Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T ELEANORA man's voice echoed through the chapel.
“You came.”
I turned.
Nobody was there.
Rachel moved behind me.
“Who are you?”
The voice answered from the balcony.
“Someone who has been trying to warn you.”
A projector suddenly switched on.
Old photographs filled the wall.
A young Evelyn.
A young Thomas.
Claire and Rachel as children.
Then another photograph.
A woman standing beside Thomas.
She looked almost identical to Evelyn.
Rachel gasped.
“No.”
“That's not our mother.”
The voice spoke again.
“That is your mother.”
I looked at Rachel.
She seemed unable to breathe.
The photograph showed two women.
One was Evelyn.
The other looked like her.
Twins.
The speaker finally stepped into the light.
An elderly man with a scar across his cheek.
Thomas.
Claire's father.
Rachel's knees nearly collapsed.
“Dad?”
Thomas looked at her.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I needed you to believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother wanted me buried.”
Rachel stared at him.
“You kidnapped Claire?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Evelyn.”
The words barely left his mouth before Rachel slapped him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't care what you believe.”
He took a small envelope from his coat.
“Claire discovered the truth.”
He handed it to me.
Inside was a DNA report.
I read the first line.
Then the second.
My hands began shaking.
The report showed a biological relationship between Lily and Thomas.
I looked at Rachel.
“What does this mean?”
Thomas answered.
“It means Claire's investigation wasn't about money.”
“It was about Lily.”
I stared at the report.
“That makes no sense.”
Thomas looked toward the dark balcony.
“Because Lily's mother was not who you were told she was.”
My breath stopped.
“What are you saying?”
He looked at me.
“The woman you believed died after Lily was born…”
He paused.
“She is alive.”
A sound came from behind us.
The side door opened.
A woman stepped into the chapel.
Claire.
Alive.
Bruised.
Barefoot.
She looked directly at me.
“Mark.”
I ran toward her.
But she stopped me.
“Don't.”
“Claire…”
She pointed at Rachel.
“She's been lying to you.”
Rachel stared at her sister.
“Claire, no.”
Claire's expression hardened.
“You told him I was missing for three days.”
“You were missing.”
“I was hiding.”
“From whom?”
Claire looked toward Thomas.
“From him.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
May you like
Then Claire whispered:
“Because my father isn't the person you think he is.”
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