Chapter 13 - The Woman Behind the WallThey searched the mansion again.
This time, they knew what they were looking for.
A place where someone could live unseen.
A room connected to old passages.
A way to enter the house without using the doors.
Sophie found it first.
She noticed a draft beneath a bookshelf.
Daniel moved it.
A narrow passage opened.
Mara stared.
“Another hidden room.”
They entered.
The walls were lined with photographs.
Daniel stopped.
There were pictures of Sophie.
Sleeping.
Playing.
Walking to school.
Eating breakfast.
Hundreds of them.
Taken over years.
Mara covered her mouth.
“She watched her.”
Samuel examined the cameras.
“This wasn't Thomas.”
“How do you know?”
“The equipment is older.”
Lillian stepped forward.
“Eleanor.”
At the end of the passage was a bedroom.
Someone had been living there.
Fresh clothes.
Food.
Medicine.
And on the desk was another red ledger.
Daniel opened it.
It contained no financial records.
Instead, it contained names.
People in the family.
Employees.
Friends.
Doctors.
Judges.
Politicians.
Executives.
All of them marked with dates.
Some had red circles.
Others had black X's.
Mara looked terrified.
“What is this?”
Lillian shook her head.
“A leverage book.”
“For what?”
“To control people.”
Daniel turned a page.
There was Victor's name.
Then Thomas.
Then Richard.
Then Mara.
Then his own name.
Beside it was one word.
HEIR.
Underneath was Sophie's name.
TARGET.
Daniel's blood ran cold.
A noise came from behind them.
The hidden door slammed shut.
Someone had locked them in.
Samuel hit the door.
“No!”
Lillian went to the desk.
She found a switch.
Nothing.
Then a voice came from a speaker.
Eleanor.
“You should have left the dead alone.”
Daniel stared upward.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Mara shouted,
“Why are you doing this?”
A laugh.
“Because none of you understand what belongs to me.”
Daniel shouted,
“Why did you steal the trust?”
“I didn't steal anything.”
“You forged documents.”
“I corrected history.”
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor's voice became cold.
“Your grandfather stole my inheritance.”
Lillian whispered,
“She still believes that.”
Eleanor continued.
“Lillian took the identity. Nathan took the company. You took the family name.”
Daniel stared at the speaker.
“And Sophie?”
Silence.
Then Eleanor said,
“She took something from me too.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“My bloodline.”
Mara looked at Lillian.
Lillian suddenly understood.
“She believes Sophie is not Daniel's daughter.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Eleanor laughed softly.
“Ask Lillian who Sophie's mother was.”
Daniel turned.
“Mom?”
Lillian's face collapsed.
“Daniel…”
“Who is Sophie's mother?”
Lillian hesitated.
Then whispered,
“Your wife.”
Daniel frowned.
“Of course.”
“No.”
“What?”
Lillian shook her head.
“I mean... your wife knew Eleanor before she married you.”
Daniel's heart raced.
His wife had died when Sophie was three.
A car accident.
At least that was what he had always believed.
Lillian looked at him.
“Her death wasn't an accident.”
The room seemed to stop.
Eleanor's voice returned.
“And now you finally understand.”
The lights came on.
A screen appeared.
It showed a hospital corridor.
Daniel's wife walked into view.
Alive.
Holding a newborn baby.
Sophie.
Daniel staggered backward.
His wife had been alive after Sophie was born.
And beside her stood Eleanor.
The recording timestamp appeared.
ONE MONTH AFTER SOPHIE'S BIRTH.
Daniel's world shattered.
Then the screen changed.
A final image appeared.
His wife handing Sophie to another woman.
The woman receiving the baby was Mara.
Daniel turned toward his sister.
“Mara…”
Mara was crying.
“I can explain.”
The hidden room door suddenly opened.
Eleanor stood there.
Holding a gun.
May you like
And behind her stood Thomas.
Alive.
