The message stayed on my phone screen.
Two sentences.
But they felt heavier than every secret I had uncovered that night.
“Do not trust Elizabeth yet.”
“Because she is the reason our father did what he did.”
I looked at the woman sitting across from me.
The woman who had cried when she saw my face.
The woman who told me she searched for me for forty-two years.
The woman who claimed she lost everything because of my father.
Could she really be the reason behind it all?
“Who sent that?”
Elizabeth asked.
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
Because I didn’t know who to believe anymore.
My entire life had been a carefully constructed story.
And every person in that story had been hiding a chapter.
I locked my phone.
“What happened between you and my father?”
Elizabeth looked at me.
Pain crossed her face.
“I told you.”
“He stole you.”
“That’s not the whole truth.”
The room became silent.
My heart started beating faster.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
She looked away.
“I was afraid you would find out this way.”
I stood up.
“No more.”
My voice shook.
“No more half-truths.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
Then she whispered:
“Your father and I didn’t just have a marriage.”
A pause.
“We had a partnership.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Karen stepped closer.
“Mom?”
Elizabeth looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
That word again.
Everyone was sorry.
Everyone except the truth.
“When Thomas and I met, he already knew about the inheritance.”
My stomach tightened.
“So you knew?”
She nodded slowly.
“I knew his family had money.”
“But did you know about the trust?”
“No.”
She looked at the documents.
“Not at first.”
“Then when did you find out?”
Elizabeth looked down.
“When I became pregnant with Amelia.”
The room went still.
My father’s obsession with the inheritance started before I was born.
But why?
“What happened when you found out?”
Elizabeth swallowed.
“I discovered the trust documents.”
“Where?”
“In Thomas’s office.”
Karen looked shocked.
“You searched his office?”
Elizabeth looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he had changed.”
Her voice became quieter.
“He stopped talking about our future. He stopped caring about me. Everything became about money.”
I listened carefully.
Because something still didn’t fit.
“If you knew about the inheritance…”
I looked at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I never got the chance.”
“What does that mean?”
She looked at the floor.
“Thomas found out I knew.”
The room went cold.
“What did he do?”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
She hesitated.
Then said:
“With taking my baby.”
My chest tightened.
“But he did.”
“Yes.”
She looked at me.
“But not for the reason you think.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
Elizabeth reached into her purse.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Another envelope.
Another secret.
“I kept this hidden because I was ashamed.”
She handed it to me.
My name was written on it.
Not Amelia.
My current name.
The name I had lived with my entire life.
“How did you have this?”
“Because I wrote it before Thomas took you.”
My hands trembled.
“Why would you write a letter to me?”
“Because I knew he was going to separate us.”
I opened it.
The first line was written by Elizabeth.
“My daughter, if you ever find this, please know that I never abandoned you.”
My eyes filled with tears.
I continued reading.
“Your father wants you to believe I left. He wants you to hate me. But I fought for you.”
I looked up.
Elizabeth was crying.
The letter continued.
“I discovered Thomas was planning to change your identity. I tried to stop him.”
Then the next sentence made my blood run cold.
“But I also discovered the truth about the third baby.”
I stopped.
Sophia.
I kept reading.
“Sophia was not an accident. She was not a surprise. Thomas knew about her before I gave birth.”
My hands started shaking.
I looked at Elizabeth.
“What does that mean?”
She whispered:
“It means Thomas knew I was having twins.”
Karen covered her mouth.
“But why hide Sophia?”
Elizabeth looked at her.
“Because Sophia was not connected to the inheritance.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Elizabeth pointed at the papers.
“The trust had a condition.”
“Yes.”
“That all three daughters had to be reunited.”
“Yes.”
“But Thomas didn’t know that at first.”
My heart raced.
“What are you saying?”
Elizabeth took a deep breath.
“He thought there was only one child who mattered.”
“Me?”
She nodded.
“But when Sophia was born…”
She looked terrified.
“Everything changed.”
“Why?”
Elizabeth looked directly at me.
“Because Sophia inherited something Thomas never expected.”
“What?”
Her voice dropped.
“Proof.”
The room became silent.
“Proof of what?”
Elizabeth looked at the old photograph.
“The proof that Thomas was not your real enemy.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
She whispered:
“The man who helped him steal you…”
A pause.
“Was someone much closer.”
I looked around the room.
My husband.
Karen.
Richard.
Elizabeth.
Everyone had secrets.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
I answered.
This time, Sophia didn’t sound angry.
She sounded scared.
“Listen to me.”
I stood still.
“What?”
“You need to leave that house.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
A pause.
Then Sophia whispered:
“Because the person who has been watching you all night…”
My blood ran cold.
“Is standing behind you.”
I slowly turned around.
Nobody was there.
But on the kitchen window…
Was a reflection.
A person outside.
Holding a camera.
And when the person stepped into the light…
I recognized the face.
Someone I thought had been gone forever.
Someone connected to my father’s darkest secret.
My father’s lawyer.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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