Chapter 10 - The Sister Who Was Never Supposed to Exist
“She was your sister.”
The words seemed to remain in the air long after my father stopped speaking.
My sister.
I stared at him.
Then at the photograph.
Then at the pendant in my hand.
Nothing made sense.
“I don't have a sister.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“You did.”
“Did?”
My voice broke.
“What happened to her?”
He didn't answer.
“Dad.”
His shoulders sank.
“She was born before you.”
My heart pounded.
“Then why didn't I know?”
“Because she was taken.”
“By Roman?”
“No.”
“Gabriel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
My father looked toward Margaret.
She was standing against the wall, pale and silent.
“Your mother.”
I stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
“She gave birth to two daughters.”
The basement seemed to tilt.
“Two?”
Thomas nodded.
“You and your sister.”
I stared at the photograph again.
The woman holding the baby was my mother.
And beside her was another infant.
Two blankets.
Two tiny faces.
Two lives.
My entire childhood had been built around a lie.
“Why didn't Mom tell me?”
“She died before she could.”
“That's not an answer.”
Thomas swallowed.
“She tried.”
“Then why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because the second child was dangerous.”
I almost laughed.
“A baby was dangerous?”
“Not the baby.”
He looked at me.
“The bloodline.”
I frowned.
“What bloodline?”
Thomas glanced toward Adrian.
“Your mother was connected to the Vale family.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“The Vales?”
Thomas nodded.
“Gabriel's family.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then my sister was related to him?”
“By blood.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“Your mother discovered what Gabriel's family was doing. She tried to leave. She took both children.”
“And?”
“They found her.”
“Who?”
“Gabriel.”
My hands started shaking.
“He took one child.”
“Which one?”
Thomas looked at me.
“You.”
I froze.
“Me?”
“He tried to take both.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother fought him.”
I saw flashes.
A woman screaming.
A baby crying.
A car door slamming.
My mother's face.
A man's hand.
Thomas continued.
“She managed to hide you.”
“And my sister?”
“Taken.”
I could barely breathe.
“What was her name?”
My father hesitated.
“Amelia.”
The name struck something inside me.
Not a memory.
Something deeper.
A word I had once heard in a dream.
Amelia.
I whispered it.
The basement speakers crackled.
Gabriel's voice returned.
“Finally.”
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Where are you?”
Gabriel laughed.
“Closer than you think.”
Thomas looked terrified.
“Don't answer him.”
I stared at the speaker.
“You know where my sister is.”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
My heart stopped.
“She's alive.”
Thomas suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Clara, don't.”
I pulled away.
“You said she died.”
“I said the girl at the lake died.”
“The girl pretending to be her.”
“Yes.”
“Then Amelia is alive.”
My father's silence answered me.
I turned toward him.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
“You knew I had a sister who might be alive and you never told me?”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
My voice echoed through the basement.
“I am tired of being protected with lies.”
Adrian stepped beside me.
“He's right about one thing.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Someone has been manipulating your memories for years.”
He turned toward Thomas.
“And now we need to know why.”
Thomas nodded.
“I'll tell you.”
He walked toward the desk.
“There was a second recording.”
He opened another compartment.
Nothing.
His expression changed.
“It was here.”
“What was?”
“The recording explaining where Amelia was taken.”
Adrian looked around.
“Who had access?”
Thomas stared at Daniel.
Daniel went pale.
“No.”
“You had the keys.”
“I never took it.”
Thomas stepped toward him.
“You were the only person who could enter this room.”
“I swear.”
Margaret suddenly laughed.
Everyone looked at her.
“You're all still blaming the wrong person.”
Adrian turned.
“Explain.”
Margaret looked at me.
“Your father wasn't the one who hid your sister.”
Thomas stiffened.
Margaret continued.
“Your mother was.”
“No.”
“She knew Gabriel would come for the children.”
“She hid Amelia.”
“Where?”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“Not where.”
“What does that mean?”
“Who.”
I stared at her.
She reached into her coat.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Slowly.”
Margaret pulled out an old photograph.
She placed it on the table.
A young woman stood beside a little girl.
The girl was about six.
Dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
My heart stopped.
“That's Amelia.”
Margaret nodded.
I picked up the photograph.
“When was this taken?”
“Six years ago.”
My fingers trembled.
“Where?”
“St. Helena.”
Adrian looked at the picture.
“That hospital closed ten years ago.”
“Exactly.”
Margaret smiled.
“It didn't close.”
My father stared at her.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have gone after her.”
“She was my daughter.”
“She was being watched.”
“By Gabriel?”
“No.”
Margaret looked at me.
“By the people who were protecting her.”
Adrian frowned.
“Who?”
Margaret said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
“You already know one of them.”
My pulse quickened.
“Who?”
Margaret looked at Adrian.
I turned.
Adrian's face was unreadable.
“No.”
Margaret smiled.
“Your father trusted him.”
My heart dropped.
“Adrian?”
He shook his head.
“She's lying.”
“Am I?”
Margaret reached into her pocket.
She removed a small photograph.
Adrian as a teenager.
Standing beside an older man.
Viktor Voss.
And beside Viktor stood another man.
Gabriel Vale.
Adrian stared at it.
“I've never seen this photograph.”
Margaret smiled.
“Your father kept it hidden.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel wasn't his enemy.”
Silence.
“He was his partner.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“That isn't possible.”
Margaret looked at Thomas.
“Tell him.”
Thomas didn't speak.
“Tell him,” Margaret repeated.
Thomas finally whispered:
“Your father and Gabriel worked together before the split.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“For how long?”
“Eight years.”
“And you knew?”
Thomas nodded.
“Everyone involved knew.”
Adrian took one step backward.
His face looked different.
Not frightened.
Wounded.
“You let me believe my father was betrayed.”
“I believed he was trying to leave Gabriel.”
“Was he?”
Thomas hesitated.
“No.”
The answer was devastating.
“Viktor wanted more.”
Adrian stared at him.
“More what?”
“Power.”
“And Gabriel?”
“Money.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“So my father wasn't the man I thought he was.”
“No.”
“Then why did Thomas trust him?”
“Because Viktor eventually tried to expose Gabriel.”
Margaret interrupted.
“And that's when everything began.”
She looked at me.
“Your mother discovered their records.”
“She knew?”
“Yes.”
“She tried to expose them.”
“Yes.”
“Then Gabriel killed her.”
Margaret's expression changed.
“No.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Your mother wasn't killed by Gabriel.”
“Then who killed her?”
Margaret looked at my father.
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I did.”
Silence.
I couldn't understand the words.
“You?”
My father nodded.
“I caused the accident.”
The world stopped.
“You killed Mom?”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I tried to save her.”
“That isn't what you said.”
“I was driving.”
“What happened?”
“Gabriel's men were following us.”
“Then why did you say you caused it?”
“Because I turned the car.”
“Why?”
“To avoid hitting another vehicle.”
“And Mom?”
“She died instantly.”
My knees weakened.
Adrian caught me.
I pulled away.
“No.”
Thomas stepped toward me.
“Clara—”
“You killed my mother.”
“I couldn't save her.”
“You killed her.”
“I've lived with that every day.”
I couldn't look at him.
Then Margaret spoke.
“There's one thing he hasn't told you.”
I turned.
“What?”
Margaret looked toward the staircase.
“The woman you think was your mother wasn't your biological mother.”
I froze.
Thomas whispered:
“Margaret.”
She smiled.
“Tell her.”
I stared at my father.
“Is that true?”
He said nothing.
“Dad.”
His silence broke something inside me.
“Who was my mother?”
Margaret's answer came quietly.
“Claire's mother.”
I stared.
“That means Amelia and I…”
“Half-sisters,” Margaret said.
The room spun.
My sister wasn't just my sister.
She was connected to the woman who had been murdered.
To Gabriel.
To Roman.
To Adrian's family.
Everything was connected.
Then the basement door above us slammed.
Heavy footsteps descended the stairs.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Everyone behind me.”
The footsteps stopped.
A man's silhouette appeared at the top of the stairs.
He slowly walked into the red light.
Thomas stared at him.
Margaret smiled.
Daniel whispered:
“No…”
The man descended another step.
He was older than the photograph.
Gray hair.
Dark suit.
A narrow scar beneath his jaw.
But I recognized him.
Not from the photographs.
From the night of the crash.
He looked directly at me.
Then at Adrian.
And finally at Thomas.
“It's been a long time.”
Adrian raised his gun.
“Roman.”
The man smiled.
“No.”
He took another step.
“Roman died twelve years ago.”
My father's face went white.
The stranger looked at me.
“I am the man your father was afraid of.”
May you like
Then he said the name I had never expected to hear.
“Gabriel Vale.”
