Chapter 8: The Woman Who Controlled the Wedding
The maintenance passage ended in a storage room beneath the mansion's eastern wing.
Alexander pushed open a narrow metal door.
Cold night air rushed inside.
Marcus was waiting outside with two security officers.
"Mr. Callaway!""
Nathaniel hurried out.
"Get us to the medical facility. Now.""
Marcus looked at Alexander.
For a moment, confusion crossed his face.
Then he recognized him.
"Mr. Sterling?""
Alexander nodded.
"There's no time.""
Marcus immediately called Detective Harris.
"We need emergency assistance at the old Sterling medical center. Possible kidnapping victims. Multiple suspects.""
I grabbed Nathaniel's arm.
"How far is it?""
"Twenty minutes.""
"We don't have twenty minutes.""
He looked at me.
"I know.""
We climbed into the SUV.
Marcus drove while Nathaniel sat beside me, trying to reach Daniel.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
I stared at the photograph of my mother on my phone.
She was alive.
She was only a few miles away.
And I was terrified that I would arrive too late.
Alexander sat in the front passenger seat.
"There's something else you need to know.""
Nathaniel looked up.
"What?""
"Victoria wasn't the mastermind.""
I turned toward him.
"What do you mean?""
"Thomas and Robert used her. They promised her control of the Sterling company if she married you and secured the trust.""
Nathaniel gave a bitter laugh.
"She seemed perfectly happy with the arrangement.""
"She was. But she also had her own reasons.""
Alexander looked at me through the rearview mirror.
"Victoria believes her father stole something from her.""
"What?""
"Her inheritance. When my parents died, I was supposed to inherit the majority of Sterling Holdings. Victoria's father was supposed to receive a smaller share.""
I frowned.
"But you disappeared.""
"Exactly. Thomas took control of everything. He promised Victoria that if she helped him secure the trust, he would finally give her what she believed belonged to her.""
Nathaniel looked out the window.
"So she married me for money.""
Alexander nodded.
"And because she believed you were the only person standing between her and the inheritance.""
I remembered Victoria's face at the wedding.
The tears.
The trembling hands.
The way she had accused me of being responsible for Eleanor's fall.
She had been performing from the beginning.
"She pushed Eleanor because she knew the truth was about to come out," I whispered.
"Yes," Alexander said.
Nathaniel looked at me.
"She also knew about Daniel.""
I nodded.
"She knew he was my brother.""
"And she knew I was his best friend.""
The realization made him close his eyes.
"She used all of us.""
The Sterling medical center stood on a wooded property outside the city.
It had once been a private psychiatric hospital, but its official records showed that it had closed years earlier.
A single security light glowed above the entrance.
Marcus stopped the SUV.
"Nobody's at the front desk.""
Nathaniel stepped out.
"That's not a good sign.""
Alexander pointed toward the side of the building.
"There's a service entrance.""
We moved quickly.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, the corridor smelled of disinfectant and stale air.
A television played quietly in an empty waiting room.
A clipboard lay on the reception desk.
I picked it up.
There were three names listed.
Grace Carter.
Daniel Sterling.
Alexander Sterling.
Beside each name was a room number.
Grace — 214.
Daniel — 219.
Alexander — 301.
I looked at him.
"You were listed here?""
Alexander nodded.
"This was where they kept me before I escaped.""
Nathaniel looked down the corridor.
"Rose, take the room numbers. Marcus, stay with us.""
We reached Room 214 first.
The door was open.
The bed was empty.
A small yellow blanket lay folded on the chair.
I recognized it immediately.
It was the blanket my mother had wrapped around me when I was born.
I picked it up.
"Mom?""
A sound came from the bathroom.
A weak voice.
"Rose?""
I dropped the blanket and rushed inside.
A woman stood beside the sink.
Her silver hair was loose. Her face was pale, and one wrist was wrapped in a bandage.
But it was her.
My mother.
For a second, neither of us moved.
Then she whispered my name.
"Rose.""
I crossed the room and threw my arms around her.
She held me tightly.
"My baby.""
I began sobbing.
"Mom, you're alive.""
She kissed my forehead.
"I'm sorry.""
I pulled back.
"Why didn't you come home?""
Her eyes filled.
"Because I couldn't.""
"Why didn't you call me?""
"I tried.""
She held my face between her hands.
"Every birthday, I wrote you a letter. Every Christmas, I bought you a present. I never knew if I would live long enough to send them.""
I shook my head.
"Who stopped you?""
"Robert. Thomas. And for a while, your grandmother.""
I froze.
"My grandmother?""
Grace nodded.
"She knew I was alive. Robert threatened to have you taken away if she helped me.""
I couldn't speak.
My grandmother had let me believe my mother was dead.
My mother touched my cheek.
"She thought she was protecting you.""
I wanted to be angry.
I wanted to ask a thousand questions.
Instead, I hugged her again.
Then Nathaniel appeared in the doorway.
Grace looked at him.
For a moment, her expression changed.
"You're Nathaniel.""
He nodded.
"Yes.""
She began crying.
"Oh, sweetheart.""
He looked uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry.""
Grace shook her head.
"You have nothing to apologize for.""
She reached for his hand.
"I held you once. Just once. Before they took you away.""
Nathaniel looked down at her fingers.
"Do you remember?""
"Every second.""
Then a loud crash echoed from the corridor.
Marcus shouted.
"Everyone down!""
Gunshots rang out.
Nathaniel pulled me behind the bed.
Alexander rushed toward the doorway.
A man's voice echoed through the hallway.
"Mr. Callaway! Step away from the woman!""
It was Thomas.
Marcus returned fire.
The sound was deafening.
Grace grabbed my hand.
"Rose, listen to me.""
I looked at her.
"There's something I haven't told you.""
"Not now, Mom.""
"Yes. Now.""
She reached beneath the mattress and pulled out a small plastic envelope.
Inside was a photograph of a newborn baby.
The same baby I had seen in the hospital records.
But there was something written on the back.
Daniel is not the only child Alexander fathered.
I stared at her.
"What?""
Grace looked directly into my eyes.
"Before I met Alexander, I had another child.""
My heart stopped.
"Who?""
She swallowed.
"Victoria.""
I couldn't move.
"That's impossible.""
Grace shook her head.
"Victoria is my daughter.""
The gunfire stopped.
Footsteps approached.
Then Victoria appeared in the doorway.
She held a gun in one hand.
Her wedding dress was gone, replaced by a black leather jacket.
She looked at Grace.
"Hello, Mother.""
I stared at her.
My mother's hand tightened around mine.
Victoria smiled.
"You didn't think I would let you have the whole family reunion without me, did you?""
Nathaniel stepped forward.
"Put the gun down.""
Victoria pointed it at him.
"Stay where you are.""
I looked at my mother.
"Is she telling the truth?""
Grace began crying.
"Yes.""
Victoria laughed.
"Surprise, little sister.""
I felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath me.
My brother was Daniel.
My father was Alexander.
And the woman who had tried to kill Eleanor was my half-sister.
Victoria looked at me.
"You got everything, Rose. A loving mother. A brother. A father who came back for you.""
She raised the gun slightly.
"I got nothing.""
Grace stepped forward.
"Victoria, please.""
"Don't call me that!""
Victoria's voice broke.
"You gave me away.""
Grace shook her head.
"No. They told me you were dead.""
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"You're lying.""
"I searched for you for years.""
"Stop!""
Victoria fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Grace's head.
Nathaniel lunged toward her.
The gun fell.
Marcus rushed into the room and tackled Victoria to the floor.
Two officers entered behind him.
"Police! Don't move!""
Victoria struggled.
"Get off me!""
Marcus pulled her arms behind her back and handcuffed her.
But even as they dragged her away, she kept screaming.
"Ask your mother what she did! Ask her why she chose Rose over me!""
Grace sank into a chair.
I knelt beside her.
"Mom?""
She covered her face.
"I didn't choose.""
Then she looked at me through her tears.
"I was forced to choose between two babies.""
I held her hand.
"What does that mean?""
She looked toward the corridor.
"Because there were three babies that night, Rose.""
My blood turned cold.
"Three?""
Grace nodded.
"Victoria was born first. Then you and Daniel.""
I stared at her.
"Triplets?""
She whispered.
"Yes.""
And suddenly the entire story became even more complicated.
Because Victoria hadn't simply been another child taken from my mother.
She had been the first child.
The child who had been separated from her before she could ever hold her.
At the hospital, detectives took Victoria into custody.
Thomas was arrested in the parking lot after trying to escape through the rear entrance.
Robert remained missing.
And Daniel was nowhere to be found.
When I asked Grace about him, she looked terrified.
"Thomas moved him before you arrived.""
Nathaniel called Detective Harris.
"We need every available unit searching the surrounding roads.""
The detective answered immediately.
"There's something you should know. We found a vehicle abandoned near the north entrance.""
"What vehicle?""
"A black medical transport van.""
Nathaniel looked at me.
The detective continued.
"There's blood in the back.""
I gripped my mother's hand.
"Is Daniel alive?""
The detective paused.
"We don't know.""
Then another call came through.
An unknown number.
Nathaniel answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Congratulations, grandson. You found your mother.""
Robert.
Nathaniel's jaw tightened.
"Where is Daniel?""
Robert chuckled.
"He's somewhere you won't find him.""
"What do you want?""
"One thing. The trust documents.""
Nathaniel stared at me.
Robert continued.
"Bring them to the Callaway Tower tomorrow morning. Come alone.""
Nathaniel's voice turned cold.
"Or what?""
Robert answered with six words.
May you like
"Your brother won't see another sunrise.""
The call ended.
