Chapter 12 - ELISEWe did not go to the cemetery alone.
We went with agents.
The grave was empty.
The woman was gone.
But she had left a box.
Inside was an old baby bracelet.
Silver.
Tiny.
Engraved:
ELISE M.
And beneath it:
1989.
My birth year.
I stared at it.
Ethan looked at my mother.
“Explain.”
My mother shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You must.”
She swallowed.
“Vera gave birth to twins.”
My blood froze.
“Twins?”
“Yes.”
“One was me.”
“The other was Elise.”
I touched the bracelet.
“Why was I separated from her?”
“Because Daniel wanted control of one child.”
“And the other?”
“He took Elise.”
I felt sick.
“She was raised by him.”
My mother nodded.
“Until she escaped.”
“How?”
“She disappeared.”
“Why did Daniel think she was dead?”
“Because she wanted him to.”
Ethan looked at the photographs.
“So she has been operating under false identities.”
“Yes.”
“And she's now working against Lauren.”
My mother didn't answer.
I knew there was more.
“She's not working against me.”
My mother looked up.
“What?”
“She's trying to expose Daniel.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then why impersonate Lauren?”
“Because she needed access.”
“To what?”
“The trust.”
The pieces fell into place.
Elise knew she was my twin.
She knew about the inheritance.
She knew Daniel's plans.
And she needed my identity to enter systems he controlled.
But why had she frightened me?
Why the threats?
Why Victoria?
Maybe she was testing us.
Maybe she wanted to see who would betray me.
Or maybe she needed me to believe she was the enemy.
That night, a package arrived at the safe house.
No sender.
Inside was a hard drive.
One file.
WATCH_ME
The video showed Elise.
She was sitting in a dark room.
She looked exactly like me.
But she spoke with a strange calm.
“Lauren, I'm sorry.”
I leaned closer.
“I didn't know another way.”
She continued.
“Daniel has been hunting me for twenty years.”
She explained that she had spent years collecting evidence.
Bank accounts.
Murder records.
Property transfers.
Forged identities.
Then she said:
“He killed Vera.”
My mother covered her mouth.
The video continued.
“He killed our father.”
I froze.
“Our father?”
Elise meant Daniel?
No.
She meant the man who raised me.
My real father.
She claimed Daniel had arranged his disappearance.
Then she said something that changed everything.
“The man you knew as Richard Bennett was alive.”
My heart hammered.
“He was held in a private facility.”
Ethan leaned toward the screen.
“Where?”
Elise gave an address.
A private rehabilitation clinic outside Philadelphia.
Then the video ended.
I looked at Ethan.
“We're going.”
“Yes.”
Before we could leave, the phone rang.
Victoria.
“Lauren?”
“What?”
“Mom is gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“The safe room is empty.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She left a note.”
“What does it say?”
Victoria's voice shook.
“She said…”
I waited.
“She said she was going to meet Dad.”
I whispered,
“But Dad is dead.”
Victoria began crying.
“That’s what she wrote.”
May you like
Then she added:
“There was blood on the note.”
