Chapter 10: The Child Who Was Never in the Records
Charlotte stared at the black screen.
Her own fingerprint.
On a document created before she was born.
It made no sense.
Unless someone had lied about the date.
Unless the document wasn't what it appeared to be.
Or unless the truth about her birth was far darker than anyone had imagined.
Alexander stepped closer.
“Show me your hand.”
Charlotte looked at him.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
She held out her hand.
Alexander examined the small scar near her thumb.
Then he looked at the document displayed in his memory.
“The fingerprint matches.”
Charlotte swallowed.
“That doesn't mean anything.”
“It means everything.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“My mother gave birth to me twenty years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So how could my fingerprint be on a document from before that?”
Alexander stared at her.
“Maybe it wasn't signed before you were born.”
Charlotte frowned.
“The date.”
“Exactly.”
He turned toward the abandoned computer.
“The file may have been altered.”
Charlotte's eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
Alexander didn't answer.
He connected a portable drive to the terminal.
The old system flickered.
A file appeared.
ORIGINAL TRUST AGREEMENT.
Alexander opened it.
The document contained three dates.
Original creation.
Modification.
Final execution.
Charlotte leaned closer.
Her eyes widened.
“The original document was created twenty-three years ago.”
Alexander nodded.
“Three years before you were born.”
“But the final version…”
He scrolled.
“Was executed nineteen years ago.”
Charlotte stared.
“That was one year after I was born.”
Alexander nodded.
“So the fingerprint is possible.”
Charlotte exhaled.
“But why was my fingerprint used?”
Alexander didn't answer.
He opened the metadata.
A name appeared.
ELENA VALE.
Charlotte's heart sank.
“Mom did this.”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
Alexander opened another hidden file.
A scanned medical document appeared.
Charlotte looked at it.
It was a birth record.
Her name.
CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH VALE.
Mother:
ELENA MARIE VALE.
Father:
EDWARD JAMES VALE.
Everything appeared normal.
Then Alexander enlarged the bottom corner.
There was another section.
BIOLOGICAL STATUS: VERIFIED.
Charlotte frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Alexander stared.
“I don't know.”
He opened another file.
A DNA report.
Charlotte's name appeared again.
But beneath it was something strange.
GENETIC MATCH: ELENA VALE, 99.98%
GENETIC MATCH: EDWARD VALE, 0.00%
Charlotte froze.
“What?”
Alexander stared at the screen.
“That's impossible.”
Charlotte's voice trembled.
“My father isn't my biological father?”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
She stepped backward.
“Then who is?”
Neither spoke.
Charlotte felt her entire childhood crack apart.
Edward had looked at her and called her daughter.
He had held her.
Protected her.
Cried for her.
But genetically...
he wasn't her father.
Alexander looked at another file.
“This test was conducted before you were born.”
Charlotte stared.
“Before?”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered it?”
He opened the document.
A name appeared.
ELENA VALE.
Charlotte covered her mouth.
“My mother knew.”
Alexander nodded.
“She knew Edward wasn't my biological father.”
Charlotte's eyes filled with tears.
“Then why did she stay with him?”
Alexander looked at the document.
“Because whoever your biological father was…”
He stopped.
Charlotte turned.
“What?”
“He was dangerous.”
A sound echoed from the corridor.
Both froze.
Someone was coming.
Alexander closed the file.
“Someone's here.”
Charlotte grabbed the portable drive.
They moved toward the emergency exit.
But before they reached it, the door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Charlotte raised her weapon.
Then stopped.
It was Daniel Cross.
The Solmere general manager.
His shirt was covered in blood.
But he was alive.
Charlotte's eyes widened.
“Daniel?”
He smiled weakly.
“Hello, Miss Vale.”
Alexander lowered his weapon.
“How did you survive?”
Daniel touched his shoulder.
“Bullet went through.”
Charlotte stared.
“You were shot.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't they kill you?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Because they wanted me to deliver a message.”
“To whom?”
Daniel looked directly at Charlotte.
“You.”
Charlotte's heart began pounding.
“What message?”
Daniel reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small silver key.
Charlotte recognized it.
It had the same symbol as her mother's jewelry.
The Solmere founder's emblem.
“My mother had this.”
Daniel nodded.
“She gave it to me six years ago.”
“Why?”
“She told me to give it to you when the Founder Protocol was activated.”
Charlotte took the key.
“What does it open?”
Daniel looked at Alexander.
“Something your mother never wanted your father to find.”
Alexander's face hardened.
“What?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Charlotte looked at him.
“You're lying.”
Daniel sighed.
“Not completely.”
He pulled out another item.
A photograph.
Charlotte took it.
It showed Elena Vale standing outside a hospital.
Beside her was a man.
Charlotte's hands began shaking.
She recognized him.
The silver watch.
The scar above the eyebrow.
The same eyes Alexander had.
But it wasn't Edward.
It was another man.
A man who looked remarkably similar to both Charlotte and Alexander.
Daniel whispered:
“This is your biological father.”
Charlotte stared.
“Who is he?”
Daniel's expression became grim.
“His name is Michael Vale.”
Alexander went completely still.
“Michael?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father's younger brother.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Charlotte stepped closer.
“Where?”
Daniel looked away.
“Dead.”
Charlotte's heart sank.
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
“Before I was born?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte stared at the photograph.
“If he's dead…”
Daniel whispered:
“He left something behind.”
Charlotte looked up.
“What?”
“A daughter.”
Silence.
Alexander stared.
“You mean…”
Daniel nodded.
“You have another sister.”
Charlotte's face went pale.
“How old is she?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Twenty.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“Twenty?”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly your age.”
Alexander stared at him.
“That can't be coincidence.”
“No.”
Charlotte's mind raced.
“Where is she?”
Daniel looked at the silver key in Charlotte's hand.
“That's what the key is for.”
“What does it unlock?”
“A private vault beneath the first Solmere hospital.”
Charlotte frowned.
“Hospital?”
“The hospital where you were born.”
She froze.
“What?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your mother didn't give birth to you in the hospital listed on your records.”
Charlotte's breathing stopped.
“She gave birth to you somewhere else.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked directly into her eyes.
“The original Solmere medical center.”
Alexander whispered:
“Why?”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“Because your birth was part of a secret agreement.”
Charlotte clenched the key.
“What agreement?”
Daniel didn't answer.
He looked toward the door.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they're coming.”
“Who?”
Daniel's face turned pale.
“The woman who knows the truth about your birth.”
Charlotte stared.
“Who?”
Daniel whispered:
“Your mother's former physician.”
A woman's voice suddenly echoed through the corridor.
“Charlotte.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel's face changed.
Charlotte looked toward the doorway.
A woman stepped into view.
She was in her sixties.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
A small silver pendant around her neck.
Charlotte recognized her immediately.
She had seen her photograph in her mother's files.
The doctor who had delivered her.
The woman who had signed her original birth records.
The woman who had supposedly disappeared seventeen years ago.
Charlotte raised her weapon.
“You.”
The doctor slowly lifted her hands.
“I've been looking for you.”
Charlotte's voice became cold.
“You changed my birth records.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Alexander.”
“Yes.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
“Then tell me the truth.”
The doctor's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother didn't give birth to you.”
Charlotte froze.
Alexander stared.
Daniel closed his eyes.
The doctor continued:
“She found you.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“Found me where?”
The doctor whispered:
“In a room beneath the Solmere medical center.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Who left me there?”
The doctor hesitated.
Then she said the words that destroyed everything Charlotte thought she knew.
“Your biological mother.”
Charlotte's face went blank.
“My…”
She could barely speak.
“Biological mother?”
The doctor nodded.
“Your mother Elena adopted you.”
Silence.
Charlotte felt the world tilt.
Alexander stepped toward her.
“Charlotte…”
She pushed him away.
“No.”
The doctor continued.
“Elena loved you more than anything.”
“She raised you as her own.”
“But she wasn't the woman who gave birth to you.”
Charlotte's voice trembled.
“Who was?”
The doctor looked at the silver key.
“She is waiting for you.”
Charlotte's eyes widened.
“She's alive?”
The doctor nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The doctor pointed toward the underground tunnel.
“At the original Solmere medical center.”
Charlotte stared.
“Who is she?”
The doctor whispered:
“Her name is Isabella Vale.”
Alexander looked shocked.
“Another Vale?”
The doctor nodded.
“Your father's first wife.”
Charlotte froze.
“My biological mother was married to Edward?”
“Yes.”
Alexander stepped backward.
“That means…”
The doctor looked at Charlotte.
“You weren't born from Elena and Edward.”
“You were born from Edward and Isabella.”
Charlotte could barely breathe.
Then the doctor's face suddenly changed.
She looked behind Charlotte.
“Oh no.”
Charlotte turned.
A red laser dot appeared on Daniel's chest.
The doctor screamed:
“DOWN!”
A gunshot exploded.
Daniel fell.
Charlotte dove to the floor.
Alexander fired toward the tunnel.
The sniper disappeared.
But on the wall behind them, a message had been painted in red.
Four words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY.
Charlotte stared at the words.
Her mother's secrets had just multiplied.
May you like
And somewhere beneath the city...
a woman who had supposedly died twenty years ago was waiting for her daughter to come home.
