Chapter 8: The Woman in the Camera
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The security image remained frozen on Ethan's phone.
A woman stood inside the dark warehouse at Pier Seven.
Same height as Samantha.
Same dark hair.
Same narrow shoulders.
Same face.
Samantha stared at the screen.
“That’s me.””
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.””
“I’m telling you, that's me.””
Ethan enlarged the image.
The woman's face became clearer.
She was wearing a black coat Samantha had never seen before.
But the resemblance was impossible to dismiss.
Charlotte whispered, “How?””
Olivia backed away from the phone.
“That isn't Samantha.””
Samantha looked at her.
“Then who is it?””
No one answered.
Victoria suddenly reached for Ethan's phone.
“Turn that off.””
Ethan pulled it away.
“You knew.””
“No.””
“You recognized her.””
“I recognized the face.””
“That means you know who she is.””
Victoria's breathing became uneven.
“I don't.””
Nathaniel stepped forward.
“Mom.””
Eleanor's voice was quiet but firm.
“Victoria, stop lying.””
Victoria looked at her.
“I've spent twenty years trying to keep them safe.””
Eleanor shook her head.
“No. You've spent twenty years trying to control what they know.””
Samantha's eyes stayed on the image.
She noticed something.
“Wait.””
Nathaniel looked at her.
“What?””
“Zoom in.””
Ethan did.
Samantha pointed at the woman's left hand.
“She isn't wearing my ring.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“What ring?””
“The one I wear every day.””
She held up her hand.
A simple silver band surrounded her finger.
“I never take it off.””
The woman on the screen wasn't wearing it.
Samantha looked closer.
“She has a scar.””
Ethan zoomed again.
A faint white line crossed the woman's palm.
Samantha stared.
“I don't have that.””
Rebecca stepped closer.
“I do.””
Everyone turned.
Rebecca's voice shook.
“That scar.””
She touched the scar near her own eyebrow.
“I know where it came from.””
Nathaniel looked at her.
“Tell us.””
Rebecca swallowed.
“When Victoria and I were teenagers, we had another sister.””
Samantha's eyes widened.
“What?””
Victoria closed her eyes.
Rebecca continued.
“Her name was Anna.””
Eleanor's face went white.
“No.””
Samantha stared at her.
“You had another daughter?””
Eleanor nodded slowly.
“She was born before Victoria.””
Rebecca nodded.
“She disappeared when she was seventeen.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“Disappeared?””
“Ran away, according to the family.””
Victoria whispered, “Rebecca.””
“But she didn't run away,” Rebecca said.
She looked at Samantha.
“She was sent away.””
Samantha felt a chill.
“Why?””
Rebecca's eyes moved toward Victoria.
“Because our father was afraid she knew too much.””
Ethan lowered the phone.
“About what?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I didn't understand it then.””
Nathaniel stared at the image.
“You think that woman is Anna?””
Rebecca looked at Samantha.
“No.””
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
“I think she's Anna's daughter.””
Samantha's stomach tightened.
“My cousin?””
Rebecca nodded.
“Possibly.””
Victoria turned toward the window.
“No.””
Nathaniel followed her gaze.
“You know exactly who is in that warehouse.””
Victoria didn't answer.
Nathaniel walked toward her.
“Who?””
Victoria finally whispered,
“Anna's daughter.””
Samantha's breath caught.
“What is her name?””
Victoria's eyes remained fixed on the ocean.
“Emily.””
Ethan looked at the screen.
“Emily Blackwell?””
Victoria turned quickly.
“No.””
Ethan's expression hardened.
“My father had a daughter named Emily.””
Samantha stared.
“What?””
Ethan pulled up another file on his phone.
A private family record.
There it was.
EMILY BLACKWELL.
Birth date: June 17, 2006.
Samantha stopped breathing.
“That’s my birthday.””
Nathaniel looked at the date.
“Same year.””
Rebecca's lips parted.
“Oh my God.””
Samantha stepped backward.
“Why?””
Victoria looked at her.
“Because…”
Her voice broke.
“You were not the only baby born that day.””
The room went silent.
Samantha's heart began pounding.
“There were two?””
Victoria nodded.
“Twins.””
Nathaniel stared at her.
“You had twins?””
Victoria's voice dropped.
“Yes.””
Samantha felt dizzy.
“Where is she?””
Victoria didn't answer.
Samantha stepped toward her.
“Where is my sister?””
Victoria looked at her with tears in her eyes.
“You were separated at birth.””
“But why?””
“Because your grandfather demanded it.””
“Why?””
“Because one child belonged to the Hayes family.””
Victoria swallowed.
“And the other belonged to the Blackwells.””
Samantha stared.
Ethan's face hardened.
“You're saying Emily is my father's daughter.””
“Yes.””
“And Samantha is Marcus Hayes's daughter.””
“Yes.””
Nathaniel looked at Samantha.
“Then the marriage arrangement…”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“You were never supposed to know each other.””
Ethan's face darkened.
“You were going to marry Samantha to me.””
“Yes.””
“You knew we were connected?””
Victoria didn't answer.
“Answer me!””
“Yes.””
Ethan stepped backward.
“You knew she was my half-sister.””
“No,” Victoria said quickly.
“I knew she was Marcus's daughter. I didn't know Emily was alive.””
Samantha felt sick.
“So the marriage arrangement was a trick.””
Victoria nodded.
“Your grandfather wanted the Hayes and Blackwell fortunes tied together.””
Nathaniel's voice turned cold.
“Through Samantha.””
“Yes.””
“While Emily was hidden inside the Blackwell family.””
Victoria looked at Ethan.
“Your father never told you about her?””
“No.””
Ethan stared at his phone.
“Why would he hide his own daughter?””
Rebecca answered.
“Because the twins were evidence.””
“Evidence of what?””
Rebecca looked at Samantha.
“That your grandfather and Daniel Blackwell had been moving money through both families.””
Nathaniel's eyes narrowed.
“They needed children from both bloodlines to control the trusts.””
“Yes.””
Samantha looked at the camera image.
Emily.
Her twin.
Her entire life had been a lie, but now another truth was emerging beneath it.
“You knew where she was.””
Victoria shook her head.
“Not anymore.””
Samantha pointed to the screen.
“She was at Pier Seven three hours ago.””
“Yes.””
“Why would she go there?””
Victoria hesitated.
“Because she found out.””
“Found out what?””
“That she has a sister.””
Samantha's heart pounded.
“How?””
Victoria looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca looked down.
“I sent her a letter.””
Victoria's head snapped around.
“You did what?””
“I found her years ago.””
Samantha stared at Rebecca.
“You knew my twin existed?””
Rebecca nodded.
“I found Emily when she was six.””
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
“Because your grandfather was still alive. He threatened both of us.””
“And now?””
Rebecca's voice shook.
“Now he's back.””
Nathaniel looked at his phone.
Another notification appeared.
Security alert.
Unauthorized entry.
Pier Seven.
Ethan read it.
“They're inside.””
Samantha stepped forward.
“Then we go.””
Nathaniel shook his head.
“Not without knowing who else is there.””
Ethan checked the live camera.
“There are four people.””
“Emily?””
“Yes.””
“Who are the others?””
Ethan zoomed in.
His face suddenly hardened.
“My father's security chief.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“His father is dead.””
“I know.””
“Then why is his security chief there?””
Ethan's voice lowered.
“Because he disappeared after my father's death.””
Rebecca whispered, “He didn't disappear.””
Everyone looked at her.
“He went underground.””
Samantha asked, “For whom?””
Rebecca stared at Victoria.
“For your grandfather.””
The lights in the mansion suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Charlotte screamed.
Olivia grabbed her.
“Stay close!””
Nathaniel pulled out his phone and activated the flashlight.
“Everyone stay together.””
A loud crash sounded from downstairs.
Then another.
Glass breaking.
Samantha's breathing quickened.
Ethan moved toward the door.
“Someone's in the house.””
Nathaniel stopped him.
“Wait.””
Another sound.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming up the staircase.
Victoria whispered, “He's here.””
Samantha looked at her.
“Who?””
Victoria didn't answer.
The footsteps stopped outside the study.
A man's voice came through the door.
“Victoria.””
Everyone froze.
The voice was old.
Calm.
Familiar.
The same voice that had called Nathaniel moments earlier.
Victor Hayes.
Nathaniel's hand tightened around his phone.
“You said you were dead.””
The voice laughed softly.
“I said what I needed the world to believe.””
The door handle turned.
Eleanor stepped in front of Samantha.
“No.””
The door opened.
An elderly man walked into the study.
He was thinner than Samantha expected.
White hair.
Black cane.
A long dark coat.
He looked fragile.
Until his eyes met Samantha's.
Then something in his face became brutally cold.
He stared at her for several seconds.
Finally, he said,
“You look exactly like your father.””
Samantha couldn't move.
Nathaniel whispered,
“Grandfather.””
Victor ignored him.
His gaze remained on Samantha.
“You were never supposed to survive.””
The room went silent.
Samantha stared back.
“Why?””
Victor took one step forward.
“Because your sister was supposed to.””
Nathaniel's face changed.
“What are you talking about?””
Victor smiled.
“The girl at Pier Seven isn't Emily Blackwell.””
Samantha's blood turned cold.
Victor's eyes locked onto hers.
“She is Samantha.””
Samantha stopped breathing.
“No.””
Victor lifted his cane and pointed toward the phone.
“The woman you saw on that camera…”
He smiled.
“…is the daughter you've never met.””
Ethan stared at the screen.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A woman's voice screamed through the speaker.
“Please! Somebody help me!””
Samantha recognized the voice immediately.
May you like
It was hers.
Then the line went dead.
