Chapter 10 - The Woman Wearing Victoria’s Life
The woman stepped into Eleanor’s hospital room.
Daniel stared at the live video.
Same silver-gray dress.
Same carefully styled hair.
Same controlled expression.
Victoria Harrow.
His mother.
Or the woman he had believed was his mother.
Eleanor screamed.
“Stay away from me!”
Edward grabbed Ethan and moved between them.
“Don’t come closer.”
The woman stopped.
“Edward, put the boy down.”
“No.”
“Now.”
Ethan buried his face against Edward’s shoulder.
Andrew leaned toward the phone.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at the camera.
Her face changed when she saw him.
“Thomas.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t call me that.”
Daniel stepped beside him.
“Who are you?”
She looked at Daniel.
For one terrible moment, she smiled exactly the way Victoria always had.
“Daniel.”
His stomach turned.
“Answer me.”
“I raised you.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Claire watched from the wheelchair, her newborn pressed safely against her chest.
Rebecca held the emergency phone.
The message still glowed:
VICTORIA HARROW DIED SIX YEARS AGO.
Daniel pointed at the screen.
“Who sent that?”
Rebecca checked.
“Unknown.”
“Can you trace it?”
“Not yet.”
Michael looked at Victor.
The old man had gone silent.
Too silent.
“You know,” Michael said.
Victor stared at the video.
“Father,” Andrew said.
Nothing.
Andrew slammed both hands onto Victor’s desk.
“Who is she?”
Victor finally looked at him.
“Someone who should never have been allowed into this family.”
The woman on-screen laughed.
“Still dramatic, Victor.”
Eleanor stared at her.
“You took my daughter’s life.”
Claire’s blood ran cold.
Daniel whispered, “Your daughter?”
Eleanor looked toward the camera.
“My Victoria.”
The woman’s expression hardened.
Eleanor continued.
“My real daughter.”
Daniel felt his knees weaken.
He had grown up calling Victoria Harrow his mother.
He knew her perfume.
Her handwriting.
The way she hated thunderstorms but pretended she didn’t.
The way she folded napkins when nervous.
The way she had sat beside him all night when he broke his arm at twelve.
Could all of that belong to someone else?
“Six years,” Daniel whispered.
Andrew looked at him.
Daniel remembered the accident.
Again.
Everything returned to that night.
He looked at Samuel.
“What happened six years ago?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I told you what I remember.”
“No. You told me fragments.”
Samuel swallowed.
“You arrived at St. Matthew’s after the crash.”
“With Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“The real Victoria?”
Samuel hesitated.
“I thought so.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“You were there.”
Evelyn nodded.
“For the first hour.”
“What happened?”
“Victoria demanded your bloodwork be run privately.”
“Why?”
“She said you had symptoms related to a hereditary condition.”
“The marker.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“I was ordered out.”
“By whom?”
Evelyn looked at Victor.
“Foundation administration.”
Victor said nothing.
Daniel stared.
“What happened to my mother?”
Samuel whispered, “She disappeared that night.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“I saw Victoria enter the restricted wing.”
“And?”
“She never came back out.”
Claire’s hand tightened around the baby.
Daniel looked at the woman on-screen.
“Then who left the hospital with me?”
Samuel’s answer was barely audible.
“Her.”
Silence.
The false Victoria smiled.
“At last.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You replaced her after my accident.”
“Yes.”
Lauren covered her mouth.
“No.”
The woman looked at Lauren.
“My sweet girl.”
Lauren stepped backward.
“Don’t call me that.”
“I raised you too.”
“You’re not my mother.”
“I became your mother.”
“You stole her.”
The woman’s expression changed.
“I saved what she was destroying.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“You murdered her.”
The woman turned.
“You never understood Victoria.”
“She was my daughter.”
“She hated what this family had become.”
“She was trying to end it.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel stared.
“You killed her because she wanted to stop Project Continuity?”
The woman looked at him.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because she found me.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Andrew noticed.
“Found you where?”
The woman smiled.
“In Daniel’s file.”
Daniel froze.
“My file?”
“Yes.”
She stepped closer to the camera.
“Your mother discovered that someone had been changing your medical records since childhood.”
“Who?”
“I was.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.”
“You were never supposed to survive infancy.”
Michael moved toward the phone.
“That’s a lie.”
The woman looked at him.
“Hello, Michael.”
His face tightened.
“You stay away from my son.”
She smiled.
“You abandoned him.”
“I was forced away.”
“And I stayed.”
Daniel shouted, “Enough!”
The woman looked back at him.
He spoke slowly.
“What is your name?”
She hesitated.
Eleanor answered.
“Helena.”
Victor flinched.
Andrew turned.
“Helena who?”
Eleanor’s voice trembled.
“Helena Bennett.”
Claire felt the air leave her lungs.
Bennett.
Again.
Margaret stepped backward.
Rebecca stared at her.
“Mom?”
Margaret’s face collapsed.
“No.”
Claire looked between them.
“Who is Helena?”
Eleanor answered.
“My youngest sister.”
Claire’s mind raced.
Eleanor Bennett.
Margaret’s mother had been Eleanor’s younger sister.
Now Helena Bennett.
The family tree was becoming a cage.
Rebecca looked at Margaret.
“Is she your aunt?”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“My mother’s younger sister.”
Claire whispered, “Then she’s related to us.”
“Yes.”
Helena smiled.
“More closely than Victor ever understood.”
Victor finally spoke.
“You were nothing.”
Helena laughed.
“I was the carrier you spent thirty years searching for.”
Everyone went still.
Samuel stepped closer.
“The original marker.”
Helena nodded.
“Eleanor discovered it in my blood when I was seventeen.”
Claire looked down at her daughter.
Three curved lines.
The birthmark.
The injections.
Everything.
Helena continued.
“Victor wanted to build a dynasty around it.”
Victor snapped, “You volunteered.”
“I was seventeen.”
“You signed consent.”
“My sister signed for me after you threatened our family.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“I have regretted it every day.”
Helena looked at her.
“You regretted it?”
Her calmness vanished.
“You went home.”
“You had a life.”
“You had children.”
“I spent seven years inside his clinics.”
Victor stared.
“You were treated.”
“I was studied.”
Claire looked at Helena differently now.
Not with trust.
Never trust.
But with the first glimpse of how the monster might have been created.
Helena looked at Claire.
“You carry my bloodline.”
Claire stiffened.
“How?”
“Your grandmother was my sister.”
Margaret whispered, “Yes.”
Helena nodded toward the newborn.
“That child carries the marker naturally.”
Claire looked at Samuel.
“Then why did Eleanor say the birthmark was a reaction?”
Eleanor answered from the hospital bed.
“Because the marker itself doesn’t cause it.”
“What does?”
“The compound Bellweather gave you.”
Claire’s stomach twisted.
“What compound?”
“A protein activator.”
Samuel went pale.
“No.”
Eleanor looked toward him.
“You know it.”
Samuel shook his head.
“That was theoretical.”
Victor smiled.
“Not anymore.”
Daniel turned on him.
“You gave it to Claire?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Helena raised one hand.
“I did.”
Daniel exploded.
Andrew and Michael caught him before he could reach the phone as though Helena were physically standing there.
“You poisoned my wife!”
“No.”
“You injected something into her pregnancy without consent!”
“I arranged the prenatal supplements.”
Claire stared.
The vitamins Victoria had insisted on.
Helena.
Not Victoria.
Helena had been living in Victoria’s house.
Eating at Claire’s table.
Touching Claire’s stomach.
Calling the baby her granddaughter.
Claire felt nauseated.
“You gave me those pills.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To confirm the marker.”
“You used my baby as a test.”
Helena said nothing.
Claire’s eyes filled.
“You’re no different from Victor.”
That landed.
Helena’s face tightened.
“I was trying to prove his program could be destroyed.”
“By experimenting on my daughter?”
“I needed one confirmed carrier.”
“You needed permission.”
Helena looked away.
Claire’s voice hardened.
“You didn’t have it.”
“No.”
“Then don’t call what you did protection.”
Helena said nothing.
Daniel looked at Claire.
She was exhausted.
Barely an hour after giving birth.
Yet somehow she was the strongest person in the room.
Eleanor spoke.
“Claire, listen carefully.”
Claire turned toward the screen.
“Is my daughter sick?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“The mark indicates exposure. It does not mean harm.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Get her examined by an independent pediatric team. No Harrow Foundation. No Bellweather. No St. Matthew’s.”
“County Regional?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Not yet.”
Claire’s fear returned.
“Why?”
“Because someone accessed their neonatal system twenty minutes ago.”
Rebecca immediately looked at the emergency phone.
“Can you send me the access log?”
Edward stepped toward Eleanor.
“I have it.”
Helena turned.
“Edward, don’t.”
He stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t understand what you’re holding.”
Edward laughed.
“I understand enough.”
He transferred a file.
Rebecca’s phone vibrated.
She opened it.
Lines of access data appeared.
“Someone created a newborn admission record.”
Claire stared.
“For my baby?”
Rebecca nodded.
Daniel moved closer.
“Under what name?”
Rebecca scrolled.
Then stopped.
Her face changed.
“What?”
“The baby isn’t registered as Harrow.”
Claire felt cold.
“What name?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Bennett.”
Margaret whispered, “No.”
Rebecca read:
FEMALE INFANT BENNETT.
PREAUTHORIZED TRANSFER.
Claire clutched the baby.
“Transfer where?”
Rebecca scrolled.
“St. Matthew’s Research Annex.”
Daniel looked at Helena.
“You arranged this.”
“No.”
“Who else knew she would be born today?”
Helena’s expression changed.
“I didn’t.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“The delivery wasn’t expected for another week.”
Daniel looked at Victor.
Victor appeared equally confused.
Rebecca said, “The admission record was created at 6:14 this morning.”
Claire’s water had broken hours later.
Someone had known.
Eleanor whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Samuel looked at the record.
“Unless labor was induced.”
Claire froze.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
Claire’s mind raced backward.
Breakfast.
The wedding suite.
Victoria—Helena—had brought her tea.
Then a supplement.
One final prenatal tablet, she had said.
Claire looked at Helena.
“You gave me something this morning.”
Helena’s face changed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
“You brought it to my room.”
Helena stepped closer to the camera.
“Claire, I never entered your room this morning.”
Daniel stared.
“She did.”
Claire shook her head.
“I saw you.”
“I was at Bellweather before sunrise.”
Lauren whispered, “She was.”
Everyone turned.
Lauren’s face was pale.
“I saw Mom leave the vineyard at five-thirty.”
Claire’s pulse raced.
“Then who brought me the pill?”
No one answered.
Andrew looked at Victor.
Victor shook his head.
“Not me.”
Rebecca zoomed in on the admission record.
“There’s a physician authorization.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Name.”
Rebecca read it.
“Dr. Andrew Cole.”
Andrew recoiled.
“No.”
Daniel stared.
“You again.”
“I did not sign that.”
“Biometric?”
Rebecca checked.
“No.”
“What?”
“It’s handwritten.”
Andrew took the phone.
He studied the signature.
“That’s not mine.”
Samuel moved beside him.
His face went pale.
“I’ve seen that handwriting.”
“Where?”
“Six years ago.”
Daniel already knew.
“The night of my accident.”
Samuel nodded.
“The person who came to St. Matthew’s pretending to be Andrew.”
Michael looked at Victor.
“Edward?”
Andrew shook his head.
“No. Edward doesn’t look enough like me to fool someone face-to-face.”
Victor whispered, “He used to.”
Everyone looked at him.
Andrew stared.
“What?”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Edward’s appearance was surgically altered after Eleanor took him.”
Edward heard through the video.
His face went cold.
“That’s another lie.”
Victor looked at him.
“Ask your mother.”
Edward turned.
Eleanor looked away.
“Mom?”
Eleanor began crying.
“Edward…”
“What did you do?”
“To protect you.”
“From what?”
“From being recognized.”
Edward stared at his own reflection in the dark hospital window.
Andrew looked almost identical to him now.
Claire understood.
If Edward had once looked different—
Then someone else could have been made to look like Andrew.
Rebecca’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
She answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
“Who is this?”
A photograph arrived.
Claire’s bedroom that morning.
Timestamp: 6:03 A.M.
Claire sat at the vanity in the background.
A woman stood behind her holding a glass of water.
The woman had Helena’s face.
But Helena was visible in another timestamped image at Bellweather at exactly 6:03.
Daniel stared.
“Two of them.”
A second photograph arrived.
Closer.
The woman in Claire’s bedroom was smiling toward a hidden camera.
Around her neck hung a medical ID badge.
Rebecca enlarged it.
The photograph showed a man.
DR. ANDREW COLE.
Andrew stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
Another message appeared.
HE WAS NEVER THE ONLY ONE WHOSE FACE WE CHANGED.
Claire looked toward Eleanor.
Eleanor’s face had gone white.
“Mom?” Andrew whispered.
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
“Who else?”
She began crying.
Victor backed toward the wall.
Michael noticed.
“You know.”
Victor said nothing.
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Who was altered to look like Helena?”
Victor stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“Victoria.”
Daniel froze.
His real mother.
Eleanor’s daughter.
The woman supposedly murdered six years ago.
Claire’s emergency phone rang again.
Daniel answered.
No one spoke.
Then the camera turned on.
A woman appeared.
She had Helena’s face.
She stood inside a hospital elevator.
In her arms was an empty newborn carrier.
Daniel whispered, “Who are you?”
The woman smiled sadly.
“Daniel, it’s Mom.”
His knees almost gave way.
The elevator doors opened.
Behind her was the maternity floor of the hospital where Claire’s baby had just been pre-registered.
Victoria looked over her shoulder.
Then back into the camera.
“They know Claire gave birth.”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Mom?”
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
“I have sixty seconds before they find me.”
“Where have you been?”
“No time.”
“Are you really Victoria?”
She reached beneath her collar.
She pulled out a necklace.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
He had made it for his mother when he was nine.
His hands began shaking.
Victoria whispered, “I never stopped looking for you.”
A shadow appeared behind her.
Her expression changed.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Take Claire and the baby and run.”
“Mom—”
“Now.”
The elevator doors began to close.
A hand shot between them.
The doors reopened.
Victoria turned.
Someone stepped inside.
She dropped the phone.
The camera landed sideways.
Daniel could see only shoes.
Then a man’s voice spoke.
A voice Daniel recognized.
He had heard it every week for six years.
Andrew slowly turned toward the study door.
The same voice came from the hallway outside.
“Daniel?”
Andrew went white.
May you like
The doorknob began to turn.
And someone with Andrew Cole’s exact voice was standing on the other side.
