Chapter 8 - The Daughter They Hid
I couldn't move.
The woman in the mirror was smiling.
Not a cruel smile.
Not a victorious smile.
A smile filled with sadness.
Like she had been waiting years for me to finally see her.
I turned around.
The space behind me was empty.
The hallway.
The hidden room.
Everything was exactly where it had been.
But the reflection was different.
The woman was still there.
Still standing behind me.
Still watching.
"How is that possible?"
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
Nobody answered.
I looked at Hayes.
His face had changed.
The fear was gone.
Replaced by something worse.
Pain.
"You know her."
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"Who is she?"
His eyes moved back to the mirror.
"Her name is Victoria."
I waited.
That was all he said.
I stepped closer.
"And?"
Hayes took a breath.
"She was supposed to be dead."
The words hit the room like a gunshot.
Michael looked at him.
"What?"
Hayes didn't look away.
"Victoria Carter."
My heart stopped.
Carter.
Again.
Another connection.
Another secret.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked down.
And that was when I realized.
Everyone knew.
Everyone except me.
"Who is she to me?"
Nobody spoke.
I raised my voice.
"Who is she to me?"
The mirror suddenly cracked.
A thin line appeared across the glass.
Everyone turned.
Then the reflection disappeared.
The woman was gone.
But she left something behind.
A small piece of paper taped to the mirror.
My name was written on it.
Evelyn.
I reached for it.
Michael whispered:
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
His voice shook.
"Because the last time someone opened something from Victoria..."
He stopped.
I waited.
But he didn't finish.
I removed the paper.
There was only one sentence.
"Your father didn't die protecting you."
My hand tightened.
I turned toward Daniel.
"What does that mean?"
He looked like he had been expecting this moment.
"Your father died because he found the truth."
"What truth?"
Daniel stepped forward.
"The truth about Victoria."
I stared at him.
"Tell me."
He looked at Hayes.
Hayes nodded.
Finally.
The silence broke.
"Victoria was your mother."
The room disappeared for a second.
I heard nothing.
No voices.
No footsteps.
Nothing.
My brain rejected the sentence.
"My mother died when I was a child."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
My eyes moved to him.
"Don't."
My voice became dangerous.
"Do not rewrite my entire life in front of me."
He accepted my anger.
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
I pointed toward the files.
"You all have documents. Videos. Evidence."
My voice cracked slightly.
"And I have memories."
I remembered the funeral.
The photographs.
The stories I was told.
The woman I believed was my mother.
Daniel looked at me.
"Your father raised you after Victoria disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
Hayes spoke quietly.
"Victoria wasn't killed."
I looked at him.
"Then where was she?"
Nobody answered.
Because the answer was probably something I wasn't ready for.
I turned toward the hidden room.
Everything inside it suddenly felt different.
Not like a place protecting me.
Like a place hiding me.
I opened another file.
Inside were medical records.
Birth records.
DNA reports.
My eyes moved through the pages.
Then I saw it.
A name.
Victoria Carter.
Mother.
The date matched my birth.
I dropped the file.
"No."
Michael came closer.
"Evelyn..."
I stepped away.
"No."
I looked at him.
"You knew this too?"
His silence broke something inside me.
"You knew who my mother was."
"I knew pieces."
"You knew."
He looked devastated.
"I was trying to find the truth."
I laughed.
A bitter sound.
"Everyone was trying to find the truth."
I looked around.
"And somehow, I was the only person who didn't know I was part of it."
Nobody argued.
Because nobody could.
Then Linda spoke.
"I saw her."
Everyone turned.
Linda stood near the hallway.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I saw Victoria the night she disappeared."
I stared at her.
"You?"
She nodded.
"Your father asked me to help."
My anger shifted.
"Help what?"
Linda looked at the floor.
"Hide you."
The words were almost a whisper.
I felt my chest tighten.
"From who?"
Linda looked toward the windows.
Then toward the vehicles outside.
"The people who are coming now."
The room went silent.
Hayes immediately moved toward the curtains.
He looked outside.
His expression changed.
"They're moving."
Daniel looked alarmed.
"We need to leave."
I looked at him.
"Who are they?"
Nobody answered.
Again.
That word.
Again.
Nobody answered.
I was done.
I walked toward the front door.
Everyone tried to stop me.
But I raised my hand.
"Nobody follows me."
Hayes looked at me.
"Evelyn."
"No."
I looked at him.
"You spent my entire life making decisions for me."
My voice became firm.
"Not anymore."
I opened the door.
The cold night air hit my face.
Three black vehicles were parked outside.
The people who had been waiting were gone.
Only one person stood there.
A woman.
Older.
Wearing a dark coat.
She wasn't holding a weapon.
She wasn't hiding.
She was waiting.
I stepped forward.
The woman looked at me.
Then whispered:
"You're finally old enough to know why your mother left you."
I stopped.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled sadly.
Then she said:
"I'm the reason Victoria disappeared."
My phone vibrated.
One new message.
Unknown number.
I looked down.
A photograph appeared.
My blood froze.
It was a picture of the woman standing in front of me.
Taken twenty years earlier.
Standing beside Victoria.
May you like
And behind them...
Was a newborn baby with my name written on the blanket.
