Chapter 9: The Daughter They Tried to Erase
Darius was halfway to the parking lot when his security chief called again.
“Mr. Carter, we've found the bedroom window open. There's no sign of forced entry downstairs.””
“Where is my daughter?””
“We're searching the grounds.””
“Then search faster!””
Darius ended the call and sprinted toward his car.
Brittany emerged from the rear exit behind him, breathless and shaking.
“Darius!””
He spun around.
“Where is Grace?””
“Marjorie took her through the alley.””
“And you let her go?””
“She was trying to protect her!””
“From whom?””
Brittany looked toward the road.
“I don't know. But the man who came into the clinic wasn't working alone.””
Darius grabbed her arm.
“My daughter is missing. If you know anything that can help me find her, you will tell me now.””
Brittany nodded frantically.
“Marjorie said Richard had a private security team. She believed someone from that team was still working for him, even after his death.””
“Who?””
“I don't know their names.””
“Then why did you keep meeting Marjorie?””
“Because she promised she would tell me where Grace was.””
Darius released her.
“You were so desperate to find your daughter that you helped someone frighten mine.””
Brittany lowered her head.
“I know.””
“No, I don't think you do.””
He opened the car door.
“Get in.””
Brittany hesitated.
“Where are we going?””
“Home. And if Kayla isn't there, we're going to find out who took her.””
The drive back to the mansion felt endless.
Darius called the police, gave them the details of the threatening messages, and asked his security chief to preserve every camera recording from the property.
He did not tell Brittany everything he had learned about the DNA reports.
He no longer knew which parts of her story were true.
When they arrived, Evelyn was waiting on the front steps, wrapped in a coat over her nightdress.
Her face was pale.
“Darius!””
He ran toward her.
“Where is Kayla?””
“I don't know. I went to check on her after the security chief called. Her bed was empty.””
“Did you hear anything?””
Evelyn shook her head.
“I heard a noise downstairs. By the time I reached the hallway, the back door was open.””
Darius closed his eyes.
He had promised Kayla that nobody would hurt her again.
He had left her behind while chasing answers about Olivia's death.
And now she was gone.
“Show me her room.””
He ran upstairs.
Kayla's cotton cap lay on the pillow. Her stuffed rabbit was missing. The curtains fluttered beside the open window, although the room was on the second floor.
Darius checked the balcony.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a small muddy footprint near the windowsill.
Someone had entered through the balcony.
He crouched and examined the mark.
The footprint was too small to belong to an adult.
A child had been here.
He turned toward Brittany.
“Did you know Grace was coming to the mansion?””
“No.””
“Did you tell Marjorie where we lived?””
“She already knew.””
“Who else knew?””
Brittany looked away.
Darius stepped closer.
“Brittany!””
She flinched.
“I sent Marjorie a message this morning. I told her I had found the letter about Kayla's placement. I thought she might help me get the original records before you discovered them.””
“You gave her access to my house?””
“I didn't know she would come here!””
Darius stared at her.
“Your decisions keep putting my daughter in danger.””
Brittany began to cry.
“I know. I know, and I am sorry.””
He turned away.
There was no time for apologies.
A police officer entered the bedroom, carrying a small evidence bag.
“Mr. Carter, we found this near the rear gate.””
Inside was a silver hair clip.
Kayla's.
Darius recognized it immediately. Olivia had bought a set of little star-shaped clips for Kayla's third birthday. Kayla had worn them almost every day until she outgrew them.
He took the bag.
“Did you find anything else?””
The officer nodded.
“A note was left on the driveway.””
Darius unfolded the paper.
Bring the original birth certificate to the old railway station at midnight. Come alone, or the girl disappears.
Beneath the message was a photograph.
Kayla sat in the back of a vehicle, her face wet with tears. A hand rested on her shoulder.
Darius felt the room spin.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten name.
*GRACE.*
He looked at Brittany.
“Where is the original birth certificate?””
Brittany's expression changed.
“What?””
“The one Olivia found. Where is it?””
“I don't have it.””
“You said you had photographs and medical records.””
“I never saw the original certificate.””
Darius turned toward Philip, who had arrived with two police officers.
“Can you recover the corrupted video from Olivia's drive?””
“I can try.””
“Do it.””
Philip nodded and hurried toward the study.
Darius looked at the note again.
Midnight.
He had less than three hours.
He could not walk into a trap alone, regardless of what the note demanded. He would take the original certificate if they could find it, but the police would need to establish surveillance and prepare a safe approach.
He turned to Evelyn.
“Stay here. Keep the doors locked. Don't let anyone inside unless the police confirm their identity.””
Evelyn gripped his hand.
“Bring her home.””
“I will.””
As Darius started toward the stairs, Brittany called after him.
“Darius, wait.””
He stopped.
She was holding a small photograph.
“I think this is what they want.””
He took it.
The image showed Olivia in a hospital bed, holding a newborn. Richard stood beside her, his expression unusually solemn.
But it wasn't the baby that caught Darius's attention.
It was the document resting on Olivia's lap.
The original birth certificate.
At the bottom, beneath Olivia's signature, was the name of the biological father.
Darius leaned closer.
He read it once.
Then again.
His father was not listed.
The name was *Darius Carter*.
He looked up at Brittany.
“Why is my name on this?””
Brittany shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
“I don't know.””
“You said Grace was conceived through a surrogacy arrangement involving Olivia's egg. If I was the father, why did you carry the child?””
Brittany looked at him as if she were about to confess something unforgivable.
“Because Richard told me the child belonged to you and Olivia. He said your wife had been unable to carry the pregnancy safely, and that you had agreed to use a surrogate.””
Darius stared at her.
“That never happened.””
“I know that now.””
“Did Olivia tell you that?””
“No. Richard did.””
Darius felt a terrible cold settle in his chest.
His father had arranged a pregnancy using Olivia's egg and Darius's sperm without his knowledge.
Or someone had forged the documents to make it appear that way.
Either possibility was monstrous.
“Where did you get the sperm sample?”” he asked.
Brittany looked down.
“Richard told me it was collected during a routine medical screening. He said you had consented to the procedure.””
Darius remembered the medical screening.
Four years earlier, Richard had insisted that Darius undergo a series of tests after a minor health scare. He had accompanied him to a private clinic, explaining that the family physician wanted a complete medical profile.
Darius had signed several forms without reading every line.
His stomach turned.
“My father used my medical records to create a child without telling me.””
Brittany nodded.
“And when Grace was born, he told me she would eventually inherit the company. He said Olivia had agreed to the arrangement.””
“But Olivia didn't agree to any of this?””
“I don't know what she agreed to. I only know that after Grace was born, Richard changed everything. He told me the baby had to disappear because Olivia had discovered the truth.””
Darius stared at the photograph.
The baby in Olivia's arms had been born before the night of the accident.
Grace was not merely a secret child.
She was the evidence of a scheme that had begun long before Olivia died.
And Kayla had been placed in danger because someone wanted that evidence destroyed.
A sharp voice came from the doorway.
“Mr. Carter?””
Philip stood there, holding the laptop.
“I recovered part of the video.””
Darius rushed toward him.
“Show me.””
Philip turned the screen around.
Olivia appeared again, sitting in the dimly lit room.
This time, the recording continued beyond the moment the door opened.
Brittany entered the frame.
Olivia stood.
“You told me Grace was dead.””
Brittany began crying.
“I didn't know they had taken her.””
“Who took her?””
“Richard.””
Olivia stepped closer.
“Why?””
“Because he wants to use her to control Darius.””
Olivia covered her mouth.
Then she looked directly at the camera.
“If anything happens to me, I need someone to understand that Grace is not the only child at risk.””
Brittany turned toward her.
“What are you talking about?””
Olivia's voice dropped.
“Kayla's birth records were altered too.””
Darius stopped breathing.
The video continued.
Olivia pulled a document from her handbag.
“Richard changed the hospital records the day Kayla was born. He told me it was an administrative correction, but I found the original file.””
Brittany stared at the paper.
“Why would he do that?””
Olivia looked terrified.
“Because Kayla is not the child Richard believes she is.””
The recording crackled.
A loud bang sounded outside the room.
Olivia turned toward the door.
Someone shouted her name.
Then the video ended.
Darius stared at the black screen.
He could barely hear Philip speaking.
“What did she mean?”” he whispered.
Philip shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Darius looked at the photograph of Kayla in the vehicle.
His daughter.
The child he had raised, loved, protected, and held through nightmares.
Olivia had warned that Kayla's birth records had been altered.
Richard had arranged the pregnancy that produced Grace.
And someone had kidnapped Kayla to force him to produce an original birth certificate.
He had always believed that Kayla was his biological daughter.
But what if the records had been changed to conceal something else?
What if the truth about his daughter's birth was the reason someone had been willing to kill Olivia?
His phone rang.
The caller ID displayed an unknown number.
Darius answered.
A distorted voice spoke immediately.
“Midnight. The original birth certificate. No police.””
Darius gripped the phone.
“Let me hear my daughter.””
A muffled sound came through the speaker.
Then Kayla's frightened voice.
“Daddy?””
Darius closed his eyes.
“I'm here, princess. I'm coming for you.””
“Daddy, there's a lady here. She says she knows Mommy.””
His heart pounded.
“What's her name, sweetheart?””
Kayla began to cry.
“She says her name is Olivia.””
Darius froze.
“That isn't possible.””
The voice returned.
“Bring the document, Mr. Carter. And come prepared to learn why your wife died.””
The call ended.
Darius slowly lowered the phone.
Across the room, Brittany had gone deathly pale.
Because she knew something Darius did not.
May you like
The woman who had taken Kayla might not be pretending to be Olivia.
And if the voice Kayla had heard belonged to the woman in the photograph, then the secret hidden in the original birth certificate was far more dangerous than anyone had imagined.
