Chapter 5 - THE SECOND DAUGHTERVictoria's confession changed everything.
Detective Mason immediately ordered the mansion sealed.
No one entered.
No one left.
Arthur stood in the center of the library as though the floor beneath him had disappeared.
“Explain,” Mason said.
Victoria shook her head.
“Not here.”
“You'll explain here.”
Arthur stared at her.
“Who was the second child?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
But her tears looked different from the false crying Elena had seen earlier.
They looked like guilt.
“Her name was Mara.”
Arthur stared.
“No.”
“Mara was born eight months after Evelyn.”
Arthur shook his head.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“You were not married to me.”
“No.”
Victoria looked at him.
“I wasn't.”
Silence.
“My sister was.”
Arthur stopped.
Elena understood.
Victoria continued.
“Claire had two daughters.”
Mason asked, “Twins?”
“No.”
“Then where was Mara?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“She was taken.”
Arthur whispered:
“By whom?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Your father.”
The room went silent.
Arthur staggered backward.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“That doesn't erase what he did.”
Arthur's breathing became heavy.
“My father told me Claire had one child.”
“He lied.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed Claire wasn't fit to raise either girl.”
Victoria looked toward the hidden passage.
“He had people watching them.”
Elena interrupted.
“And you?”
Victoria turned.
“I was involved.”
Arthur stared at her.
“How?”
“I helped move Mara.”
“To where?”
Victoria hesitated.
“An orphanage.”
Arthur looked horrified.
“Without Claire knowing?”
“She was told Mara died.”
Elena's stomach turned.
“Then who is Lucy?”
Victoria didn't answer.
Mason stepped closer.
“Who is Lucy?”
Victoria's face went white.
“She is Mara.”
Arthur whispered:
“No.”
“She changed her name.”
“Why?”
“Because she spent years running.”
Suddenly Leo's voice echoed through the house.
“Dad!”
Everyone turned.
The sound came from the basement.
Arthur ran.
Elena followed.
They found Leo sitting on the floor near the wine cellar.
His hands were tied with a cloth.
But he was unharmed.
Arthur dropped beside him.
“Leo!”
“I tried to hide.”
“Who took you?”
Leo pointed toward the darkness.
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
“She said she knew Dad.”
“Did you see her face?”
Leo nodded.
“She looked like the lady in the photograph.”
Arthur's eyes widened.
Claire.
But Claire was dead.
Or so everyone believed.
Leo continued.
“She told me to tell you something.”
“What?”
Leo whispered:
“She said you're running out of time.”
Arthur held him tighter.
Then Elena noticed something beneath the table.
A fresh trail of dirt.
Someone had been here recently.
The cellar had another exit.
It led outside.
Near the lake.
Detective Mason searched the area.
They found footprints.
Two sets.
One adult.
One child-sized.
But Leo was still inside.
Another child.
Mason followed the tracks toward the lake.
At the water's edge stood an abandoned boathouse.
The door was open.
Inside was a chair.
A blanket.
And a cassette recorder.
Mason pressed play.
A man's voice said:
“Arthur, if you're listening to this, your daughter is alive.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
Then the voice continued.
“She has been living under another name for seventeen years.”
A pause.
“She has been inside your house for almost three years.”
Elena felt a chill.
Arthur looked directly at her.
No one spoke.
The recording continued.
“You never noticed because she was standing right in front of you.”
Elena's mouth went dry.
Arthur's eyes slowly moved toward her.
The room seemed to spin.
“No,” Elena whispered.
The recorder clicked off.
Detective Mason stared at Elena.
“What's your full name?”
“Elena Marlowe.”
Mason looked at the photograph from Thomas's suitcase.
Then at Elena's face.
The resemblance suddenly became impossible to ignore.
May you like
Victoria whispered:
“She wasn't supposed to remember.”
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