Chapter 7: The Twins Nobody Was Allowed to Find
Daniel couldn't move.
Through the glass front door, the young woman held up the birth certificate again. Her dark curls were damp from the rain, and her eyes never left Maya's face.
“Ask him about the twins.””
Those were the words she'd mouthed.
Daniel turned toward Michael.
“Open the door,” he said.
Michael didn't move.
“Michael.””
His brother looked as if someone had drained every drop of blood from his body.
“Daniel, you need to hear me out first.””
“I'm done hearing half the truth. Open the door.””
Maya hurried to the entrance before either man could stop her. She unlocked it and pulled it open.
The woman stepped inside, carrying the envelope against her chest.
“I'm Elena Reed,” she said.
“And I think I've been lied to my entire life.””
Maya stared at her.
“You look like me.””
Elena gave a strained smile.
“I've been told that since I was a little girl. My adoptive mother used to say I had an unusual face, that people sometimes mistook me for strangers.””
She looked at the birth certificate.
“Now I know why.””
Nicole gripped the back of the sofa.
“Who gave you those documents?””
Elena turned toward her.
“You know exactly who gave them to me.””
Nicole shook her head.
“No. I don't.””
“Your brother did.””
Michael closed his eyes.
Daniel faced him.
“You gave her the records?””
“Three days ago,” Michael admitted.
“Why?””
“Because I couldn't keep lying.””
Daniel pointed toward the documents.
“Then explain the twins.””
Michael looked at Maya, and for the first time, she saw genuine fear in her uncle's eyes.
“Twenty years ago, when you and Nicole were preparing for Maya's birth, there was a complication. Nicole went into labor early. Your father was out of town, and I was the one who drove her to the hospital.””
Nicole interrupted sharply.
“That isn't how it happened.””
Michael turned toward her.
“Then tell them your version.””
She said nothing.
Michael continued.
“The hospital had another woman in labor that night. Her name was Sarah Reed. She was unmarried, frightened, and had no family nearby. She delivered twins—a boy and a girl.””
Elena's expression tightened.
“My adoptive mother told me I was adopted as a newborn. She never mentioned a twin.””
“Because Sarah was told the boy had died,” Michael said.
Elena gripped the envelope harder.
“And you're telling me he didn't?””
Michael nodded.
“He survived.””
“Where is he?””
Michael looked at Maya.
“That's what we've been trying to establish.””
Daniel slammed his palm against the wall.
“Stop looking at my daughter every time you say something you don't want to explain!””
Michael flinched.
“Because Maya found the original hospital file. She photographed the first page, and I recognized the name on it.””
Maya frowned.
“I didn't recognize any name. I took the photograph because I thought the document might belong to Dad's business.””
“You showed it to me later,” Michael said.
“You asked if I knew why your mother's maiden name appeared beside another woman's medical records.””
Maya remembered.
She had shown him the photograph during a family barbecue. He'd stared at her phone for several seconds, then claimed he couldn't read the small print.
He'd been lying.
“You knew then,” Maya whispered.
Michael nodded.
“I suspected. I didn't know for certain until I found the original documents.””
Elena stepped toward him.
“You're still not answering my question. Where is my brother?””
Michael rubbed both hands over his face.
“There's a second birth certificate. It was issued after the original records were altered.””
“Altered by whom?”” Daniel demanded.
Michael looked at Nicole.
She shook her head.
“Don't you dare.””
Daniel's voice turned icy.
“You have one chance.””
Nicole looked at her husband, then at the young woman standing beside their daughter.
“I didn't alter anything,” she whispered.
“I signed documents I was told were necessary.””
“By whom?””
She closed her eyes.
“Your mother.””
Daniel stared at her.
“My mother was dead when these records were corrected.””
“She left instructions before she died.””
“What instructions?””
Nicole began to cry.
“She said one of the babies had to be protected. She said the family would be destroyed if the truth came out.””
Elena's voice trembled with anger.
“So you let my mother believe her son was dead?””
“I didn't know what she had been told!””
“But you signed the papers!””
Nicole covered her face.
Daniel took a step backward.
He remembered his mother's final months, the way she had asked him to focus on the company, the way she had insisted that he not return home until a major contract was signed. He'd believed he'd been honoring her wishes.
Now he wondered whether she'd deliberately kept him away.
“What did she want protected?”” he asked.
Nicole lowered her hands.
“The Carter name. The company. Everything your father built.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“My father is dead. The company is mine. What exactly did she think she was protecting?””
Michael answered.
“The truth that your father had another child. And the truth that the child might have a claim to part of the family estate.””
Daniel's face darkened.
“This was about money?””
“Not just money.””
Michael reached into the folder and produced a final document.
It was a copy of an old trust agreement.
One clause had been highlighted.
In the event that any biological child of the late Thomas Carter is identified and legally verified, a portion of the Carter family trust shall be held for that child's descendants.
Daniel read it twice.
“My father created a trust for a child nobody knew existed?””
“Yes,” Michael said.
“And if Elena's twin is alive, that child may have a claim.””
Elena looked between them.
“I didn't come here for money. I came because my adoptive mother died last month, and I found a letter she had kept hidden for twenty years.””
She opened her envelope and pulled out a handwritten note.
“My mother wrote that she was told her son died at birth. But she never believed it. Before she died, she asked me to find him.””
Maya took Elena's hand.
“We'll help you.””
Daniel looked at his daughter, surprised by her immediate trust.
Elena squeezed Maya's fingers.
“There is one more thing. The letter named the nurse who handled the records that night.””
Michael went rigid.
Daniel noticed.
“Who?””
Elena turned the paper over.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
*Patricia Carter.*
Daniel's aunt.
His father's younger sister.
The woman who had attended every Carter family gathering, sent birthday cards to Maya, and visited Noah in the hospital when he was born.
Daniel whispered, “Aunt Patricia was there?””
Michael nodded.
“She was the hospital administrator that night.””
Elena's face hardened.
“She told my mother the boy was dead.””
Daniel stared at the signature.
“Where is Patricia now?””
Nicole answered quietly.
“She called me this afternoon.””
Everyone turned toward her.
“What did she say?”” Daniel asked.
Nicole looked at the front door.
“She said that if anyone came asking about the twins, I should tell them the boy died.””
Elena's face went white.
“Why would she call you today?””
Nicole swallowed.
“Because she knows someone found the records.””
Daniel reached for his phone.
He dialed his aunt's number.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then a woman's voice answered.
“Daniel, darling. I was wondering when you'd call.””
He tightened his grip on the phone.
“Aunt Patricia, I need you to tell me what happened at the hospital twenty years ago.””
Silence.
Then Patricia spoke in a voice so cold that Maya barely recognized the affectionate woman she knew.
“Before I tell you anything, Daniel, you need to understand one thing.””
“What?””
“Your brother isn't the only person in this family who has been lying.””
A pause.
“And if you bring that girl to my house, I'll make sure none of you ever learns what happened to the other twin.””
The call ended.
Daniel slowly lowered his phone.
Elena stared at him.
“What did she mean by the other twin?””
Daniel looked at Michael.
May you like
His brother had gone completely pale.
And for the first time that night, Michael seemed more frightened of the truth than he was of being exposed.
