Chapter 7: The Daughter I Never Knew Existed
I read the message seventeen times.
Her name is Sophie.
My younger sister had been dead for seven years.
I had attended her funeral. I had stood beside her grave. I had placed white roses on her coffin and watched the earth cover it.
And now someone was telling me that a little girl named Sophie had been living somewhere, calling another woman Mommy.
I looked at the photograph again.
Two girls.
Two identical faces.
Two little pink dresses.
One was my Ellie.
The other was a child I had never met.
"Give me the phone," Nathan said.
I handed it to him.
He studied the photograph, then looked at Richard.
"Where did you get this?""
"I didn't.""
"Then who sent it?""
Richard shook his head.
"I don't know.""
Victoria stepped closer.
"Don't respond to the number. We need to establish where this photograph originated.""
I barely heard her.
I was staring at the little girl beside Ellie.
She had a tiny gap between her front teeth.
Ellie had the same gap.
The girl was holding a stuffed yellow bear.
Ellie had once owned a yellow bear.
I remembered buying it shortly before her second birthday. She had carried it everywhere until one afternoon, it disappeared during a family visit.
Nathan had told me he had thrown it away because the stitching had come apart.
Now I wondered whether that had been another lie.
"Nathan.""
He looked at me.
"Tell me the truth.""
His eyes filled with guilt.
"Claire...""
"Did you know about another baby?""
He looked down.
"Yes.""
I felt something break inside me.
"You knew?""
"Not everything.""
"How long?""
He rubbed his forehead.
"Six months before the accident, I found the original hospital records.""
"And you said nothing?""
"I was trying to establish what happened.""
"You let me believe Ellie was my only child!""
Nathan flinched.
"Claire, I thought the other baby had died.""
I stared at him.
"Then why is she in that photograph?""
"I don't know.""
I stepped away.
For ten years, I had believed Nathan was the one person who would never hide something important from me.
Now every memory seemed to contain a missing piece.
The late-night phone calls.
The business trips.
The locked study drawer.
The strange conversations that stopped whenever I entered a room.
How much of our marriage had been built around a secret?
Ellie tugged at my sleeve.
"Mommy?""
I looked down.
"Yes, sweetheart?""
"Why is Daddy sad?""
I crouched and brushed her hair away.
"Daddy is tired.""
She looked at the photograph.
"That's me.""
I froze.
"What, baby?""
She pointed at the screen.
"That's me with another Ellie.""
Nathan and I exchanged a look.
I tried to smile.
"Do you remember taking that picture?""
Ellie shook her head.
"No.""
She leaned closer.
"But she has my rabbit.""
I swallowed.
"Which rabbit?""
"The yellow one.""
I looked at Nathan.
He closed his eyes.
Ellie continued.
"I had that rabbit when I was little.""
I felt my heart pounding.
"Who told you that?""
She shrugged.
"Grandma.""
I looked toward the entrance where Margaret had been escorted away.
"What did Grandma say?""
Ellie played with the sleeve of my coat.
"She said I had a sister.""
Nobody spoke.
Nathan slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"What else did she say, sweetheart?""
Ellie looked at him.
"She said my sister was naughty.""
My stomach tightened.
"Why?""
"Because she didn't stay with her real mommy.""
I held my daughter closer.
"Who was her real mommy?""
Ellie looked at me.
Then she whispered:
"Your sister.""
I felt the room tilt.
We left the estate under police supervision.
Victoria arranged for Ellie and me to stay in a secure hotel while Nathan remained under medical observation.
Richard promised to help locate the original hospital records.
I didn't trust promises anymore.
Not from people connected to Margaret.
Not from people who had spent years knowing things I didn't.
That evening, I sat beside Ellie on the hotel bed.
She was drawing pictures with a box of crayons Victoria had brought.
Two little girls.
Two houses.
One enormous yellow sun.
"What are you drawing, sweetheart?""
"My sister.""
I looked at the paper.
"What's her name?""
Ellie paused.
Then she wrote something in large, uneven letters.
SOPHIE.
I stared at the name.
"Who told you that?""
"Grandma.""
My chest tightened.
"Did Grandma show you pictures of her?""
Ellie nodded.
"Sometimes.""
"When?""
"When you were sleeping.""
I felt sick.
"Where?""
"At Grandma's house.""
Ellie continued coloring.
"She said I shouldn't tell you because it was a surprise.""
I sat very still.
Margaret had been showing my daughter photographs of another child for years.
She had been preparing Ellie for a truth I hadn't even known existed.
"Sweetheart, did you ever meet Sophie?""
Ellie shook her head.
"No.""
Then she looked up.
"But Grandma said one day we'd live together.""
I kissed her forehead.
"Not without Mommy, we won't.""
She smiled.
Then she asked a question that nearly broke me.
"Will Sophie have a mommy too?""
I held her close.
"I hope so, baby.""
But I was beginning to fear that Sophie had been taken from someone who loved her.
And that someone might have been me.
At 9:40 p.m., Daniel called.
"Claire, I found something.""
I stepped into the hotel corridor.
"What?""
"The original hospital archive.""
"Where?""
"Westbridge General. That's where you delivered Ellie.""
I closed my eyes.
"Can we see it?""
"Not tonight. But I found the name of the nurse who handled the newborn transfers.""
"Who?""
"Patricia Wells.""
I waited.
"She still works there?""
"No. She retired four years ago.""
"Where is she?""
"Her address is on the record. I'm sending it to Victoria.""
I looked back through the glass door.
Ellie was sitting on the bed, arranging her crayons by color.
"Daniel, I need to know whether the other baby is alive.""
"I know.""
"Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now.""
There was a pause.
Then Daniel said something unexpected.
"I found a second photograph.""
"What photograph?""
"One taken outside the hospital the morning after the birth.""
My heart raced.
"Send it.""
A moment later, an image appeared.
It showed a woman carrying a newborn baby toward a silver car.
Her face was partially turned away.
But I recognized the coat.
The scarf.
The small crescent-shaped scar near her ear.
I whispered her name.
"Margaret.""
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"Yes.""
The photograph was dated four years earlier.
The woman was carrying a newborn baby.
And sitting inside the car was a man I recognized from the picture of Richard Cole.
I zoomed in.
There was a handwritten note on the bottom.
Transfer authorized by M. Harper. Destination: Northbridge Children's Residence.
I felt my knees weaken.
"What's Northbridge Children's Residence?""
Daniel answered immediately.
"An institution that closed three years ago.""
"Where is it?""
"About an hour outside the city.""
I stared at the photograph.
"Was Sophie there?""
"I don't know.""
"Find out.""
"Claire, there's something else.""
I gripped the phone.
"What?""
"The institution's director was Margaret's personal attorney.""
I closed my eyes.
"Of course he was.""
Daniel hesitated.
"His name was Peter Lang.""
"Is he alive?""
"Yes.""
"Where?""
"He's currently working as a consultant for a private adoption agency.""
I felt cold.
"An adoption agency?""
"Yes.""
I looked through the hotel window.
A black car was parked across the street.
It had been there for nearly twenty minutes.
"Daniel?""
"Yes?""
"Someone is outside.""
He went quiet.
"Describe the vehicle.""
"Black sedan. Tinted windows.""
"Don't approach it. Call hotel security.""
I turned toward the elevator.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
Stop looking for Sophie.
Another arrived immediately.
You already lost one daughter once.
I stared at the screen.
Then a third message appeared.
Ask Nathan what happened at 1:37 a.m.
I looked toward the hotel room.
Nathan had arrived twenty minutes earlier.
He was standing beside Ellie, helping her put on her pajamas.
He looked up and smiled when he saw me.
I couldn't smile back.
Because I suddenly remembered the time.
1:37 a.m.
The time I had supposedly held Ellie for the first time.
And the time Margaret claimed the birth records didn't match.
I walked into the room.
"Nathan.""
He looked at me.
"What's wrong?""
I held up the phone.
He read the message.
His face changed.
"Where did you get this?""
"Someone sent it.""
He looked at Ellie.
Then back at me.
"Claire, we need to talk.""
"About 1:37?""
He lowered his eyes.
"Yes.""
I felt tears gathering.
"What happened that night?""
He sat down slowly.
Then he told me something I had never imagined.
"Claire, when you were taken into surgery, the doctors discovered that you had given birth to two girls.""
I stared at him.
"I know that now.""
"No. You don't understand.""
He took a breath.
"The second baby was in distress. She needed immediate treatment.""
I nodded.
"Then what?""
"The hospital told me both babies were stable. But when I returned to the nursery, only Ellie was there.""
My stomach tightened.
"Where was the other baby?""
Nathan looked at me.
"Margaret told me the second baby hadn't survived.""
I covered my mouth.
"And you believed her?""
"At first.""
He looked toward the window.
"Then I found a photograph of both babies in her office. I asked her about it. She said it was an administrative mistake.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because she threatened to have you declared medically unfit to raise Ellie.""
I stared at him.
"She what?""
"She had documents from your delivery showing you had experienced complications. She said she could use them to make you look unstable.""
I shook my head.
"So you kept quiet?""
"I was trying to protect you.""
"By making me live a lie?""
Nathan didn't answer.
I stepped away.
Then he reached into his jacket.
He removed a small folded paper.
"I found this in Margaret's office the week before the accident.""
He handed it to me.
It was a hospital discharge summary.
The patient's name was Sophie Harper.
The date was the same as Ellie's birth.
But the section marked mother's signature contained a name I didn't recognize.
*Dr. Amelia Cross.*
I looked up.
"Who is she?""
Nathan's voice was barely audible.
"She's the woman who adopted Sophie.""
I stared at the document.
"Then why did Margaret take her?""
Nathan shook his head.
"Because Amelia wasn't supposed to adopt her.""
He paused.
"She was supposed to make sure Sophie disappeared.""
My blood ran cold.
Before I could ask what he meant, a loud crash came from the hotel room.
Ellie screamed.
Nathan jumped up.
I rushed inside.
The balcony door was open.
The curtains were moving in the cold air.
And my daughter was gone.
On the bed lay her yellow drawing.
Two little girls holding hands.
Across the bottom, someone had written in black marker:
*ONE DAUGHTER IS NOT ENOUGH.*
I screamed her name.
"ELLIE!""
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice spoke softly.
"Claire Harper?""
"Where is my daughter?""
"My name is Amelia Cross.""
I gripped the phone.
"Where is Ellie?""
There was a pause.
Then the woman said:
"She's with me.""
I nearly collapsed.
"Give her back!""
"She's safe.""
"Put her on the phone!""
Another pause.
Then a small voice came through.
"Mommy?""
"Ellie!""
"Mommy, there's a lady here.""
I closed my eyes.
"Baby, listen to me. Stay with her. I'm coming.""
The woman interrupted.
"Claire, I think it's time you met the other daughter.""
Then the call ended.
Nathan grabbed his coat.
I looked at him.
"Where is she?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know.""
I held up the discharge summary.
"Then we're going to find out.""
Because the woman who had just taken my daughter was the same woman who had supposedly been responsible for my missing child.
And I was beginning to understand that Sophie hadn't simply disappeared.
Someone had raised her.
Someone had loved her.
May you like
Someone had lied to her.
And now both my daughters were in the hands of the same woman.
