Chapter 9 - Emma slept in Claire's arms that night.She refused to let go.
Claire lay awake, watching the rise and fall of her daughter's chest.
Four years.
Four birthdays.
Four Christmases.
Four years of first words and first steps she had never heard.
Claire silently cried.
Daniel sat beside her.
“I don't know how to fix this.”
“You can't.”
“I should have known.”
Claire shook her head.
“We were lied to.”
“I was lied to.”
“So was I.”
He looked at Emma.
“She called you Mom.”
Claire smiled through tears.
“She remembered me.”
“She never forgot you.”
Across the room, Evelyn stood by the window.
Claire looked at her.
“You knew Emma remembered.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever tell her about us?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you bring her back?”
Evelyn's face tightened.
“Because every time I thought it was safe, Adrian found us.”
Marcus interrupted.
“He wasn't the only one.”
Claire turned.
Marcus held a file.
“I checked the records.”
He opened it.
“Someone inside your husband's company has been leaking information.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who?”
Marcus turned the page.
There was one name.
Daniel's assistant.
Daniel's face darkened.
“No.”
“She accessed the old hospital records.”
“Why?”
Marcus didn't answer.
Evelyn did.
“She works for Adrian.”
Daniel immediately pulled out his phone.
The assistant answered.
“Mr. Hale?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“Office.”
Daniel ended the call.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Don't call the office again.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows you're alive.”
That same moment, Emma stirred.
She sat up.
“Mom?”
Claire turned.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Emma looked frightened.
“I saw her.”
“Who?”
“The lady.”
“What lady?”
“The one who came when Daddy was asleep.”
Claire's blood went cold.
“When?”
“Last week.”
Daniel froze.
“What did she look like?”
Emma pointed at Evelyn.
“Like Grandma.”
Evelyn went white.
Claire looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Emma shook her head.
“Not Grandma.”
She whispered:
“The other lady who looks like Grandma.”
Everyone stared.
Marcus suddenly understood.
“Your mother had a sister.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Daniel looked shocked.
“You have a sister?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“She died.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“What?”
“She didn't die.”
Silence.
Daniel looked between them.
“What is happening?”
Marcus pulled out his phone.
He showed them an old photograph.
Two identical women.
One was Evelyn.
The other looked almost exactly like her.
Claire stared.
“Who is that?”
Evelyn whispered:
“My sister, Helena.”
Marcus continued.
“She changed her name years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because she was involved with Adrian.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Where is she now?”
Marcus answered:
“Working as a live-in caregiver.”
“For whom?”
Marcus looked at Emma.
Claire felt the blood leave her face.
“For the Carter family.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“That lady.”
Claire grabbed Daniel's hand.
“We have to go.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
Everyone turned.
“We don't know which side Helena is on.”
Marcus nodded.
“Exactly.”
Daniel stood.
“Then we find out.”
They reached the Carter estate just before midnight.
The gates were unlocked.
No security guards.
No lights.
Inside, the house was silent.
Too silent.
Claire held Emma's hand.
Daniel moved ahead.
The nursery door was open.
Inside was a small bed.
Pink blankets.
Toys.
Family photos.
Emma stopped.
“That was my room.”
Claire knelt.
“Do you remember?”
Emma nodded.
“I remember hiding.”
“From who?”
Emma pointed beneath the bed.
Claire looked.
Nothing.
Then Emma whispered:
“From the lady.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Daniel raised his weapon.
Footsteps approached.
A woman appeared at the end of the hall.
She looked exactly like Evelyn.
Claire's heart stopped.
Helena smiled.
“Hello, Claire.”
Emma screamed.
“That's her!”
Helena's expression changed.
Then she said:
May you like
“You should never have brought her back.”
And the lights went out.
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