CHAPTER 9 THE OTHER CLARA
For three seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Evelyn whispered:
“No.”
Thomas was still holding the phone.
“They said the girl was found unconscious in an abandoned clinic outside the city.”
Clara stared at him.
“Her name is Clara?”
Thomas nodded.
“Clara Whitmore.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Clara looked at her mother.
“Then who am I?”
Evelyn's lips parted.
No words came.
The woman standing beside Clara smiled sadly.
“That's the question I've been waiting nine years for you to ask.”
Clara turned toward her.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Amelia.”
“Are you my aunt?”
Amelia's eyes softened.
“No.”
She looked at Evelyn.
“I was your mother's sister.”
Clara's heart skipped.
“But Mommy said she was an only child.”
“I know.”
Evelyn finally spoke.
“I thought you were dead.”
Amelia laughed quietly.
“Everyone thought that.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Amelia turned toward him.
“You don't get to tell us when it's enough.”
Richard's expression darkened.
“You're supposed to be in hiding.”
“I was.”
“Then why come back?”
Amelia looked at Clara.
“Because she deserved to know.”
Clara's voice trembled.
“Know what?”
Amelia walked toward the old table.
She picked up the photograph.
“The girl in the photograph isn't you.”
Clara stared at the newborn baby.
“Then who is she?”
“Your sister.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Clara looked at her.
“I have a sister?”
“You had one.”
“What happened?”
Amelia looked at Richard.
“He took her.”
Richard laughed.
“That's not what happened.”
“You sold her.”
“I protected her.”
“You sold her to people who wanted the Whitmore bloodline.”
Clara didn't understand.
“What does that mean?”
Amelia looked at her.
“Your family wasn't built on money.”
She pointed toward the walls.
“It was built on control.”
“Control of what?”
“The Whitmore Foundation owns companies, land, banks, hospitals.”
Clara frowned.
“So?”
“Your grandmother discovered something.”
“What?”
“That the foundation had been secretly purchasing stakes in institutions that could influence elections, courts, and financial markets.”
Thomas stared.
“That would be enormous.”
“It was.”
Clara looked at Richard.
“And Grandpa controlled it?”
Richard smiled.
“Your grandmother controlled it.”
“Then why did she leave it to me?”
“Because she didn't trust me.”
Amelia laughed.
“She didn't trust any of us.”
Evelyn suddenly walked toward Clara.
“Clara, I need to tell you something before anyone else does.”
Clara backed away.
“What?”
“When you were born, your grandmother created two identities.”
Clara frowned.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From Grandpa?”
“From everyone.”
Evelyn looked toward Amelia.
“And when Amelia disappeared, your grandmother believed someone had discovered the plan.”
“What plan?”
Evelyn took a breath.
“There were two babies.”
Clara stared.
“You and your sister.”
“Why?”
“To create a decoy.”
The words hung in the air.
“Your grandmother knew someone would come looking for the Whitmore heir.”
“So she hid us?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“One child stayed with me.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“And the other was sent away.”
Clara whispered:
“Which one was me?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Amelia did.
“We don't know.”
Clara stared at her.
“What?”
Amelia nodded.
“That's why they are searching for both of you.”
Richard suddenly laughed.
“You really believe that's all?”
Everyone turned toward him.
Richard looked at Clara.
“You aren't the heir.”
Clara froze.
“Then who is?”
Richard smiled.
“The girl at the hospital.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Richard, stop.”
“The truth hurts?”
“Don't.”
Richard looked at Clara.
“You were the decoy.”
Clara felt tears gather in her eyes.
“I don't believe you.”
“You shouldn't.”
Richard smiled.
“Because I'm lying.”
Clara stared at him.
Richard continued:
“But only about one thing.”
He pointed toward Amelia.
“She doesn't know which girl is the real heir.”
Amelia's face changed.
Richard laughed.
“Neither does Evelyn.”
Clara looked at her mother.
“Mommy?”
Evelyn couldn't answer.
Clara stepped backward.
“You don't know?”
Evelyn whispered:
“No.”
Clara's heart shattered.
“You raised me for nine years and you don't even know who I am?”
“I know you're my daughter.”
“But you don't know if I'm the real Clara.”
“I know you are.”
“How?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Because of the bird.”
Clara touched the necklace around her neck.
“The necklace?”
“Your grandmother gave it to you.”
“But Vanessa had Mommy's necklace.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That's why.”
She reached into her pocket.
Then pulled out another silver bird.
Clara stared.
“You have one too?”
Evelyn nodded.
“They're identical.”
Amelia stepped closer.
“No.”
She looked at the two necklaces.
“They're not identical.”
Everyone froze.
Amelia pointed to the underside of Clara's necklace.
“Look.”
Clara turned it over.
There was an engraving.
C.W.
The other necklace had a different engraving.
E.W.
Clara looked at Amelia.
“What does it mean?”
Amelia whispered:
“C.W. was your grandmother's secret designation for the true heir.”
Richard's expression changed.
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“So I'm the heir.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not necessarily.”
“Why?”
“Because the necklace can be copied.”
Clara stared.
Richard smiled.
“And someone copied it.”
Thomas suddenly looked toward the attic door.
“Wait.”
Everyone turned.
Thomas walked toward the staircase.
“Who had access to the original necklace?”
Evelyn's face changed.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Vanessa's voice came from downstairs.
Everyone froze.
She stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Her face was pale.
She slowly walked upward.
“I did.”
Clara stared.
“You?”
Vanessa nodded.
“I copied the necklace.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked at Evelyn.
“Because your mother asked me to.”
Clara's eyes widened.
Evelyn looked shocked.
“I never asked you.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You did.”
“No.”
“You came to me three years ago.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“I was hiding.”
“You were.”
Vanessa pulled a folded photograph from her pocket.
She opened it.
It showed Evelyn and Vanessa sitting together in a restaurant.
Clara stared.
The date was six months before Evelyn disappeared.
“How?”
Evelyn whispered.
“I don't remember.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Because Richard drugged you.”
Richard suddenly stepped forward.
“That's enough.”
Vanessa turned.
“You can't silence me anymore.”
Richard's face became cold.
“You have no idea what you've done.”
“I know exactly what I've done.”
She pulled a small flash drive from her pocket.
“I copied everything.”
Richard's eyes widened.
Vanessa smiled.
“Every payment.”
“Every meeting.”
“Every name.”
She held it up.
“And I sent it to someone.”
Richard's voice dropped.
“Who?”
Vanessa looked at Clara.
“Your mother.”
Evelyn stared.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Clara suddenly understood.
“You were helping Mommy.”
Vanessa nodded.
“But then why did you marry Daddy?”
Vanessa looked toward the floor.
“Because Daniel found out.”
“And?”
“He threatened to kill the other Clara.”
Silence.
Clara whispered:
“She was alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Vanessa looked at Thomas.
“At the clinic.”
Thomas's phone rang again.
He answered.
His face went white.
“She's gone.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“What?”
“The hospital called.”
“Where is she?”
Thomas swallowed.
“The girl disappeared.”
Richard smiled.
Nobody noticed.
Except Clara.
She saw the tiny movement of his lips.
Perfect.
Clara suddenly turned toward him.
“You did it.”
Richard looked at her.
“Did what?”
“You took her.”
Richard smiled.
“You're learning.”
Evelyn raised her gun.
“Where is my daughter?”
Richard laughed.
“You still don't know which one is yours.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Tell me.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Then the mansion lights went out again.
Everyone froze.
A phone rang in the darkness.
Not Thomas's.
Not Evelyn's.
Clara's.
She looked down.
She was holding a phone she had never seen before.
The screen showed one message.
UNKNOWN:
If you want to know which Clara is the real one, come alone to the old Whitmore train station.
Then another message appeared.
Bring the silver bird.
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“Mommy…”
Evelyn reached for her.
But Clara stepped away.
Because one final message had appeared.
And don't tell your mother.
Clara stared at the words.
Then she heard a woman's voice whisper from somewhere in the darkness.
“Clara.”
She turned.
Nobody was there.
The voice came again.
“Your mother is not the one you should fear.”
A pause.
“She is the one you should run from.”
The lights suddenly returned.
Evelyn was standing directly behind Clara.
Her face was pale.
And in her hand was a photograph.
Clara looked at it.
It was a picture of the girl found at the clinic.
The nine-year-old who had been called Clara Whitmore.
But the girl in the photograph was wearing the exact same silver bird necklace.
Evelyn whispered:
“That girl isn't your sister.”
Clara stared at her.
“Then who is she?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with fear.
“She is the daughter of the woman who tried to kill me.”
And before Clara could ask another question, a gunshot exploded from outside the mansion.
The window shattered.
Richard collapsed.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Everyone screamed.
But Richard was smiling.
May you like
Because the bullet hadn't been meant for him.
It had been meant for Clara.
