Chapter 14 - The Child They Stole
“The name was Elena.”
Mara froze.
The woman's voice disappeared from the phone.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
“Who is Elena?”
The call ended.
Mara lowered the phone slowly.
Dominic looked at her.
“What did she say?”
Mara couldn't answer.
Elias stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
“She said the name was Elena.”
Michael's face changed.
“Your aunt.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“She said she knew who I really was.”
Dominic looked at the baby in Mara's arms.
“And she said the child isn't yours.”
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
“She can't be right.”
Elias took the phone from her.
“She may be.”
Mara stared at him.
“How?”
“The hospital bracelets.”
“The bracelet?”
Elias nodded.
“Remember the three numbers?”
Mara nodded.
“Those weren't simply identification numbers.”
“What were they?”
“Transfer numbers.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“The children were moved.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Where?”
Michael walked toward the table.
He opened the original birth file.
“There were three infants registered that night.”
He pointed to the first entry.
“017 was Dominic.”
Then the second.
“018 was Elias.”
Mara looked at the third.
“019.”
Michael shook his head.
“Not you.”
Mara stared.
“Then who?”
Michael turned the page.
A second document had been hidden beneath the original.
The baby's name had been scratched away.
Only one word remained.
ELENA.
Mara's heart stopped.
“My aunt?”
“No,” Michael said.
“Then why is her name here?”
“Because she was the one who arranged the transfer.”
Dominic looked confused.
“Transfer of whom?”
Michael pointed toward the final entry.
“The baby assigned 019.”
Mara looked down at her daughter.
Her hands began shaking.
“Then where is the real 019?”
Nobody answered.
Elias stepped closer.
“There was a fourth record.”
Dominic frowned.
“Fourth?”
“Yes.”
Elias pulled a folded paper from his coat.
“This was hidden inside the family archive.”
He opened it.
A hospital transfer order.
The date was twenty-nine years old.
The destination:
ST. VINCENT'S — PRIVATE MATERNITY UNIT.
The patient:
ELENA ARDEN.
Mara stared.
“My aunt was pregnant?”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the next line.
“Her name was used as the guardian.”
Mara's breathing quickened.
“Guardian of who?”
Michael looked at her.
“The baby.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Whose baby?”
Michael hesitated.
“The child of a woman who died during childbirth.”
Mara whispered,
“Who?”
Michael's voice broke.
“Your mother's closest friend.”
Mara looked at the baby.
The room seemed to spin.
“So my aunt took someone else's child?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather ordered her to.”
“Why?”
“To create a false heir.”
Mara stared.
“And I was that false heir?”
Michael nodded.
“You were raised as Elena's daughter.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
“You were.”
“My mother—”
“Was your mother.”
Mara looked confused.
“Then what does that mean?”
Michael took a breath.
“Your biological mother was Elena's sister.”
Mara's eyes widened.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“And Elena?”
“Your aunt.”
“Then whose child was taken?”
Michael looked toward the baby.
“Not yours.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Then whose?”
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
“The baby your mother was protecting.”
Mara stared at him.
“The third child.”
“Yes.”
“The baby from the photograph.”
“Yes.”
Mara's voice became barely audible.
“Then I was never the third baby.”
“No.”
She looked at the birth record.
“Then who am I?”
Elias answered.
“You are the first child.”
Mara looked at him.
“The first?”
“The first heir.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“The old man wasn't lying.”
“No,” Elias said.
“He just lied about why.”
Mara stared at her daughter.
“And this baby?”
Elias looked at her.
“She is the fourth.”
Silence.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“How?”
Elias walked to the window.
“Your marriage created a bloodline they never expected.”
Mara shook her head.
“She isn't part of this.”
“She is.”
“No.”
Mara held her daughter tighter.
“She is just a baby.”
Elias nodded.
“And that's why everyone is fighting over her.”
Dominic looked at the doorway.
“Then the woman on the phone knows where the real 019 is.”
Michael nodded.
“We need to find her.”
Mara stepped toward the old desk.
“What about my mother?”
Michael looked at her.
“She left another recording.”
“Where?”
He pointed to the black box.
“There.”
Mara opened it.
A small cassette recorder lay beneath the documents.
She pressed play.
Static.
Then her mother's voice.
“Mara.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“If you're hearing this, the plan failed.”
A pause.
“I need you to forgive me.”
Mara's tears fell.
“I didn't abandon you.”
“I hid you.”
“Because your grandfather wanted to use you.”
The recording crackled.
“But I made one mistake.”
Mara leaned closer.
“I trusted Elena.”
Michael looked down.
Her mother continued.
“She promised to protect both children.”
“Instead, she took one.”
Mara's eyes widened.
“She took the baby I was supposed to protect.”
The recording stopped.
Dominic stared at Michael.
“Who is Elena?”
Michael looked toward Mara.
“Your aunt.”
Mara whispered,
“Then she is the woman on the phone.”
“Yes.”
The recording continued.
“If Elena ever contacts you, don't trust her.”
A pause.
“She believes she owns the child.”
Mara's breathing stopped.
“Which child?”
The recording crackled.
“The one she stole from me.”
Then the tape ended.
Mara stared at the recorder.
Dominic took her hand.
“We'll find her.”
Mara looked at him.
“What if the baby she stole is mine?”
“We'll find out.”
“What if my daughter really isn't mine?”
Dominic looked at the infant.
“She is yours because you love her.”
Mara's eyes filled.
“That's not what she meant.”
“I know.”
“But I need the truth.”
“You'll get it.”
Elias stepped forward.
“I know where Elena is.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?”
“Under the old estate.”
Dominic frowned.
“Another tunnel?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she used it twenty years ago.”
Michael shook his head.
“She would never go back.”
“She has.”
“How do you know?”
Elias pointed toward the window.
A black car was parked across the road.
Inside sat a woman.
Dark hair.
Gray coat.
Watching the mansion.
Mara stared.
“That's her.”
Dominic looked.
He immediately moved toward the door.
“Stay here.”
Mara caught his arm.
“No.”
“This time you stay.”
“I've spent my entire life waiting for someone else to decide what I deserve to know.”
She looked at him.
“Not anymore.”
Dominic nodded.
“Then we go together.”
They left the mansion.
The woman in the car drove away.
Dominic followed.
The chase lasted ten minutes.
The black car turned onto an old road leading toward the Arden property.
Then vanished.
Dominic stopped.
Mara looked ahead.
An abandoned greenhouse stood among the trees.
Elias pointed.
“She'll be there.”
They entered.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Plants had grown through the concrete.
At the far end was a rusted metal door.
Mara noticed something carved into it.
Three numbers.
Dominic opened it.
A staircase descended into darkness.
They went down.
At the bottom was a room.
A single chair.
A table.
And a crib.
Empty.
Mara's heart sank.
“No.”
A woman's voice came from behind them.
“You finally came.”
Mara turned.
Elena stood in the doorway.
Older.
Pale.
Tears on her face.
She looked exactly like Mara's mother.
Mara stared.
“You're Elena.”
“Yes.”
“You took a baby.”
Elena nodded.
“I did.”
“Where is she?”
Elena looked at the crib.
“She was here.”
Mara stepped closer.
“Was?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to protect her.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
Dominic moved beside Mara.
“Where is the baby?”
Elena looked at him.
“Not yours.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Answer the question.”
Elena pointed toward a second door.
“She was taken.”
“By who?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Mara's voice broke.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You know everything.”
“I knew once.”
“Then tell me.”
Elena looked at Mara.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Mara froze.
“What?”
“Your mother was supposed to die with the baby.”
“But she didn't.”
“No.”
“She escaped.”
“Yes.”
“And you took the child.”
Elena nodded.
“I took the child to save her.”
Mara stared.
“Whose child?”
Elena opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
A noise came from behind the second door.
A baby crying.
Mara turned immediately.
“My daughter.”
Elena grabbed her arm.
“No.”
Mara pulled away.
“Let me go.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
She ran toward the door.
Dominic followed.
Elias reached the handle.
It was locked.
Mara heard the baby crying again.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
“Don't open it.”
Dominic froze.
He knew that voice.
Mara looked at him.
“Who is that?”
Dominic's face went white.
The voice spoke again.
“Dominic…”
A pause.
May you like
“It's your father.”
And from behind the locked door came the sound of someone slowly turning the key.
