Chapter 9 - The Second SonHis name was Adrian.
Daniel's identical twin.
He had supposedly died as a newborn.
But according to my father's recording, Adrian had survived.
I stared at Eleanor.
"You knew?"
She looked destroyed.
"I thought he died."
"Your husband told you that?"
"Yes."
Daniel sat down.
"I never knew."
Mara paced the room.
"If Adrian survived, he could be behind everything."
"Why?"
"Because he would have had the same access to the company."
Eleanor shook her head.
"He was taken from the hospital."
"By whom?"
"My husband."
I looked at Daniel.
"Why would he hide his own son?"
"Because Adrian was sick."
"What kind of sick?"
"Neurological."
Eleanor's voice trembled.
"He had violent seizures. My husband believed he was defective."
I felt sick.
"So he sent him away?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"We don't know."
A message appeared on Daniel's phone.
Unknown number.
HE KNOWS YOU FOUND OUT.
Another message.
ASK YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW WHERE SHE BURIED THE BABY.
Eleanor dropped her phone.
Her hands began shaking.
"I never buried him."
The house became silent.
Then there was a knock.
Three slow knocks.
Mara raised her gun.
Daniel moved toward the door.
I grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
He looked at me.
"Claire..."
The knocking came again.
Three times.
Then a man's voice from outside.
"Daniel."
Daniel froze.
The voice continued.
"You always did steal what belonged to me."
My blood ran cold.
He wasn't shouting.
He wasn't angry.
He sounded calm.
Almost amused.
Daniel whispered:
"Adrian."
The door opened by itself.
No one stood outside.
Only a black envelope lay on the porch.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel and Adrian as babies.
Two infants.
Two hospital bracelets.
And beneath them was a handwritten message.
YOU MARRIED THE WRONG WOMAN.
I turned the photograph over.
There was another picture.
It showed a woman's grave.
My mother's name was carved into the stone.
May you like
But underneath it, written in fresh paint, were three words:
SHE IS ALIVE.
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