Chapter 8: The Daughter They Erased
Daniel read the newborn record three times.
He could not make the words settle into reality.
Same hospital.
Same night.
Same mother.
Same date.
Two children.
His hands began to shake.
“This says Claire is the mother.””
Victoria nodded.
“She is.””
Claire stared at her.
“No.””
Victoria swallowed.
“I know how it sounds.””
“No,” Claire whispered.
“I mean… I would remember.””
“You were unconscious.””
“I remember Lena.””
“You were told there was only one baby.””
Claire's eyes filled.
“That’s not possible.””
Victoria looked at her.
“They made sure you believed it.””
Daniel slowly lowered the paper.
“Who?””
“Bellweather.””
Mercer stepped toward Victoria.
“You were never supposed to know.””
“I found out three years ago.””
Daniel turned sharply.
“You knew for three years?””
Victoria nodded.
“And you still married me?””
“I didn't know everything when I married you.””
“Then when did you find out?””
“The night your father died.””
The room went silent.
Victoria rubbed her arms.
“I received an envelope.””
“From whom?””
“Your father.””
Daniel looked at Mercer.
“Did you know about it?””
Mercer nodded.
“But I didn't know what was inside.””
Victoria continued.
“Your father wrote that I was one of two children born to Claire.””
Claire stared at her.
“You're saying I'm your mother?””
Victoria's lips trembled.
“Yes.””
Claire looked as though the room had tilted beneath her.
She took one step backward.
Then another.
Daniel caught her.
“Claire.””
She pushed a hand against her mouth.
“I had twins?””
Victoria nodded.
“You had two daughters.””
Claire looked at Lena.
Then at Victoria.
Her expression shattered.
“Why didn't they tell me?””
Victoria's voice became quiet.
“Because one of us was valuable.””
Daniel frowned.
“Valuable how?””
Victoria reached into her coat and pulled out another document.
It was much older.
The paper was yellowed around the edges.
“The Hart family wasn't the reason.””
She handed it to Daniel.
The document described a private medical study conducted decades earlier.
The project had been funded by Bellweather.
Daniel scanned the pages.
“Genetic research?””
Mercer nodded.
“Your father discovered it after the twins were born.””
Claire stared at them.
“What kind of research?””
Victoria answered.
“Families with a specific inherited trait.””
Daniel looked at her.
“What trait?””
“They never told me.””
“Then how do you know?””
“Because they kept testing me.””
Claire's face went pale.
“What?””
Victoria nodded.
“Every year. Blood work. Imaging. Genetic panels.””
“Who?””
“Private doctors.””
“Paid by Bellweather.””
Daniel looked at Mercer.
“You knew?””
“I knew they were testing someone.””
“You knew it was Victoria?””
“Yes.””
Daniel took a step toward him.
“And you said nothing?””
Mercer lowered his head.
“I was trying to find proof.””
“You had proof.””
“I had suspicion.””
“You watched them experiment on my daughter.””
Mercer's face tightened.
“I didn't know she was your daughter.””
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“Neither did I.””
Lena suddenly spoke from Claire's arms.
“Mommy?””
Claire looked down.
“Yes, sweetheart.””
“Is she my sister?””
No one answered immediately.
Victoria's eyes filled.
She slowly crouched.
“If your mommy says so.””
Lena studied her face.
“You look like me.””
Victoria smiled through tears.
“I know.””
Lena tilted her head.
“Are you nice?””
Daniel almost laughed despite everything.
Victoria wiped her cheek.
“I’m trying to be.””
Lena thought about it.
“Okay.””
Claire closed her eyes.
The simplicity of the child's answer seemed to hurt more than any revelation.
Victoria stood.
“But there’s something you still don't know.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“There's more?””
“Yes.””
She looked at the documents.
“Bellweather wasn't searching for two babies.””
“They were searching for one.””
Daniel frowned.
“Which one?””
“Me.””
Claire stared.
“Why?””
Victoria looked at Mercer.
He nodded reluctantly.
“Because of her biological father.””
Daniel's face changed.
“My father?””
“No,” Victoria said.
“Your father never knew.””
Claire shook her head.
“Then who?””
Victoria gave Daniel the document.
A name was highlighted.
He read it.
His expression emptied.
*Jonathan Vale.*
The dead man.
Thomas's brother.
The man who had helped forge the records.
Daniel looked up.
“Jonathan was your father?””
Victoria nodded.
Claire stared.
“That means…”
Mercer finished the sentence.
“Victoria is Claire's daughter and Jonathan Vale's daughter.””
Daniel's eyes widened.
“But Lena…”
“Different father.””
Daniel looked at Claire.
She was trembling.
“I was told Lena was Daniel's.””
“You were,” Victoria said.
Claire turned to her.
“Then you aren't twins.””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
She looked at Lena.
“We were born minutes apart.””
“But we don't have the same father.””
Daniel stared at the records.
“The marriage.””
“Yes.””
“The altered records.””
“Yes.””
“They needed to hide Victoria’s existence.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Victoria hesitated.
“Because Jonathan discovered something.””
“What?””
“He discovered that Bellweather had been using newborn identities to hide illegal genetic experiments.””
Claire's voice shook.
“And Victoria was one of those children.””
“Yes.””
Daniel looked at Lena.
“Why did they leave her with Claire?””
Victoria answered softly.
“They didn't.””
Everyone froze.
Victoria continued.
“They took me.””
Claire's breath caught.
“You were taken?””
“Hours after I was born.””
Victoria wiped her eyes.
“They told the hospital there had been an emergency transfer.””
Claire whispered, “No.””
“I was placed with another family.””
“Who?””
“A couple connected to Bellweather.””
Daniel felt sick.
“And my father?””
“Your father was your biological father,” Victoria said.
“But he never knew you had been born.””
Claire stared at her.
“And Lena?””
“Your mother was told she had lost one baby.””
Claire's knees buckled.
Daniel caught her.
“You were told Victoria died.””
Victoria nodded.
“That was the lie.””
Claire covered her face.
“I held you.””
Victoria's voice broke.
“I know.””
“How?””
“I found a photograph.””
She pulled one from her pocket.
Claire took it.
The picture showed a hospital room.
Claire was lying unconscious.
A nurse stood beside her.
In Claire's arms was a newborn.
And another tiny baby rested beside her.
Claire stared at the image.
“That's you.””
Victoria nodded.
“You were holding both of us.””
Claire's tears fell freely.
“I don't remember.””
“You weren't supposed to.””
Daniel looked at the photograph.
At the edge of the frame was a man in a gray suit.
Thomas's brother.
Jonathan.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
He pointed.
“That's him.””
Mercer nodded.
“He was there.””
Daniel's anger returned.
“He took her.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did he spend years helping Bellweather?””
Victoria answered.
“He stopped helping them.””
Daniel stared.
“When?””
“When he realized what they wanted to do with me.””
Claire looked up.
“What did they want?””
Victoria's expression went cold.
“They wanted to reproduce whatever made me genetically valuable.””
Daniel frowned.
“You mean another child?””
“No.””
Victoria shook her head.
“Another generation.””
Mercer opened a folder.
Inside were photographs of laboratories.
Rows of coded samples.
Medical equipment.
DNA sequences.
And dozens of files marked with dates.
Daniel looked through them.
“What am I looking at?””
“Children.””
“Where?””
“Different hospitals.””
“When?””
“Over twenty years.””
Claire whispered, “How many?””
Mercer answered.
“Forty-seven confirmed cases.””
Daniel looked sick.
“And Victoria?””
“The first successful match.””
The room became silent.
Lena stepped closer to Claire.
“Mommy, I don't like this.””
Claire immediately knelt.
“You don't have to understand any of it.””
“Are we going home?””
“Yes.””
Claire looked at Daniel.
“We're leaving.””
Daniel nodded.
But as he turned toward the door, Victoria stopped him.
“Daniel.””
He looked back.
“There’s one final part.””
“What?””
Victoria held up another file.
“This is why they came for Lena tonight.””
Daniel stared.
“What does it say?””
Victoria opened the folder.
The first page contained a genetic comparison.
Three names.
*VICTORIA VALE*
*LENA HART*
*CLAIRE HART*
A fourth line was highlighted in red.
*COMPATIBILITY CONFIRMED.*
Daniel frowned.
“Compatibility with what?””
Victoria looked at him.
“Something Bellweather has been searching for.””
“What?””
“The original bloodline.””
Claire's face went pale.
“What original bloodline?””
Victoria closed the folder.
“The one your father spent six years trying to protect.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Tell me.””
Victoria's eyes filled with fear.
“They don't want Lena because she's your daughter.””
“They want her because she's the only person who can identify the original genetic record.””
Daniel's phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?””
A man's voice replied.
“You have twenty minutes.””
Daniel froze.
“Who are you?””
“You're holding our file.””
“What do you want?””
“Bring it to the old laboratory.””
“Or what?””
A pause.
Then the voice said:
“Ask your mother what happened to the other child.””
Daniel slowly turned toward Evelyn.
She was standing at the entrance to the archive.
Her face was white.
The caller continued.
“Because Victoria wasn't the only baby taken that night.””
The line went dead.
Claire stared at Evelyn.
Daniel whispered:
“Mom?””
Evelyn didn't answer.
Then she looked at Lena.
And began to cry.
May you like
“The second baby,” she said.
“She was never Victoria.””
