Chapter 7 - The Girl Who Called Me Mom
"Mom... please don't let him find me."
The voice was small.
Weak.
Terrified.
But I knew it.
I knew that voice.
Every part of me recognized it before my mind could understand.
I gripped the phone tighter.
"Who is this?"
For a few seconds, there was only breathing.
A child trying not to cry.
Then:
"It's me."
My knees almost gave out.
"Sarah?"
The room went silent.
Elena looked at me.
Victoria stopped moving.
Everyone heard the name.
Everyone understood.
The little girl on the phone was the daughter I was told never existed.
"Mom, I don't have much time."
My hand covered my mouth.
Because after all these years, after all the lies, after all the missing memories...
My daughter was alive.
"Sarah, where are you?"
A pause.
Then a whisper.
"I don't know."
The answer broke my heart.
A child should know where she is.
A child should know where home is.
A child should know who she belongs to.
But Sarah sounded like someone who had spent years hiding.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
Her voice became quieter.
"But he knows."
My blood turned cold.
"Who?"
Another pause.
Then:
"Dad."
Elena immediately moved closer.
She gestured for me to put the phone on speaker.
I did.
"Sarah, listen to me," Elena said calmly. "I'm Detective Ramirez. You're safe now."
The line went silent.
Then Sarah whispered:
"Are you with my mom?"
I looked at Elena.
My eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
A small sound came through the phone.
Like a child trying not to cry.
"She doesn't remember me, does she?"
That sentence hurt more than anything.
Because she knew.
My daughter knew I had forgotten her.
And somehow, she was still worried about me.
"I do now," I whispered.
My voice broke.
"I remember you."
But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't completely true.
I remembered pieces.
A hospital room.
Tiny fingers.
A baby's cry.
But not enough.
Not seven years of memories.
Not the moments I should have had.
And that pain was almost unbearable.
"Sarah," Elena said, "how did you get this phone?"
"I took it."
"From who?"
Silence.
Then:
"From Dad."
Everyone looked at each other.
Adrian.
Of course.
Even now, he was still the center of everything.
"Where is your father now?" Elena asked.
"I don't know."
"Sarah, we need you to tell us everything."
Another pause.
Then the little girl's voice changed.
Not scared.
Angry.
"He knows you found the room."
My heart stopped.
"How?"
"He has cameras everywhere."
Elena immediately looked around the hidden room.
The camera above us.
Still watching.
Sarah continued.
"He told me nobody would ever believe you."
I closed my eyes.
Because that was exactly what he had done.
He didn't just lie.
He built a world where the truth sounded impossible.
"Sarah, where are you hiding?" I asked.
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because he will find me."
My throat tightened.
"Sarah, I'm your mother."
The line went quiet.
Then she whispered:
"I know."
Those two words destroyed me.
Because she knew.
She had always known.
She knew who I was.
She knew I was her mother.
But I didn't know her.
"I waited for you."
I couldn't breathe.
"What?"
"I waited for you to come back."
The tears came.
I couldn't stop them.
"When?"
"Every birthday."
My hand shook.
"Every birthday?"
"Yes."
Her voice trembled.
"Dad said you didn't want me."
I felt something inside me break.
Because that was the cruelest part.
Not that he took her.
Not that he erased her.
But that he made my child believe her own mother abandoned her.
"Sarah, I would never leave you."
"I know."
She whispered.
"I know now."
The call suddenly became distorted.
Static.
Then silence.
"Sarah?"
Nothing.
"Sarah!"
The line disconnected.
I immediately called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Elena took the phone from my hand.
"Stay calm."
"I can't."
My voice shook.
"My daughter is out there."
"I know."
"We need to find her."
"We will."
But even Elena sounded different now.
More urgent.
Because this was no longer only about evidence.
It was about a child.
Victoria sat down slowly.
She looked exhausted.
Like she had been carrying this secret for years.
"She contacted you because she trusts you."
I looked at her.
"You knew where she was."
Victoria didn't answer.
That was an answer.
I stood up.
"You knew."
"Claire—"
"You knew my daughter was alive."
Her eyes filled with guilt.
"I tried to protect her."
"You let me believe she was dead."
"I was trying to keep you alive too."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
Victoria looked at Elena.
Then at the hidden room.
"Adrian doesn't just control people."
She lowered her voice.
"He destroys anyone who threatens him."
I remembered Daniel.
The files.
The cameras.
The years of planning.
"Who is Daniel Cross?"
Victoria looked terrified.
"He was Adrian's mentor."
"Mentor?"
"In medical research."
Elena crossed her arms.
"What kind of research?"
Victoria hesitated.
Then said:
"Behavioral control."
The words hung there.
Behavioral control.
Not treatment.
Not therapy.
Control.
Victoria continued.
"Adrian believed people could be programmed."
My stomach turned.
"He experimented on patients?"
"Yes."
"Children?"
She looked away.
That was enough.
I felt sick.
Emma.
Lily.
Sarah.
My daughters were not just victims.
They were evidence.
Evidence Adrian had spent years trying to erase.
Elena searched through the files again.
"We need Sarah's location."
Victoria suddenly looked up.
"Wait."
"What?"
"Adrian always kept backup plans."
She walked toward the computer.
"There may be a tracking system."
She opened another folder.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Names.
Dates.
Locations.
Then she stopped.
Her face changed.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
"Victoria."
She pointed at the screen.
There was a file.
Not under Sarah's name.
Not under Claire's.
Under another name.
A name that made my heart stop.
PROJECT DAUGHTER.
Elena opened it.
Inside were three folders.
Emma.
Lily.
Sarah.
My breathing became shallow.
He had files on all my daughters.
Not medical files.
Not school records.
Plans.
Emma's folder contained notes.
"High intelligence."
"Strong protective instinct."
"Potential interference risk."
Lily's folder contained:
"Emotionally dependent."
"Easier to influence."
And Sarah's folder...
Sarah's folder was different.
Almost empty.
Only one document.
A photograph.
A recent photograph.
I moved closer.
The picture showed Sarah standing outside a building.
She looked older.
Seven years old.
Alive.
And behind her...
Standing in the shadows...
Was Adrian.
But that wasn't what scared me.
It was the person standing beside him.
Because I recognized her.
The woman holding Sarah's shoulder.
The woman smiling at the camera.
The woman everyone thought had disappeared years ago.
Rachel Bennett.
My sister.
The sister I was told never existed.
Elena zoomed in.
"Claire."
I couldn't answer.
Because suddenly my entire life felt like another carefully written story.
My childhood.
My marriage.
My memories.
Everything.
A lie built one piece at a time.
Then Elena noticed something else.
A timestamp.
The photograph was taken yesterday.
Not years ago.
Yesterday.
Meaning Sarah wasn't hidden somewhere far away.
She was close.
Very close.
My phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
I opened it.
My blood froze.
May you like
Because the message contained only four words:
"She is at home."
