Chapter 10 - THE TRUTH ABOUT MY BIRTHI couldn't move.
Mom collapsed into a chair.
Dad covered his face.
Daniel stared at her.
“Don't.”
Grandmother ignored him.
“She was desperate.”
Mom whispered,
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Mom looked at me.
“I was twenty-two.”
“And?”
“Your father wasn't Thomas.”
She looked toward Daniel.
“He was married.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I thought you hated me.”
“I did.”
“For what?”
“For leaving.”
“I didn't know you were pregnant.”
“You were told.”
“No.”
Grandmother interrupted.
“I made sure he never knew.”
I felt like the room was disappearing.
“So everyone knew except me.”
“Yes.”
“Why was I raised here?”
Grandmother answered.
“To create a clean identity.”
“You erased my father.”
“Yes.”
“You stole my money.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe I didn't matter.”
Her expression softened for the first time.
“That wasn't the plan.”
“Then what was?”
“To make you invisible.”
“Why?”
“Because there was a financial archive.”
Daniel looked at her.
“The Mercer archive.”
She nodded.
“Your father had access to it.”
“Me?”
“No.”
Daniel said,
“Taylor was the access key.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Grandmother explained.
“Northbridge maintained records outside the banking system.”
“Why?”
“To track every hidden transaction.”
“And I can access it?”
“You were designed to.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“Designed?”
“Your identity was built around it.”
She opened another file.
Inside were documents from the day I was born.
Hospital records.
DNA records.
A strange cryptographic sequence.
My birth certificate number.
My social security number.
My fingerprints.
Everything.
“This is insane.”
“No.”
Grandmother looked at me.
“This is why they needed you.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“Maya was arrested.”
My heart jumped.
“Why?”
“She was found at your apartment.”
“Doing what?”
“Deleting evidence.”
I froze.
“Was she working with them?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Daniel looked at Grandmother.
Grandmother smiled.
“Because she was trying to protect you.”
My chest tightened.
“How?”
“She took your identity because she wanted to draw attention away from you.”
I couldn't believe it.
“So Maya wasn't the enemy.”
“No.”
“Then who is?”
Grandmother stood.
“Your brother.”
I stared.
“Jake?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Grandmother handed me a photograph.
Jake talking to a Northbridge executive.
The date was three years ago.
The day I left.
I stared at the image.
Jake wasn't supposed to know about Northbridge.
May you like
Grandmother whispered,
“He was the one who sold your location.”
