Chapter 6 - The call ended.Jonathan stood in the middle of the ballroom, unable to move.
Mara was crying.
Margaret had both hands over her mouth.
Richard was nowhere to be found.
Neither was Celeste.
Jonathan looked at the bloodstained shoe on the marble.
His mind refused to accept what was happening.
There were two girls.
One was Emma.
The other was Elena.
Both were alive.
Both had been hidden.
And someone wanted him to choose.
His phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
WAREHOUSE 17. MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Below it was a photograph.
Emma tied to a chair.
Jonathan's heart stopped.
He showed Mara.
She made a broken sound.
“We have to go.”
Jonathan nodded.
“I know.”
“But you can't go alone.”
“That was the instruction.”
“I don't care.”
Jonathan looked at her.
“They have Emma.”
“They also have your other daughter.”
Jonathan went still.
Mara swallowed.
“You heard her.”
“I don't know if she's mine.”
“You know in your heart.”
Jonathan stared at the photograph.
The girl beside Emma looked almost identical.
But something in her expression was different.
Colder.
Older.
She appeared to be six.
Yet her eyes looked like they had seen too much.
Jonathan thought of the voice on the phone.
Not your daughter.
The other one.
At midnight, Jonathan arrived at Warehouse 17.
The building was abandoned.
Rain hit the metal roof.
He stepped inside alone.
“Emma!”
His voice echoed.
No answer.
He moved deeper.
Then a light came on.
Emma sat in a chair.
Her wrists were tied.
She was crying.
Jonathan rushed forward.
A laser dot appeared on his chest.
He stopped.
A man's voice came from the shadows.
“Take one more step and she dies.”
Jonathan lifted his hands.
“I'm unarmed.”
“That wasn't the deal.”
“What deal?”
The man stepped into the light.
Richard.
Jonathan stared.
“You.”
Richard looked exhausted.
“I never wanted this.”
“You kidnapped Emma.”
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
Richard looked toward the dark corner.
“Elena.”
Jonathan's face hardened.
“The little girl?”
Richard nodded.
Jonathan couldn't believe it.
“A six-year-old did all this?”
“She isn't six.”
Jonathan stared.
Richard lowered his weapon.
“She is twelve.”
Silence.
“What?”
Richard's voice cracked.
“The girl you saw is not Elena as a child.”
He pointed toward Emma.
“She's someone else.”
Jonathan turned.
Emma was staring at him.
Confused.
Terrified.
Richard continued.
“They changed records. Ages. identities. Everything.”
“Who?”
Richard looked toward the far end of the warehouse.
A door opened.
A tall woman stepped inside.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
Jonathan recognized her instantly.
Lydia Cross.
The nurse from the photograph.
She wasn't old enough to look frail.
She looked calculated.
She walked toward them carrying a folder.
Jonathan said,
“You're alive.”
Lydia smiled faintly.
“Disappointing, isn't it?”
Richard lowered his gun.
“Lydia, I told you I was done.”
“You don't get to be done.”
She opened the folder.
“Not after six years of payments.”
Jonathan looked at Richard.
“You worked with her.”
Richard's silence was answer enough.
Lydia turned toward Jonathan.
“You want to know what happened the night Emma was born?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop asking about Emma.”
Jonathan frowned.
“You are standing in front of my daughter.”
“No.”
Lydia's eyes moved to the child.
“That is not your daughter.”
Jonathan felt a cold wave move through him.
“What?”
Lydia turned the folder around.
Inside was a DNA report.
Two names.
JONATHAN HALE
EMMA HALE
Result:
NOT A BIOLOGICAL MATCH.
Jonathan stared.
“No.”
Lydia smiled.
“The child you raised is not biologically related to you.”
Mara whispered,
“Then who is?”
Lydia looked at her.
“That depends which baby survived.”
Jonathan stepped toward her.
“Tell me everything.”
Lydia closed the folder.
“You'll hear the truth when you bring me the original trust agreement.”
Jonathan frowned.
“What trust agreement?”
The answer came from behind him.
“The one Celeste stole.”
Everyone turned.
Celeste stood in the doorway.
Blood covered one side of her dress.
She looked at Jonathan.
“Come with me.”
Jonathan stared at her.
“What happened?”
Celeste looked at Emma.
“She's not the one they want.”
Jonathan felt a wave of confusion.
“Then who?”
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
“The girl they raised in secret.”
Mara whispered,
“Elena.”
Celeste shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed toward Lydia.
“Her.”
Lydia's expression changed.
Jonathan understood.
Lydia had not come for Emma.
She had come for herself.
Celeste walked closer.
“Lydia was never the nurse.”
Jonathan frowned.
“What?”
Celeste's voice dropped.
“She was Elena's mother.”
The warehouse fell silent.
Mara stared.
Jonathan stared.
May you like
And Lydia smiled.
“I was wondering how long it would take.”
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