Chapter 8 - The basement became silent.Julian stared at Evelyn.
“My mother is dead.”
“She disappeared.”
“There's a difference?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn looked toward the passage behind the shelves.
“Below us.”
Julian frowned.
“Below us?”
“There is another level.”
She pulled a metal ring hidden beneath the floor mat.
A section of concrete lifted.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Mara stared.
“How many secrets does this house have?”
Evelyn answered:
“Enough to bury a family.”
They descended.
The air became colder.
The walls were lined with old photographs.
Julian stopped at one.
It showed his mother.
Young.
Smiling.
Beside her stood Victor Mercer.
And a woman Julian had never seen before.
Mara leaned closer.
“That's my grandmother.”
Julian looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I've seen her in my mother's photographs.”
Julian's eyes narrowed.
“Your mother knew my father.”
Mara nodded.
Evelyn walked ahead.
At the end of the tunnel was a steel door.
She entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was a medical room.
An elderly woman was lying on a hospital bed.
Julian stopped breathing.
“Mom?”
The woman opened her eyes.
She looked directly at him.
Then she began to cry.
“Julian.”
He rushed to her.
She touched his face.
“My boy.”
He couldn't speak.
His mother was alive.
For twenty years.
“What happened?”
She looked at Evelyn.
“She did this.”
Julian turned.
“Evelyn?”
His mother shook her head.
“Not her.”
She pointed toward a file.
“Your father.”
Julian looked at the woman.
“Why?”
“Because I tried to stop him.”
“From what?”
She looked toward Noah.
“From turning your bloodline into property.”
Mara approached.
“Do you know who I am?”
The old woman stared at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“You look like Elise.”
Mara swallowed.
“I am Elise's daughter.”
The old woman looked at Evelyn.
“No.”
Mara froze.
“No?”
“You're Elise.”
Everyone went silent.
Mara shook her head.
“My name is Mara.”
“That's what they told you.”
The old woman struggled to sit up.
“You were both called Elise and Evelyn.”
She pointed at Mara.
“You are Evelyn.”
Then at the other woman.
“You are Elise.”
Julian stared.
“What?”
His mother continued.
“When the twins were born, Victor separated them.”
Mara's face went pale.
“One was raised as his daughter.”
The old woman looked at Evelyn.
“Elise.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“And the other was sent away.”
She looked at Mara.
“Evelyn.”
Mara stepped backward.
“No.”
Julian stared at the two women.
“So Mara is…”
“Your wife’s sister.”
His mother nodded.
“But not in the way you think.”
Mara's hands shook.
“You're saying I'm Evelyn?”
“No.”
His mother pointed at the photograph.
“You were raised believing you were Mara Ellis.”
Mara whispered:
“Who am I?”
The old woman answered:
“Evelyn Mercer.”
Silence.
Julian looked at the woman in front of him.
His late wife's face.
Her sister's face.
His entire world had become a hall of mirrors.
Evelyn looked at Mara.
“She's telling the truth.”
Mara stared.
“Then who are you?”
The woman Julian had believed was Evelyn walked closer.
“My name is Elise.”
Mara backed away.
“You stole my identity.”
“I was given it.”
“By whom?”
“Victor.”
Julian felt dizzy.
“My father turned you into his daughter.”
Elise nodded.
“And he turned you into his granddaughter's mother.”
Mara looked at Noah.
“Then whose child is he?”
His mother spoke.
“Yours.”
Mara's eyes filled.
“But if I'm Evelyn…”
“You are.”
“And Elise is my sister…”
“Yes.”
“Then Noah is…”
“My great-grandson,” the old woman whispered.
Julian looked at Noah.
The family tree suddenly twisted into something monstrous.
But one question remained.
“If Mara is Evelyn,” Julian said, “then who was my wife?”
Elise stepped forward.
“I was.”
Julian stared at her.
“You married me.”
“Yes.”
“You pretended to be Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To survive.”
Julian's voice became cold.
“How long?”
“Four years.”
He took a step backward.
“And the woman I loved…”
Elise's face crumbled.
“She was never allowed to live.”
A gunshot sounded above.
Everyone ducked.
Then a voice echoed through the tunnel.
“Beautiful reunion.”
Julian looked toward the door.
The woman from the video walked down the stairs.
She smiled.
“Now we can finally stop pretending.”
Julian raised his weapon.
She laughed.
“Go ahead.”
Then she held up a detonator.
“One button.”
May you like
Her eyes moved to Noah.
“And your entire family history disappears underground.”
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