Chapter 5 - Clara’s Missing YearsEthan found Clara sitting in the clinic room.
The moment he entered, she knew.
“You found out.”
He shut the door.
“What did my mother have to do with you?”
Clara lowered her eyes.
“I didn't want you to find out this way.”
“Then tell me.”
Clara took a long breath.
“Fifteen years ago, I worked for your mother.”
“You were a housekeeper?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I was her assistant.”
Ethan froze.
“You?”
“I was twenty-one.”
Grace Whitmore had hired her because Clara was studying education and needed money.
“She was kind to me,” Clara said. “She treated me like family.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother discovered something about Victor Vale.”
“The financial fraud.”
Clara nodded.
“She asked me to deliver documents.”
“To whom?”
“To a lawyer.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she die?”
Clara’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because the lawyer never received them.”
Ethan felt anger rising.
“What happened to the documents?”
Clara hesitated.
“I hid them.”
“Where?”
She looked terrified.
“I kept them.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother told me if anything happened to her, I was never to give them to your father.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Why not?”
“Because she suspected him.”
Ethan stepped back.
“My father?”
Clara nodded.
“She believed someone inside the family was helping Victor.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Ethan looked at her.
“And Lily?”
Clara’s face softened.
“Lily was born years later.”
“So why does my father’s letter mention her?”
Clara looked confused.
“I don't know.”
Ethan placed the letter on the table.
Clara read it.
Her hands began shaking.
“The child is the key.”
She whispered the words.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
“When Lily was born…”
“What?”
“There was a woman at the hospital.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Ethan went completely still.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“Grace was dead.”
“That’s what I believed.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“But the woman introduced herself as Margaret.”
“Margaret?”
“She carried Lily.”
Ethan stared.
“Why would my mother see your daughter?”
“I don't know.”
“But she gave me this.”
Clara reached beneath her pillow and pulled out an old pendant.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Grace Whitmore.
And an infant.
Lily.
Ethan couldn't breathe.
“That's Lily.”
Clara nodded.
“She told me to protect my daughter.”
“From whom?”
Clara looked at him.
“Madison.”
Ethan stared.
“How could Grace know Madison?”
“She said Madison’s family had been searching for Lily since before Lily was born.”
The door suddenly opened.
Daniel entered.
His face was pale.
“We have a problem.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
“Someone accessed the hospital records.”
“Who?”
Daniel handed him a tablet.
The security footage showed Madison entering the clinic.
She was standing outside Clara’s room.
Watching.
Listening.
Then she made a phone call.
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“Who is she calling?”
Daniel zoomed in.
The number was saved as a contact.
Victor Vale.
Ethan stared.
“Victor Vale is dead.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That is what everyone believed.”
Then the screen changed.
Another camera.
Another hallway.
A man entered the clinic.
Ethan recognized him from the hotel.
The same man who had warned him about Grace.
Daniel whispered:
“He's here.”
The man walked straight toward Clara’s room.
Ethan opened the door.
The stranger stopped.
Then he looked at Lily.
His expression broke.
He whispered:
“Grace's granddaughter.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“Who are you?”
The man swallowed.
“My name is Thomas Reed.”
“Why are you here?”
Thomas looked at Clara.
“She was supposed to give you the truth years ago.”
Clara shook her head.
“I couldn't.”
Thomas looked at Ethan.
“Because if she had told you, Madison would have killed Lily.”
He paused.
May you like
“And because Lily is not just your mother’s secret.”
“She is your sister.”
