Chapter 14: The Truth Hidden in the Cottage
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything.
Twins.
My mother had supposedly given birth to two children before she married my father.
One had been adopted by Uncle Mark.
The other had disappeared.
I looked at Renee.
"How do you know?""
She wiped her cheeks.
"Victor told me after Margaret died.""
Dad stepped toward her.
"Why would he tell you?""
"Because he wanted me to understand why he had spent years watching your family.""
"Watching us?""
Renee nodded.
"He said Margaret had taken something from him. He said she had kept one of his children and hidden the other.""
Thomas's expression hardened.
"That doesn't make sense. The adoption record identifies Andrew as the child of Margaret and Victor.""
"There were two babies," Renee repeated.
Dad shook his head.
"Margaret never told me.""
Renee looked at him.
"Maybe she couldn't.""
I felt anger rising.
"Where is the second child?""
"I don't know.""
"Who does?""
Renee lowered her eyes.
"Victor.""
Dad picked up his coat.
"Then we're going to find him.""
Thomas stopped him.
"Not without a plan. Victor knows we're investigating. If he believes we're close to finding the ledger, he'll destroy anything that can connect him to the fraud.""
Dad looked at the brass key on the table.
"The cottage.""
Thomas nodded.
"Margaret hid the ledger there. We should go before Victor gets there first.""
I grabbed my coat.
"I'm coming.""
Dad looked at me.
"No.""
"That ledger belongs to my mother.""
"And I won't risk losing you.""
I stepped closer.
"She hid it for me. You can't keep telling me I'm old enough to inherit her money but not old enough to know what happened to her.""
Dad stared at me.
Then he nodded.
"Stay beside me. Whatever happens.""
Thomas contacted the authorities before we left. He gave them the cottage address and explained that evidence connected to an ongoing financial investigation might be hidden there.
We drove separately.
The cottage stood at the end of a narrow road near Route 9. The paint had peeled away from the porch, and weeds had grown around the steps. The windows were dark.
It looked smaller than I remembered.
I had been a little girl the last time I visited.
My mother had planted roses along the fence.
I remembered her kneeling in the dirt, showing me how to press a seedling into the ground without crushing its roots.
"Will it grow?"" I had asked.
"Anything can grow if someone gives it a chance," she'd replied.
Dad unlocked the front door.
The smell of dust and old wood filled the air.
Thomas entered behind us.
"Don't touch anything until we photograph the room.""
Dad switched on the lights.
Most of the furniture remained exactly where it had been.
A faded sofa.
A small dining table.
The old kitchen clock.
On the wall hung a framed photograph of Margaret and Dad standing outside the cottage on their wedding day.
I walked toward it.
Someone had scratched a name into the wooden frame.
*A.J.H.*
Andrew James Hale.
"Someone has been here," I whispered.
Dad examined the frame.
"The scratch is recent.""
Thomas photographed it.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A small envelope had been pushed beneath the sofa.
He picked it up carefully.
Inside was a photograph of two newborn babies.
My mother was holding one in each arm.
She looked exhausted but happy.
On the back, in her handwriting, were two names.
*Andrew and Daniel.*
Dad stared at the photograph.
"Daniel?""
I looked at him.
"That's your name.""
He shook his head.
"Margaret never told me.""
Thomas examined the picture.
"Perhaps she named the second child after you.""
I felt my throat tighten.
"Where did the other baby go?""
Dad looked around the cottage.
"Let's find the ledger first.""
We searched the bedroom, the kitchen, and the small attic.
Behind an old cupboard, Thomas discovered a loose floorboard.
Underneath it was a metal box.
The brass key fit perfectly.
Inside were company records, bank statements, and a thick black ledger.
Dad lifted it carefully.
"This is it.""
Thomas opened the first page.
The entries matched the suspicious transfers from the company accounts.
Victor's shell company appeared repeatedly.
So did payments to Renee.
And several transactions carried the initials M.C.
Mark Carter.
I turned the pages.
Then I found something that made my hands go cold.
A separate envelope had been taped inside the back cover.
It contained a letter from Margaret.
If you are reading this, Victor has finally gone too far.
He stole from the company. He forged my signature. He threatened to take my children away if I told Daniel what he had done.
I stopped reading.
My children.
Not my child.
I continued.
Andrew is safe with Mark, but I fear Victor will use him. My other little boy is somewhere I cannot reach. I have spent years trying to find him.
I looked at Dad.
"She lost one of them?""
Thomas nodded slowly.
The letter continued.
I never wanted either child to grow up believing they were unwanted. I was told the second baby died. I no longer believe that.
I felt dizzy.
The letter ended with one sentence.
The person who knows where my son is has been sitting at Daniel's dinner table for years.
Dad looked toward me.
"Who?""
Before Thomas could answer, a floorboard creaked behind us.
We turned.
Uncle Mark stood in the doorway.
He held a small pistol pointed toward the floor.
"Put the ledger down.""
Dad stepped in front of me.
"Mark.""
His brother looked exhausted.
"Daniel, please. Just put it down.""
Thomas raised both hands.
"Mark, you need to think carefully about what you're doing.""
"I have thought about it for years.""
Dad stared at him.
"You adopted Victor's son.""
Mark's eyes filled.
"Yes.""
"You lied to me.""
"I was trying to protect him.""
"From what?""
"From his father!""
Mark looked at me.
"And from the people who would use him to get to you.""
I shook my head.
"Where is the other baby?""
Mark's hand trembled.
"I don't know.""
"You're lying.""
He looked at the photograph.
"Your mother believed the second baby died. Victor told her that. But the hospital records were changed.""
Thomas stepped forward.
"Who changed them?""
Mark lowered the gun.
"Victor.""
Dad's voice cracked.
"Then where is the child?""
Mark looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said:
"He's been living in your house.""
I couldn't move.
"What?""
Mark's eyes filled with tears.
"Renee's daughter.""
The words struck me harder than anything Victor had ever said.
Mia.
My stepsister.
The girl who had destroyed my graduation dress.
The girl whose tuition had supposedly been paid with stolen money.
The girl my father had raised as his own.
She was my mother's daughter.
My twin.
Before I could speak, Mark's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Victor.
Mark answered.
A voice came through the speaker.
"Have they found the ledger?""
Mark didn't respond.
Victor's voice became colder.
"Mark, listen carefully. If Daniel knows about the girls, you have exactly five minutes to fix this.""
Then the call ended.
Mia appeared behind Mark in the doorway.
Her face was white.
She had heard everything.
And she was holding a second envelope.
"There's something else," she whispered.
May you like
She looked directly at me.
"Mom told me who my real father is.""
