Chapter 10 - The Child Eleanor HidThe warehouse became our only priority.
Alexander wanted to kill Nathaniel.
I wanted Lucy.
Noah wanted me.
Nathaniel wanted control.
And Eleanor wanted the truth buried.
We escaped through a service tunnel beneath the estate.
It was exactly the kind of escape route built by people who expected betrayal.
We reached the warehouse twenty-three minutes later.
The place was empty.
Lucy was gone.
Eleanor was gone.
But a bloodstained chair remained.
Beside it was a child's drawing.
Three figures.
A woman.
A little girl.
A baby.
Across the top, written in a child's handwriting:
Mommy, Lily, Noah.
Alexander stared.
“Who is Lily?”
I remembered the hidden room.
The second child.
His wife's daughter.
We searched every box.
Then I found a file.
LILY STERLING.
Born June 3.
Mother: Sophia Sterling.
Father: Alexander Sterling.
Status: deceased.
My hands shook.
“Her death was falsified.”
Alexander nodded.
“Where is she?”
A second page contained a photograph.
A teenage girl.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A small birthmark under her left eye.
Then another photograph.
The girl older.
Sixteen.
Then eighteen.
Then twenty.
The final photograph stopped us.
Lily was standing in front of a café.
And beside her was Lucy.
Alive.
I whispered:
“She's been with my sister.”
Alexander stared at the photo.
“She's twenty.”
“Yes.”
“She doesn't know me.”
“She may not.”
A note was attached.
She knows exactly who you are. She was told you abandoned her.
Alexander closed his eyes.
Nathaniel had manipulated everything.
His wife.
His children.
His mother.
His marriage.
His grief.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A message.
Come to the old chapel alone.
Attached was a photograph of Noah.
Sleeping.
Another message appeared.
Bring the resignation letter.
Alexander looked over my shoulder.
“No.”
“They have Noah.”
“We're calling the police.”
“We don't know if that's current.”
He took the phone.
The screen refreshed.
A live video appeared.
Noah was sleeping in a small bedroom.
A woman sat beside him.
She looked strangely familiar.
Long brown hair.
Green eyes.
Birthmark beneath the left eye.
Lily.
She looked into the camera.
Then she whispered:
“Emma, I'm sorry.”
I stared.
“How does she know my name?”
The video cut.
A new message appeared.
Ask your mother why she chose you instead of me.
I felt sick.
My mother.
Another lie.
Another secret.
Alexander looked at me.
“What if your mother knew Lily?”
“She did.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
A final message arrived.
The chapel. Midnight.
Alexander shook his head.
“You're not going.”
I looked at him.
“They have Noah.”
“And I'll get him.”
“Then you're coming.”
He hesitated.
“Emma…”
“I already lost my sister once.”
I stepped toward him.
“I won't lose Noah.”
Alexander stared at me for several seconds.
Then he nodded.
But before we left, his phone rang.
A hospital number.
He answered.
A nurse spoke.
“Mr. Sterling?”
“Yes.”
“Your mother has been admitted.”
He froze.
“Why?”
“She requested to speak with you.”
“Is she injured?”
The nurse hesitated.
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“She came here alone.”
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
“Who brought her?”
The nurse's voice dropped.
“She said someone was coming for her.”
“Who?”
The nurse whispered:
“She said the person coming was her husband.”
May you like
Alexander went pale.
His father was already moving.
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