Chapter 7: The Third Child in the Mansion
The scream came from the breakfast room.
Lucas dropped the photograph and ran.
“Daniel!””
He reached the dining room in seconds.
The table had been overturned. A plate lay shattered across the marble floor, and Lily was standing beside the curtains, clutching her pink inhaler.
Daniel was nowhere to be seen.
“Where's my son?””
Lily pointed toward the staircase.
“He went with the lady.””
Lucas turned sharply.
“What lady?””
“The pretty lady with the white hair.””
Evelyn appeared in the doorway behind him.
Her expression was unreadable.
Lucas slowly turned toward her.
“What did you do?””
“Nothing.””
“Where is Daniel?””
“I don't know what you're talking about.””
Lucas grabbed her wrist.
“Don't lie to me.””
Evelyn looked down at his hand.
“You're hurting me.””
“Where is my son?””
A guard rushed into the room.
“Boss! We found the security feed.””
Lucas released Evelyn.
“Show me.””
The guard held up a tablet.
The footage showed Daniel leaving the breakfast room with a woman wearing a dark coat.
She had a familiar face.
Lucas recognized her immediately.
His father's former private nurse.
Margaret Shaw.
He had not seen her since he was twelve.
“Who opened the gate?”” Lucas demanded.
The guard checked the screen.
“Mrs. Moretti.””
Lucas turned toward Evelyn.
She didn't deny it.
“Why?””
Evelyn looked at Lily.
Then at the photograph on the floor.
“Because Daniel isn't the child they came for.””
Lucas felt his stomach tighten.
“Then who?””
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“The third child.””
Lucas ordered the entire property sealed.
Every exit was locked. Every vehicle was searched. Every employee was questioned.
But Margaret Shaw had disappeared with Daniel.
And the only person who seemed to know why was the woman who had raised him.
Evelyn sat in Lucas's study, her hands folded neatly over her handbag.
Lucas stood across from her.
“Start talking.””
She looked at the wedding photograph on his desk.
“Your father was a very complicated man.””
Lucas laughed bitterly.
“That's a polite way of describing a monster.””
“Anthony believed the Moretti name was more important than any individual life.””
“He's been dead for twenty-six years.””
“His influence hasn't.””
Lucas placed the photograph of the three newborn babies on the desk.
“Explain this.””
Evelyn stared at it.
Then she closed her eyes.
“Isabella gave birth to three children.””
Lucas felt his legs weaken.
“Triplets?””
“Yes.””
He looked at the photograph again.
Daniel.
Lily.
And the third baby.
Three tiny faces.
Three children he had never known existed.
“Why did Isabella tell me there were only two?””
“She didn't know about the third one at first.””
Lucas stared at her.
“What does that mean?””
Evelyn took a slow breath.
“The babies were delivered prematurely. Isabella was unconscious after the birth. The doctors told her that two children had survived.””
“And the third?””
“Your father had arranged for the third baby to be transferred to another hospital.””
Lucas gripped the desk.
“Why?””
“Because he believed three heirs would destroy the family's succession arrangements. He wanted one child to inherit the legitimate business interests and another to become the public face of the family.””
Lucas stared at her.
“And the third?””
Evelyn looked away.
“He wanted the third child erased.””
Lucas felt sick.
“Who authorized it?””
“Anthony.””
“Who carried it out?””
Evelyn didn't answer.
Lucas leaned forward.
“Who?””
“Margaret.””
The name hung in the room.
Lucas remembered the woman from his childhood.
She had been quiet, efficient, and always present when his father needed something done.
“She took my child?””
Evelyn nodded.
“She was told the baby had died.””
“Did you believe that?””
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“No.””
Lucas slammed his palm against the desk.
“Then why didn't you stop her?””
“Because I was afraid.””
He stared at her.
“You were afraid?””
“Your father controlled everything. He controlled the doctors, the lawyers, the police officers who worked for him. When I questioned him, he reminded me that I was only his second wife.””
Lucas walked toward the window.
Outside, the gardens were beginning to brighten with morning light.
He had spent his entire life believing that his family was built on loyalty.
Now he understood that it had been built on silence.
“Who is the third child?”” he asked.
Evelyn opened her handbag.
She removed another photograph.
This one showed a little girl standing in the mansion's garden.
She wore a yellow dress.
Her hair was tied into two small braids.
Lucas recognized her.
He had seen her every morning for three years.
She was the quiet little girl who lived with the housekeeper.
The child who sometimes helped the kitchen staff arrange flowers.
The child who had saved his life.
Lily.
Lucas stared at the photograph.
“Lily?””
Evelyn nodded.
“Lily Carter is one of your daughters.””
He looked up.
“One of?””
“Charlotte is the second. The third child was given another identity.””
Lucas's voice dropped.
“Who?””
Evelyn whispered a name.
“Margaret raised her as her own granddaughter.””
Lucas stared at her.
“Where?””
Evelyn looked toward the door.
“Inside this house.””
A scream came from upstairs.
Lucas immediately ran.
Evelyn followed.
They reached the second-floor hallway just as a bedroom door opened.
A little girl stepped out.
She was wearing a yellow dress.
Her brown hair was tied into two braids.
Lucas recognized her.
Sophie.
Margaret's granddaughter.
She had lived in the mansion's east wing for nearly a year, supposedly because Margaret was helping with administrative duties.
Lucas had seen her many times.
She had always been quiet.
Always polite.
Always afraid of Victor.
Now she stood in the hallway holding a small photograph.
Lucas crouched.
“Sophie?””
The girl looked at him.
“Where's Grandma?””
Lucas's heart tightened.
“She's not here.””
“Did she take Daniel?””
Lucas stared.
“How do you know?””
Sophie began crying.
“Because she told me.””
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Sophie, sweetheart, come here.””
The girl shook her head.
“No!””
She backed away.
“Grandma said I wasn't supposed to talk about the babies.””
Lucas looked at her carefully.
“What babies?””
Sophie held up the photograph.
It showed three newborn children.
The same photograph Lucas had found.
But on the back, someone had written three names.
Daniel.
Charlotte.
And Sophie.
Lucas felt his world stop.
Sophie looked at him.
“Am I in trouble?””
He shook his head.
“No, sweetheart.””
“Then why does everyone keep looking at me?””
Lucas swallowed.
“Because we have something important to tell you.””
Sophie wiped her cheeks.
“Am I really your daughter?””
Lucas could not speak.
He simply opened his arms.
After a moment, Sophie ran into them.
He held her carefully.
Three children.
Three babies.
Three lives stolen from him.
And the woman who had raised one of them had just taken his son.
Elias arrived twenty minutes later.
He had traced Margaret's vehicle to a private airfield in New Jersey.
“Boss, she has a plane waiting.””
Lucas stood immediately.
“Get the cars ready.””
Elias hesitated.
“There is something else.””
“What?””
“Victor is gone.””
Lucas turned.
“Gone where?””
“The holding room is empty. The guards were found unconscious.””
Lucas closed his eyes.
Of course.
Victor had never been the only enemy.
He had simply been the most visible one.
Elias continued.
“We found a note on the chair.””
Lucas took it.
The message was short.
*You should have let the dead stay buried.*
Beneath it was a second line.
*Ask Evelyn what happened to your real mother.*
Lucas slowly raised his eyes.
May you like
Evelyn was standing at the end of the hallway.
And she was crying.
