.””
Mrs. Bennett approached.
“What is it?””
Thomas pointed.
“Look at the man behind Eleanor.””
She leaned closer.
Then her face went white.
“Oh, my God.””
Victoria looked at the photograph.
Her lips parted.
“Who is that?””
Thomas turned the image over.
There was a second handwritten message on the back.
Not Daniel's handwriting.
A different one.
The twins were never supposed to be separated.
Underneath it was a name.
*HENRY WHITMORE.*
Thomas looked at the housekeeper.
“Why would Henry be at the hospital?””
Mrs. Bennett began shaking.
Then the telephone on the desk rang.
Everyone jumped.
Thomas picked it up.
“Hello?””
A man's voice answered.
“Thomas, this is Henry. You need to get Lily out of that house immediately.””
Thomas gripped the receiver.
“Why?””
“Because I just received confirmation that Daniel's death wasn't an accident.””
Thomas went cold.
“Who killed him?””
There was a pause.
Then Henry whispered:
“Look at the hospital photograph again.””
Thomas did.
The man standing behind Eleanor was not wearing Daniel's watch.
He was wearing Thomas's.
And Thomas suddenly remembered exactly where he had been the night Daniel died.
May you like
He had been driving his brother home.
And he had left his own watch in Daniel's car.
