Chapter 12 - The Girl in the PhotographDominic returned to the mansion to find shattered glass across the foyer and a trail of blood leading toward the back garden.
Margaret sat in an armchair with a bandage around her forehead. She was conscious, furious, and refusing to let a medic examine her.
“He had your face,” she told Dominic.
He knelt beside her.
“Victor?”
She nodded.
“He told the guards you had ordered everyone to leave the house. He knew the security codes. He knew which rooms were occupied. He even knew where Ellie had hidden the little rabbit.”
Dominic looked toward the staircase.
The bedroom door stood open.
The room was empty.
On the bed lay a sheet of paper.
He picked it up.
A photograph had been printed in the center. It showed Ellie standing beside a younger Dominic, though he had no memory of the image being taken.
Below it was a handwritten sentence.
THE GIRL IS NOT YOUR NIECE. SHE IS YOUR DAUGHTER.
Dominic read it twice.
Marco came to stand beside him.
“Boss?”
Dominic handed him the paper.
Marco's expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
“Find out.”
“But you would know if—”
“Find out!”
His voice thundered through the room.
Marco nodded and hurried away.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
He had loved a woman named Sarah when he was twenty-six. She had disappeared after an argument, leaving behind nothing but a letter saying she wanted a different life.
He had searched for her for months before accepting that she had left willingly.
Could Sarah have been pregnant?
Could Victor have known?
Could the truth about Ellie be the reason Elena had spent seven years hiding?
Dominic didn't know which possibility frightened him most.
A sound came from the security room.
One of the technicians had recovered footage from the garden camera. Dominic watched Victor carry Ellie through the gate.
The child wasn't struggling.
She was holding his hand.
“Where is he taking her?” Dominic demanded.
The technician enlarged the final frame.
Victor had placed Ellie inside a black car.
The license plate belonged to a vehicle registered to a medical foundation that had closed six years earlier.
Dominic looked at Marco.
“Who owns it now?”
Marco checked his phone.
“Dr. Samuel Shaw.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
The doctor hadn't simply altered the records.
He had been working with Victor for years.
Meanwhile, Ellie sat in the back of a car, staring at the man beside her.
He looked exactly like Dominic.
But he smelled different. His suit carried the sharp scent of expensive cologne, and his hand was cold when he held hers.
“Are you really my daddy?” she asked.
Victor smiled.
“I'm your family.”
“That's not what I asked.”
His smile faded slightly.
“Your uncle Dominic has told you lies.”
“He said you were bad.”
“Dominic is a complicated man.”
Ellie looked out the window.
“Mommy says complicated means people are trying to hide something.”
Victor stared at her.
Then he laughed.
“Your mother always did have a way with words.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere you can see her soon.”
Ellie folded her hands in her lap.
“Will you let me go home afterward?”
Victor didn't answer.
She studied his face.
“You're not going to, are you?”
For the first time, he seemed genuinely impressed.
“You're more perceptive than your age suggests.”
“I'm not smart. I'm just used to people leaving.”
Victor looked away.
The car pulled into a private medical facility hidden behind a row of warehouses. Dr. Shaw waited at the entrance, wearing a spotless white coat.
He opened the rear door.
“Is this her?”
“Yes.”
The doctor examined Ellie with clinical curiosity.
“She's grown.”
Ellie recoiled.
“Don't touch me.”
Dr. Shaw paused, then looked toward Victor.
“You said she knew nothing.”
“She doesn't.”
“Then we should verify that before proceeding.”
Ellie clutched the stuffed rabbit she'd managed to bring with her.
“What are you going to do?”
Victor crouched in front of her.
“I'm going to find out who you really are.”
“I already know.”
“Oh?”
“I'm Ellie.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Names can be changed.”
Ellie held his gaze.
“But love can't.”
For several seconds, Victor said nothing.
Then he stood and ordered the doctor to take her inside.
As the doors closed behind them, Ellie noticed a familiar sound coming from the hallway.
A soft melody.
Someone was humming the lullaby her mother had taught her.
She turned toward the sound.
At the far end of the corridor stood a woman in a pale hospital gown.
Her hair was tangled, her face bruised, and a chain circled one wrist.
But Ellie recognized her immediately.
“Mommy!”
Elena rushed toward her.
A guard caught her before she could reach the child.
“Ellie!” Elena screamed. “Don't let them take your blood!”
Victor stopped walking.
Slowly, he turned around.
His eyes narrowed.
“Then the little girl knows more than you told me.”
Ellie looked at the door behind her.
She finally understood why Dominic had told her to stay close to people she trusted.
And she understood why Victor had never smiled when she called him Daddy.
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He wasn't trying to become her family.
He was trying to prove that she had never belonged to Dominic's at all.
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