Chapter 6: The Woman Who Raised My Daughter
The police took Lily to a secure children's unit that night.
I refused to leave her until a child psychologist arrived.
She sat on the hospital bed, holding the stuffed rabbit Officer Davis had found in the lake house.
I sat beside her.
Every few minutes, she looked at the door.
“Is Uncle Jonathan coming?””
“No.””
“Are you sure?””
I swallowed.
“I won't let him hurt you.””
She studied my face.
“Mommy Vanessa said you were dangerous.””
I looked down.
“What else did she tell you?””
“That you made Mommy cry.””
My chest tightened.
“Did she tell you why?””
Lily shook her head.
“She said Mommy stole me from her.””
I closed my eyes.
Vanessa hadn't simply helped hide my daughter.
She had raised her.
She had taught her to fear me.
For six years, I had been searching for Elena while another woman slept beside my daughter, told her bedtime stories, and pretended to be her mother.
I couldn't understand how someone could do that.
Then Lily spoke again.
“Daddy?””
“Yes, sweetheart?””
“Am I going to have to go back?””
I turned toward her.
“Never.””
She looked at me for a long moment.
Then she whispered, “Can Ava come here?””
I smiled sadly.
“Yes. We'll bring your sister.””
“Will she like me?””
I brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead.
“She has been waiting for her sister her whole life. She just doesn't know it yet.””
At 2:15 a.m., Detective Morgan entered the room.
She looked exhausted.
“We found something.””
I stood immediately.
“Jonathan?””
“Not yet. But we located the vehicle used to transport Elena.””
“Where?””
“An abandoned medical facility outside town.””
“Is she there?””
“We don't know. The building is empty.””
She handed me a photograph.
It showed a white van parked behind a warehouse.
The registration belonged to Northbridge Children's Foundation.
I stared at it.
“That's the organization from the basement records.””
Morgan nodded.
“We've traced several payments to it. It was established seven years ago.””
“By whom?””
She looked at the document.
“Jonathan Hale.””
I felt my jaw tighten.
“What did he use it for?””
“Officially, it provided medical assistance to vulnerable children. In reality, we suspect it was used to conceal illegal medical transfers and maintain private facilities.””
I looked toward Lily.
“Was my daughter one of those children?””
Morgan hesitated.
“Possibly.””
She placed another photograph on the table.
It showed Vanessa entering the foundation's building three months earlier.
Behind her was a little girl.
Lily.
I felt sick.
“Why would Vanessa raise her?””
Morgan sat down.
“That's what we're trying to understand.””
I remembered Elena's words.
Vanessa had been Jonathan's fiancée.
“Detective, I need you to find Vanessa.””
“We're looking.””
“She knows where Elena is.””
Morgan nodded.
“And she may know what happened to your father.””
At sunrise, Ava arrived with my housekeeper, Mrs. Collins.
The little girl ran through the hospital corridor.
“Daddy!””
I dropped to my knees and caught her.
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
“Where's Mommy?””
I held her tightly.
“We're going to find her.””
“Is she alive?””
I looked into her eyes.
“Yes, sweetheart. She is.””
Ava started crying.
“I knew it.””
Then she noticed Lily sitting on the bed.
She stopped.
“Who's that?””
I turned toward the little girl.
“Someone very special.””
Lily looked frightened.
I held out my hand.
“Lily, this is Ava. She's your sister.””
Ava frowned.
“My sister?””
Lily nodded nervously.
“I'm Lily.””
Ava stared at her.
Then she looked at the birthmark behind Lily's ear.
The same mark.
The same blonde hair.
The same blue eyes.
“Daddy?””
“Yes?””
“Why does she look like me?””
I knelt between them.
“Because you were born together. You're twins.””
Ava's mouth fell open.
“Really?””
I nodded.
She climbed onto the bed.
“Do you like rabbits?””
Lily blinked.
“A little.””
“I have a pink one at home. You can have it.””
Lily smiled.
It was the first time I had seen her smile.
For a few seconds, the hospital room felt almost normal.
Then Lily suddenly looked toward the hallway.
“Mommy Vanessa said something about the pink rabbit.””
Ava turned.
“What?””
Lily swallowed.
“She said there was a little camera inside it.””
I froze.
“What camera?””
“The one she gave me when I was little.””
Ava slowly reached for her stuffed rabbit.
“Mine too?””
Lily nodded.
“Mommy Vanessa said she could see us whenever we played.””
I took the rabbit from Ava.
There was a small stitched opening beneath its left ear.
I examined it carefully.
A tiny black lens was hidden inside.
Detective Morgan immediately called the technical team.
Within minutes, an officer arrived and removed the device.
He examined it.
“It's a miniature wireless camera.””
“Can you trace it?””
“Possibly. But there's something else.””
He showed Morgan a small identification label.
The device was manufactured for a private security company.
One of its registered clients was Northbridge Children's Foundation.
Morgan looked at me.
“They've been monitoring your daughters.””
I stared at the tiny camera.
“Why?””
She didn't answer.
Instead, she called her team.
“Check the foundation's financial records. I want every employee, every property, every registered device.””
A few minutes later, her phone rang.
She listened carefully.
Then her expression changed.
“What do you mean the account is still active?””
She stood.
“Where?””
I watched her face.
When she ended the call, she looked directly at me.
“Mr. Hale, someone has been accessing your company's private trust account throughout the night.””
“Who?””
“The transactions are being authorized using your father's old credentials.””
“That account was frozen after his death.””
“Apparently, it wasn't.””
She showed me the latest transfer.
Five million dollars.
Destination: Northbridge Children's Foundation.
Authorization: Edward Hale.
My father's name.
Then another notification appeared.
A second transfer had been scheduled.
Twenty million dollars.
But the recipient wasn't the foundation.
It was an account belonging to Vanessa Cole.
I stared at the screen.
“She's taking the money.””
Morgan nodded.
“And she's doing it using your father's credentials.””
I looked at Lily.
She was quietly talking to Ava, showing her the little bracelet she had worn since she was a baby.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Marcus, you need to stop looking for Elena.””
“Who is this?””
“You don't understand what your wife has done.””
“Where is she?””
“She's not the person you think she is.””
I gripped the phone.
“Tell me where she is!””
The man laughed softly.
“Ask your daughter what happened on the night she disappeared.””
I looked toward Ava.
“What?””
The voice continued.
“Your wife didn't disappear alone, Marcus. She took someone with her.””
“Who?””
A pause.
Then the man whispered:
“Your father.””
The call ended.
I slowly lowered my phone.
Detective Morgan stared at me.
“Who was that?””
I looked at the photograph of Elena, Lily, and the lake house.
Then I remembered the date on the birth certificate.
November eighteenth.
The day my father had supposedly died.
But there was something else.
My father's funeral had taken place three days later.
And I suddenly remembered that Jonathan had refused to let me see the body.
I turned toward Detective Morgan.
“Get me my father's death certificate. The original one.””
She frowned.
“Why?””
“Because I think we've been grieving the wrong man.””
Before she could respond, another message appeared on my phone.
This time, there was a photograph attached.
A live photograph of Elena.
She was sitting in a dark room, her wrists tied to a chair.
Behind her stood Vanessa.
And beside Vanessa was a man whose face I had believed was buried six feet underground.
My father.
May you like
The message beneath the photograph contained six words:
*Come alone if you want your mother back.*
