Chapter 5: Two Girls, One Secret
Marcus forgot how to breathe.
The little girl outside the gate stood perfectly still.
She was perhaps eight years old.
Her pale-blue coat hung loosely from her shoulders, and a pink ribbon held her hair in a ponytail.
She looked at Ava.
Then she looked at Marcus.
And slowly, she raised her hand.
Ava stepped forward.
“Daddy, that's Sophie.””
Marcus turned sharply.
“You know her?””
Ava nodded.
“She's the girl from my dreams.””
Vanessa made a strangled sound.
“No. No, no, no.””
Marcus looked at his wife.
“Who is she?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Get away from the window.””
“Answer me!””
The little girl outside pressed her palm against the glass.
Then she mouthed something.
Marcus couldn't hear her.
But he understood the words.
Don't trust her.
He turned toward Vanessa.
“What did you do?””
Vanessa started crying again.
“I was trying to protect them.””
“Protect whom?””
“Both girls.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Both?””
Ava looked up at him.
“Daddy, why does Sophie look like me?””
He had no answer.
A knock sounded at the front door.
Three slow, deliberate knocks.
Marcus put Ava behind him.
“Stay here.””
He approached the entrance but didn't open it.
“Who's there?””
A man's voice answered.
“Mr. Reed? My name is Andrew Miller. I'm here regarding a family matter.””
Marcus looked through the side window.
The man wore a charcoal suit and carried a leather folder.
Behind him, the little girl had moved away from the glass.
“I'm not expecting anyone.””
“I believe you have something that belongs to my employer.””
“What?””
“The contents of a pink rabbit.””
Marcus looked at the memory card in his hand.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Andrew continued.
“Please don't make this difficult.””
Marcus immediately called the police operator again.
“The man outside is threatening us. Please send officers immediately.””
Andrew's expression changed when he noticed the phone.
He stepped back.
“Mr. Reed, you really don't want to involve the authorities.””
Marcus approached the door.
“Then tell me who your employer is.””
The man smiled without warmth.
“Someone who has spent a great deal of money keeping your family comfortable.””
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
She was trembling.
Andrew continued.
“Your wife understands the arrangement.””
Marcus slowly turned the handle and opened the door only a few inches.
“Which arrangement?””
Andrew leaned closer.
“Three years ago, Mrs. Reed signed an agreement. She received financial assistance in exchange for keeping certain information confidential.””
“What information?””
“The existence of a child.””
Marcus felt a wave of nausea.
“Which child?””
Andrew glanced toward the living room.
“The one standing behind you.””
Ava tightened her grip on the rabbit.
Marcus shut the door.
He locked it.
Then he faced Vanessa.
“Explain.””
Vanessa sank into the nearest chair.
Her emerald dress was stained with spilled pink liquid.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, “When I was twenty-one, I had a daughter.””
“Sophie?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Elizabeth couldn't have children. She raised Sophie as her own after I signed the adoption papers.””
Marcus looked toward the window.
“Why?””
“I was young. I was broke. My family had disowned me. Elizabeth promised Sophie would have a better life with her.””
“And you never told me?””
“I wanted to leave that part of my life behind.””
“Then why does Ava look exactly like her?””
Vanessa covered her face.
“Because they're sisters.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Biological sisters?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Same father?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
Marcus looked confused.
“Then explain.””
Vanessa took a shaky breath.
“Elizabeth and I shared a biological father. But Sophie wasn't his child. Her father was someone else.””
“Who?””
Vanessa looked toward the hallway.
“Your father.””
Marcus went completely still.
His father had died when Marcus was twenty-seven.
He had been a respected businessman, a man whose name appeared on hospital wings and university buildings.
Marcus had spent his childhood believing he was his only son.
“You're telling me my father had a child with Elizabeth?””
Vanessa nodded.
“And Sophie was born before I met you.””
Marcus sat down.
The room seemed to spin.
“Why would you marry me knowing that?””
“Because I loved you.””
“Don't.””
“Marcus, please.””
“Don't use that word.””
He stood and paced toward the window.
The little girl outside had disappeared.
Andrew Miller was now speaking on his phone.
Marcus turned back.
“Where did the money come from?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“Your father's estate.””
Marcus froze.
“What?””
“Your father knew about Sophie. He arranged for Elizabeth to receive money. He wanted Sophie raised privately.””
Marcus felt a cold pressure spread across his chest.
“My father died before Ava was born.””
“Yes.””
“Then who was paying Elizabeth?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
“Who?””
“Your father's lawyer.””
Marcus stared at her.
The lawyer had handled the entire estate.
He had also been the person who encouraged Marcus to purchase this mansion.
Suddenly, the house's hidden rooms made terrible sense.
The underground structure hadn't been added by accident.
It had been part of the property when Marcus bought it.
Someone had known he would eventually live here.
Someone had wanted him close to the secret.
“Daniel,” Marcus said into his phone.
“I'm here.””
“Did my father know about the room?””
Daniel paused.
“Yes.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Who built it?””
“Your father's company.””
The words landed like a punch.
Marcus's father hadn't merely known about the secret.
He had financed it.
And his wife had been part of the arrangement.
Ava tugged his sleeve.
“Daddy?””
He knelt.
“I'm here.””
“Is Sophie my sister?””
Marcus looked into her eyes.
“I don't know yet, sweetheart.””
Ava nodded.
Then she whispered, “She said you would say that.””
Marcus frowned.
“When?””
“Yesterday. Through the little door.””
“What else did she say?””
Ava looked toward Vanessa.
“She said Mommy didn't give birth to me.””
Marcus stopped moving.
Vanessa's face drained of color.
“That's enough,” she said.
Marcus slowly stood.
“What did Ava just say?””
“She doesn't understand.””
Ava shook her head.
“I do.””
She hugged the rabbit.
“Mommy told me I came from a hospital, but Aunt Elizabeth said I came from another Mommy.””
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
“Where was Ava born?””
“St. Mary's.””
“Which doctor?””
Vanessa said nothing.
“Vanessa!””
She began crying.
“Dr. Whitmore.””
Marcus remembered the name.
Dr. Richard Whitmore had been his father's personal physician.
He had also signed Ava's birth certificate.
Marcus took out his phone and searched his contacts.
He found an old email from the doctor's office.
The subject line read:
Confidential Family Medical Records.
He opened it.
There was an attachment.
A scanned document.
He had never read it.
Now he saw the words clearly.
*Embryo Transfer Authorization.*
Below it were two names.
Recipient: Vanessa Reed.
Genetic donor: Elizabeth Carter.
Marcus stared at the screen.
The truth was worse than he had imagined.
Ava wasn't biologically Vanessa's daughter.
She was Elizabeth's.
And if the document was genuine, Sophie and Ava weren't simply sisters.
They were biological half-sisters.
Marcus looked toward Vanessa.
“You carried Elizabeth's baby?””
Vanessa nodded.
“She couldn't carry another pregnancy after Sophie.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because your father wanted the family line protected.””
Marcus felt sick.
“My father arranged this?””
“Yes.””
“Without telling me?””
Vanessa looked down.
“He wanted an heir.””
Marcus stared at the birth certificate.
Then at the document.
Then at his daughter.
“Did you know before we married?””
Vanessa nodded.
The room became silent.
Marcus stepped away from her.
“You knew everything.””
“I wanted a family with you.””
“You wanted a child my father had arranged.””
“I loved Ava!””
“And you let me believe she was biologically ours.””
Vanessa reached for him.
He stepped back.
Outside, the front gate suddenly rattled.
Andrew Miller was trying to open it.
A police siren sounded in the distance.
Marcus looked toward the glass doors.
Ava was standing beside the sofa.
She had begun crying.
“Daddy?””
He turned.
“What's wrong?””
She held out the rabbit.
“There's something else inside.””
Marcus took it.
The memory card had been removed.
But a small folded photograph remained hidden beneath the stuffing.
He opened it.
It showed Elizabeth holding a newborn baby.
On the back was a date.
The date Ava had been born.
And beneath it, a handwritten sentence:
The wrong baby went home.
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
She had stopped crying.
Instead, she stared at the photograph with absolute terror.
“Marcus,” she whispered.
He raised his eyes.
“Which baby did I bring home?””
Vanessa opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, a woman's voice came from the hallway.
“Neither of them.””
Marcus turned.
Elizabeth was standing at the bottom of the staircase.
Her face was pale.
May you like
Her clothes were dirty.
And in her arms was a third little girl.
