Chapter 8 - The Child Nobody CountedThe Third Bennett Heir
The sedan took them toward St. Helena before sunrise.
Claire couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
Three children.
One little girl.
Two boys.
Yet her entire life, she had been told there were only two Bennett children.
Claire and Noah.
“Your family kept records,” Elias said.
“Then someone erased one.”
Noah remained silent.
He was pale.
“Do you remember anything?” Claire asked.
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“Only fragments.”
“Like what?”
He closed his eyes.
“A woman's voice.”
“Mother?”
“No.”
“A man's?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Noah swallowed.
“A little boy.”
Claire looked at him.
“What did he say?”
“He called me his brother.”
The sedan arrived at St. Helena.
The facility sat behind tall iron fencing.
Claire showed the envelope at reception.
The administrator looked terrified.
“Who gave you this?”
“It was sent to me.”
He read the name.
Then looked at Noah.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Where is Evelyn Bennett?”
The administrator hesitated.
“Patient files are confidential.”
Claire placed a legal credential on the desk.
“I am her daughter.”
The man's face changed.
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
“I thought you'd never come.”
Claire's heartbeat accelerated.
“You knew me?”
“Your grandmother brought you here once.”
“Why?”
“She wanted you to remember.”
“Remember what?”
The administrator looked toward the corridor.
“Your mother didn't lose her mind.”
Claire froze.
“She was afraid.”
“Of who?”
“Your father.”
Claire felt the blood drain from her face.
The administrator opened an old file.
Inside was a photograph of Evelyn.
And a handwritten note:
Do not let Julian take Claire.
Claire stared.
“My father?”
“He came here several times.”
“What did he want?”
“Your mother to sign a document.”
“What document?”
“A renunciation.”
Elias leaned forward.
“Of the trust?”
The administrator nodded.
“Of everything.”
“Did she sign?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
Claire looked at him.
“You said she's been here for twenty-seven years.”
“She was.”
“Then how did she disappear?”
He lowered his voice.
“She wasn't a patient here the entire time.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“She was transferred.”
“Where?”
The administrator looked directly at her.
“Black Mountain.”
Noah stepped forward.
“There's no facility there.”
“Not officially.”
Claire felt the pieces sliding into place.
The carriage.
The chapel.
The tunnel.
The secret records.
Her mother's disappearance.
It had all been connected.
“Take us there,” Claire said.
The administrator shook his head.
“I can't.”
Claire placed the old photograph on the desk.
“Then tell me who the third child is.”
His face went white.
“You know about him?”
“Yes.”
He stared at Noah.
Then at Claire.
Finally, he whispered:
“Your mother had twins.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Two boys.”
Noah stared at him.
“You're lying.”
“Your mother gave birth to both boys.”
Claire shook her head.
“No. Everyone said Noah was an only son.”
“One of the boys was hidden.”
“Why?”
The administrator looked toward the hallway.
“Because the wrong child was registered.”
Claire's voice dropped.
“Wrong child?”
He opened the file.
The birth record had two names.
NOAH BENNETT
and
ALEXANDER BENNETT
Claire stared.
Alexander.
Their grandfather's name.
Noah's face went pale.
“Where is Alexander?”
The administrator didn't answer.
Claire grabbed his arm.
“Where?”
He looked at the door.
Then he whispered:
“Daniel Mason knows.”
At that exact moment, every light in the facility went out.
A second later, the fire alarm began screaming.
Smoke poured into the hallway.
Someone shouted from outside.
“Fire!”
Elias grabbed Claire.
“Noah!”
Noah was gone.
Claire spun around.
“NOAH?”
No answer.
Then her phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
YOU FOUND THE WRONG BROTHER.
May you like
Another message arrived.
NOW COME FIND THE ONE WHO SURVIVED.
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