Chapter 6 - The BloodlineEthan stopped moving.
“What did you say?”
Thomas looked at Clara.
Then back at him.
“Lily is your sister.”
Clara started crying.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“No.”
Thomas spoke quietly.
“Grace had another child.”
“My father?”
“No.”
Ethan stared.
“Then who?”
Thomas looked at Clara.
“Clara was protecting both of them.”
Ethan turned toward Clara.
“Tell me this isn't true.”
Clara's silence answered him.
“Clara.”
She covered her face.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“You knew?”
“I found out after Lily was born.”
“Who is her father?”
Clara whispered:
“Your mother never told me.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Grace wanted Lily hidden.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Clara looked at Thomas.
Thomas answered.
“Your father had a second family.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“You’re saying my father had another child with another woman?”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Grace did.”
Silence.
Ethan stared.
“With whom?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Victor Vale.”
The name echoed in Ethan’s mind.
His mother.
Victor Vale.
A secret child.
Lily.
His half-sister.
Ethan turned toward Clara.
“Is this why Madison wants her?”
Clara nodded.
“Because Lily's blood proves Victor’s relationship with your mother.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not only that.”
He pulled out a DNA report.
Ethan looked down.
The report showed a genetic connection between Lily Bennett and Grace Whitmore.
The probability was overwhelming.
Lily was Grace’s granddaughter.
But that wasn't the strangest part.
Thomas pointed to another page.
“Look at the second result.”
Ethan read it.
His heart stopped.
Victor Vale and Grace Whitmore were not Lily’s biological parents.
Instead, the report showed something else.
Lily was genetically connected to Ethan’s father.
Not as a niece.
As a daughter.
Ethan stared.
“No…”
Thomas nodded.
“Your father was Lily’s biological father.”
Clara closed her eyes.
Ethan felt as if the entire mansion of his childhood had collapsed inside his head.
“My father had a daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“And they hid her.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked toward Lily.
The little girl was asleep beside Clara.
His little sister.
He suddenly felt something inside him break.
Then the clinic lights went out.
Everyone froze.
A sharp crash came from the hallway.
Thomas reached for Ethan.
“Stay back.”
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then the door opened.
Madison stood in the darkness.
She was holding a gun.
Clara screamed.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Madison.”
She raised the weapon.
“You should have left the past alone.”
Ethan's voice was strangely calm.
“You killed my mother?”
Madison’s eyes flickered.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
She smiled.
“Ask your father.”
“He's dead.”
Madison shook her head.
“No.”
She took one step forward.
“He isn't.”
Then she looked at Lily.
“And neither is the woman who raised you.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
Madison lowered the gun.
“Your daughter has been calling the wrong woman ‘Mommy’ for five years.”
Clara's face went white.
Ethan looked at Lily.
“What does that mean?”
Madison smiled.
Then someone stepped out behind her.
An older woman.
Silver hair.
A familiar face.
Ethan stopped breathing.
His mother.
May you like
Grace Whitmore.
Alive.
