Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
We spent the next hour reconstructing a history nobody had wanted us to inherit.
Rebecca Vale had been Eleanor's older sister.
Brilliant.
Charismatic.
Dangerous with money.
According to Thomas, Rebecca had manipulated family accounts and nearly destroyed the Vale company before disappearing.
Her car was found near a cliff.
No body.
She was declared dead seven years later.
“But she wasn't Vanessa's mother?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then who was?”
Thomas looked toward the letters.
We found the answer near the bottom.
Her name was Julia Mercer.
She had worked for Rebecca.
She became pregnant after a relationship with a man named David Bennett.
My father.
I stopped reading.
Vanessa stared at me.
“No.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
That was confirmation enough.
“My father?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
Vanessa stood so quickly the chair fell.
“No.”
I couldn't breathe.
Vanessa wasn't merely my adopted sister.
She was my half-sister.
Our father had cheated on Mom.
Julia gave birth to Vanessa.
Then disappeared.
Mom adopted the baby.
“How could she do that?” I whispered.
Thomas misunderstood.
“Your father—”
“No. Mom. How could she raise the child from Dad's affair?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Because Julia was her best friend.”
The room became quiet.
Julia had discovered Rebecca stealing money and planned to testify.
Then she became pregnant.
Rebecca threatened her.
Mom helped Julia hide.
After Vanessa was born, Julia disappeared.
Mom and Dad adopted Vanessa to protect her.
“And the trust?” Adrian asked.
“Eleanor created it to compensate Vanessa for what her family had suffered protecting ours.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Twelve million euros as an apology?”
“No,” Thomas said. “As protection.”
“From Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
We found another letter.
Julia was alive after Vanessa's birth.
For at least six months.
Then the letters stopped.
The final one contained only one sentence.
Margaret, if I don't come tomorrow, Rebecca found me.
Vanessa cried silently.
I sat beside her.
For a moment neither of us knew what to do.
Then she leaned against me.
Instinct took over.
I held my sister.
Biology had changed.
History hadn't.
She had stolen my sweaters at fourteen.
I had covered for her when she broke Dad's car at seventeen.
She had held my hand at Mom's funeral even though we had barely spoken for months.
She was still Vanessa.
Later, Adrian found financial records.
Someone had accessed Vanessa's trust three times during the previous year.
€300,000.
€500,000.
€1.2 million.
Vanessa stared at the withdrawals.
“I never touched this.”
Adrian looked at Thomas.
“Who controls it?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Until Vanessa formally claims it, the trustee.”
“Who?”
“Margaret.”
“She's dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who inherited trustee authority?”
Thomas looked at me.
“You.”
I laughed because the alternative was screaming.
“Me?”
“Margaret named you successor.”
Vanessa looked stunned.
“So Claire controls twelve million euros belonging to me?”
“Technically.”
“And someone has already stolen two million?”
“Yes.”
Adrian examined the transfer codes.
“These were authorized after Margaret died.”
I looked at Thomas.
“I never authorized anything.”
“Then someone forged your identity.”
Adrian called his attorney.
Within minutes, the wedding had transformed into a financial crime investigation.
Vanessa sat across from me.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“The invitation.”
I looked at her.
“What about it?”
“If you control the trust, maybe Mom sent it because she knew someone would try to remove you.”
“From the wedding?”
“From more than the wedding.”
A chill moved through me.
I remembered the phone call.
Vanessa looks beautiful in white.
Someone was watching.
Adrian's attorney called back.
The fraudulent transfers all went to one company.
M17 Holdings.
Room 17.
Adrian searched the corporate registry.
The director's name appeared.
Julia Mercer.
Vanessa stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Julia would be nearly sixty.”
The company had been registered only eight months earlier.
Then another detail appeared.
Its mailing address.
My apartment.
I stared at the screen.
“That isn't possible.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Claire, when was the last time you were home?”
“This afternoon.”
“Does anyone else have a key?”
“No.”
My phone vibrated.
Security alert.
Motion detected inside my apartment.
I opened the camera feed.
A woman stood in my living room.
Her back faced the camera.
She wore Mom's old blue coat.
The coat I had buried Mom in.
May you like
Then the woman slowly turned toward the camera.
And she had Vanessa's face.
