Chapter 14: The Child They Gave Away
Sofia couldn't breathe.
She read the birth certificate again.
Margaret Cross.
Alexander Cross.
Her own name.
For several seconds, the room seemed to disappear around her.
"No.""
Adrian watched her carefully.
"That's what everyone says.""
"My mother was Elena.""
"Elena raised you.""
"She was my mother.""
"She loved you. That doesn't change the facts.""
Sofia pushed the certificate away.
"You're lying.""
Adrian sat on the edge of the chair.
"Margaret gave birth to a daughter sixteen years ago. Alexander believed the child was dead. Elena took you and disappeared.""
"Why would she do that?""
"Because your father ordered her to.""
Sofia's eyes narrowed.
"You're saying Alexander wanted his own daughter killed?""
Adrian shrugged.
"Your father wanted an heir he could control. A daughter born to Margaret was a complication. He had already decided that Damian would inherit the empire.""
Sofia stared at him.
"And Elena?""
"She was Margaret's closest friend. She helped deliver you. When Alexander ordered the baby taken away, Elena switched the records and carried you out of the hospital.""
Sofia felt the room tilt.
"Where is Margaret?""
Adrian smiled.
"Ask Damian.""
He stood and walked toward the door.
Sofia grabbed the birth certificate.
"Wait.""
He turned.
"Is Isabella my sister?""
"Yes.""
"And Damian?""
"Your brother.""
The words landed like stones.
Sofia shook her head.
"No.""
Adrian's expression hardened.
"You wanted the truth. Now you have it.""
He left.
Sofia stood frozen.
Isabella approached her slowly.
"Don't believe everything he says.""
Sofia held up the certificate.
"Is this real?""
Isabella studied it.
Her expression changed.
"I've seen this before.""
"Where?""
"In my mother's papers.""
Sofia looked at her.
"Margaret knew?""
"She believed you were dead. Alexander told her the baby had been stillborn.""
Sofia's eyes filled.
"Why didn't she tell me?""
"Because she didn't know.""
Isabella took the document.
She examined the signature and the hospital seal.
Then she noticed something.
"The date is wrong.""
Sofia frowned.
"What?""
"Look at the year.""
Sofia read it again.
The certificate said she had been born sixteen years ago.
But the hospital bracelet carried a different date.
Sixteen years and three months.
Isabella turned the paper over.
A second signature appeared beneath the seal.
It belonged to a doctor.
Dr. Samuel Voss.
"Who is that?"" Sofia asked.
Isabella shook her head.
"I don't know. But I remember my mother mentioning him.""
Sofia looked toward the door.
"Can we get out of here?""
Isabella nodded.
"There's a service corridor behind the wardrobe. Elena showed it to me years ago.""
They moved quickly.
Isabella pushed aside a wooden panel and revealed a narrow passage.
Before they could enter, the door opened.
Adrian stood there.
His expression was no longer friendly.
"Going somewhere?""
Isabella stepped in front of Sofia.
"Let her go.""
Adrian looked amused.
"Still pretending you're the brave older sister?""
"She's done nothing to you.""
"She has everything I was promised.""
Sofia stepped forward.
"Then take the documents. Let us leave.""
Adrian shook his head.
"You still don't understand. I don't want the documents.""
He reached into his jacket and removed a photograph.
It showed a young boy sitting beside a hospital bed.
The boy was Damian.
A woman lay in the bed, her face partially hidden by an oxygen mask.
Sofia recognized her.
Margaret.
Adrian pointed to the woman.
"Your mother was the only person who ever tried to protect me.""
Sofia frowned.
"What?""
"Before I was taken away, Margaret used to visit me. She promised she'd come back.""
His voice cracked.
"Then she disappeared. Damian got everything. Ethan got everything. Even you were given a new life.""
Isabella stared at him.
"Adrian, you were a child.""
"And so was I when they abandoned me.""
He looked at Sofia.
"You think I'm cruel because I want the family to pay. But you have no idea what they did.""
He stepped aside.
"Go ahead. Run.""
Sofia hesitated.
"Why?""
"Because I want Damian to come after you.""
He smiled.
"And I want him to see what happens when his family finally stops pretending to love one another.""
Damian arrived at the abandoned hospital shortly after midnight.
Vivian was waiting in the entrance hall.
She wore a dark coat, and her left arm was bandaged.
"You're bleeding," she said.
"So are you.""
"Mine is worse.""
Damian ignored the comment.
"Tell me what you know.""
Vivian handed him a file.
Inside were photographs of the hospital where Sofia had been born, copies of old medical records, and a letter written by Elena.
Damian read the first page.
Margaret,
I have taken the child. Alexander believes she is dead. I will raise her as my own, and I will never let him find her.
But you must understand something. Sofia is not simply your daughter.
Damian stopped.
He read the next line.
The blood test revealed a second truth. The father listed on the birth certificate is not the child's biological father.
He looked up.
"Who is?""
Vivian shook her head.
"Elena never wrote the name.""
"Where's the rest of the letter?""
"Missing.""
Damian closed the file.
"Why did you keep this?""
"Because Ethan gave it to me.""
Damian stared.
"What?""
Vivian looked away.
"Before the crash, Ethan told me he had discovered the truth about Sofia. He said if anything happened to him, I had to protect her.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I was working for Victor.""
"That's not an answer.""
Vivian's eyes filled.
"I was trying to keep Ethan alive. I thought if I helped Victor, he'd let Ethan disappear. I didn't know Alexander was still alive.""
Damian stepped closer.
"Did you know about Adrian?""
"Yes.""
"Did you know he was at the estate?""
She nodded.
Damian turned away.
For years, he had believed the family tragedies were isolated events.
Now he understood they were all connected.
"Where is Sofia?""
Vivian hesitated.
"She escaped.""
Damian spun around.
"What?""
"Adrian let her go.""
"Why?""
"Because he wants you to find her.""
Damian's phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Damian.""
Alexander.
"Where is my sister?""
Alexander laughed.
"Your sister?""
"Don't play games.""
"You're finally asking the right questions.""
A photograph arrived.
Sofia stood in the doorway of a small house, holding Isabella's hand.
Behind them, a woman watched from the shadows.
Damian zoomed in.
Margaret.
His mother.
Alive and standing.
Alexander spoke again.
"Come to the old chapel. Bring the ledger. And come without Ethan.""
"Why?""
"Because your brother has already betrayed you once.""
The call ended.
Damian stared at the photograph.
Then he noticed something in the background.
A second figure.
A man standing beside Margaret.
A man wearing the same watch Ethan had worn in the storage footage.
Damian's blood ran cold.
He turned toward Vivian.
"Who is that?""
She looked at the image.
Her face went white.
"That's impossible.""
"Who?""
Vivian whispered the name.
"Your father.""
Damian shook his head.
"Alexander is the one who called.""
"No.""
She pointed to the man beside Margaret.
"That's Alexander.""
Damian looked again.
The man on the phone had sounded exactly like his father.
But the man in the photograph was also Alexander.
Two identical faces.
Two men.
Vivian stepped back.
"Damian, there were always two Cross brothers.""
Damian understood.
Arthur hadn't been Victor's twin.
May you like
He had been Alexander's.
And the man who had spent years pretending to be his dead father might not have been his father at all.
