Chapter 7 - LILYWe found Lily the next night.
Or rather, she found us.
She walked into a church at midnight wearing a black coat.
She stood beneath the stained-glass windows and stared at me.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then she said:
“You have my mother's eyes.”
I almost laughed.
“You mean Diane?”
“She told me she was my mother.”
My chest tightened.
“She lied.”
Lily looked at Jonathan.
“You're him.”
“Yes.”
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“I was supposed to be.”
She looked at Mother.
“Then why didn't you come for me?”
Mother broke down.
Lily's anger exploded.
“You let me grow up thinking I wasn't wanted.”
“You were stolen.”
“You could have looked!”
“I did!”
“When?”
“Every year.”
Lily froze.
Mother continued.
“Every birthday.”
She pulled out twenty-eight envelopes.
One for each year.
Never delivered.
Lily stared at them.
Then she cried.
She didn't forgive her.
Not yet.
But she took the envelopes.
That was enough.
Then she asked:
“What does Diane want?”
Jonathan answered.
“Your share of the Vale Trust.”
Lily laughed bitterly.
“I don't know anything about it.”
“You don't need to.”
“Why?”
“Because Diane needs both of you alive.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
Jonathan looked at the pendant.
“Because the trust cannot be opened without both heirs.”
Lily stared at my necklace.
“What is that?”
“The key.”
She touched it.
Then stepped back.
“I've seen that symbol before.”
“Where?”
“Inside Diane's house.”
We went silent.
Lily explained.
There was a locked room beneath Diane's estate.
She had been forbidden from entering it since childhood.
One night, years ago, Lily had seen Diane carrying a black ledger into it.
The same symbol was carved into the door.
We drove there.
Lily knew the security system.
She disabled the cameras.
We entered through a service entrance.
The basement was enormous.
Shelves.
Files.
Photographs.
Boxes labeled with names.
Mine.
Ethan's.
Mother's.
Jonathan's.
Lily's.
I opened mine.
Inside were reports about my life.
Schools.
Friends.
Medical records.
Every address.
Every relationship.
Then I found a folder labeled:
RYAN MERCER.
My husband's name.
Inside was his original marriage assignment.
I read it.
TARGET: CLAIRE VALE.
OBJECTIVE: LOCATE TRUST KEY.
STATUS: SUCCESS.
My hands shook.
Then I saw a handwritten note.
From Diane.
“Do not allow him to fall in love.”
I stopped breathing.
Ryan had been warned not to love me.
But another document sat beneath it.
Dated two years later.
“Subject has become emotionally compromised.”
I stared.
He had fallen in love.
Despite everything.
Lily read over my shoulder.
“So Diane had him watched too.”
Then a sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Diane's voice.
“You really should stop reading other people's files.”
We turned.
Diane stood at the top of the stairs.
Ryan beside her.
He looked at me.
His face was devastated.
“Claire.”
Diane smiled.
“You've finally found your sister.”
I stepped toward her.
“You stole her.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I saved her.”
From behind Diane came another man.
An older man.
I recognized him instantly.
Jonathan.
The one beside me.
The man behind Diane was his exact twin.
Diane said:
“Meet Robert Vale.”
Jonathan went pale.
His brother had been dead for thirty years.
Or so everyone believed.
May you like
Diane smiled.
“You've all been fooled by the wrong ghost.”
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