Chapter 3 - Lucia's Warning
Cassandra stood so fast the chair tipped backward.
“She is lying.”
I stared at her.
“I was nine years old when my mother told me that.”
“You expect us to believe your dead mother conveniently warned you about my family?”
“I don't care what you believe.”
“You should.”
Cassandra stepped toward me.
Marcus blocked her.
I could see something different behind her anger now.
Fear.
Real fear.
Dominic walked to the desk.
“Elena, how did Lucia die?”
The question caught me off guard.
“Cancer.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“Massachusetts General.”
Marcus pulled out his phone.
Cassandra immediately said, “Don't.”
Everyone looked at her.
She realized her mistake.
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“Why not?”
“I meant don't drag a dead woman into this.”
“You already did.”
Marcus made a call.
I sat down.
My legs suddenly didn't feel strong enough.
The adrenaline was wearing off.
My shoulder hurt.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Dominic noticed.
“There is a medical room downstairs.”
“I don't need a doctor.”
“You were hit.”
“I've had worse.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
Dominic looked at me.
“So had my mother.”
That shut me up.
Marcus returned a few minutes later.
“Lucia Thorne existed. Hospital records match. She died six years ago.”
Cassandra exhaled.
Marcus continued.
“But there's a problem.”
Dominic looked at him.
“What?”
“There is no birth record for Elena Sophia Thorne.”
My stomach dropped.
“That's impossible.”
Marcus turned the screen toward me.
“We checked Massachusetts.”
“I was born in Boston.”
“No record.”
“My mother had my birth certificate.”
“Did you ever see the original?”
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
I had seen photocopies.
School forms.
Insurance paperwork.
Never the original.
Dominic sat opposite me.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
His face went still.
“What month were you born?”
“November.”
Marcus whispered, “Jesus.”
I stood.
“Stop doing that.”
They looked at me.
“Stop looking at me like I'm something you've been searching for.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“My sister Sophia disappeared twenty-eight years ago.”
“I know. You already said that.”
“She was eleven months old.”
“I am not your sister.”
“I didn't say you were.”
“You don't have to.”
I pointed at my face.
“I have a mother. Her name was Lucia. She raised me. She worked two jobs. She sat beside my bed when I was sick. She taught me to drive. She cried at my high school graduation.”
My voice cracked.
“Don't walk into my life and tell me she wasn't my mother because of some necklace.”
Dominic lowered his head.
“I would never take that away from you.”
That answer hurt more than I expected.
Cassandra laughed softly.
“You're all being manipulated.”
Dominic turned.
“By whom?”
“Her.”
I almost went after her.
Marcus moved between us.
Cassandra continued.
“She came into this house wearing that necklace because she wanted Dominic to see it.”
“I wore it every day of my life.”
“She knew exactly what she was doing.”
Marcus placed another photograph on the desk.
“No,” he said. “But you did.”
It showed Cassandra inside an old records office.
She was standing beside an elderly man I didn't recognize.
The date was seven months earlier.
Dominic did recognize him.
His face changed immediately.
“Victor Hale.”
Marcus nodded.
“Your father's former accountant.”
Dominic stared at Cassandra.
“Victor vanished after the East Wing fire.”
“I don't know him.”
“You're standing beside him.”
“It was a charity event.”
Marcus swiped to the next picture.
Victor was handing Cassandra a yellow envelope.
Next picture.
Cassandra was opening it.
Next.
A photograph was partly visible inside.
A photograph of a silver locket.
My locket.
Dominic walked around the desk.
“Where is Victor?”
“I don't know.”
“Cassandra.”
She smiled.
“You still don't understand, do you?”
Dominic stopped.
“What?”
“The fire wasn't meant to kill Sophia.”
Marcus went pale.
Cassandra looked directly at me.
May you like
“It was meant to make her disappear.”
Then every light in Sterling Manor went out.
