Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Saved Me
I couldn't breathe.
Dominic handed me the photograph.
“That's Sophia.”
I stared at the baby in Lucia’s arms.
Dark hair.
Round cheeks.
A tiny silver chain around her neck.
My chain.
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
I backed away.
“My mother was Lucia.”
“She was your mother in every way that mattered.”
“Don't do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make it sound gentle.”
My eyes burned.
“Because it doesn't feel gentle.”
Nobody spoke.
I looked at the photograph again.
Lucia had raised me alone.
There had been no father.
No grandparents.
No baby pictures before age one.
Whenever I asked, she said we'd lost everything in a small apartment fire.
I had believed her.
Why wouldn't I?
Children believe the people who tuck them into bed.
Marcus picked up the tape.
“We need to view this.”
Dominic nodded.
There was an old television cabinet in the corner.
The VCR underneath still had power from an emergency line.
Marcus cleaned the tape.
Inserted it.
Static filled the screen.
Then a woman's face appeared.
Dominic stopped moving.
She had his eyes.
“My mother,” he whispered.
The date in the corner read October 9, 1998.
Three days before the fire.
The woman looked exhausted.
“If anyone finds this, I pray Sophia is safe.”
My knees weakened.
She continued.
“My husband has made agreements I cannot support. Victor Hale knows. The Vance family knows. There are men inside this house who believe children are bargaining chips.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“My husband?”
His father.
The legendary Arthur Sterling.
The man whose portrait hung above the grand staircase.
The man Boston newspapers had praised as a philanthropist.
The woman on screen wiped tears from her face.
“If Arthur discovers I have collected proof, he will destroy it. Lucia has agreed to help me.”
Dominic whispered, “No.”
The recording continued.
“If something happens, Lucia will take Sophia through the servants' passage. Dominic must never be told where she is until Arthur is gone.”
Dominic stepped backward.
His eyes filled with something I hadn't expected.
Pain.
Not anger.
Pain.
“My mother didn't trust me.”
“She was protecting you,” I said quietly.
He looked at me.
The strange thing was, I meant it.
On the screen, Mrs. Sterling leaned closer.
“Dominic, if you're watching this one day, forgive me.”
He turned away.
“She knew,” he whispered.
“Knew what?”
“That he was grooming me to take over.”
Marcus said nothing.
Mrs. Sterling continued.
“The Vances are not allies. They are waiting for our family to fracture.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Marcus immediately drew his weapon.
“Stay here.”
He stepped outside.
We heard footsteps.
A grunt.
Then silence.
Dominic moved toward the door.
“Marcus?”
No answer.
I grabbed the fireplace poker from beside the old hearth.
Dominic glanced at me.
“What?”
“I don't have four bodyguards.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then a figure appeared in the doorway.
Not Cassandra.
An elderly man.
Thin.
Gray.
Blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
Dominic froze.
“Victor Hale.”
The man looked at me.
His eyes widened.
“Sophia.”
I gripped the poker.
“Don't call me that.”
Victor raised both hands.
“I've been trying to find you for twenty-eight years.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You helped my father.”
Victor’s expression twisted.
“I helped your mother.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because Arthur found out.”
Victor looked behind him.
“Cassandra knows I'm here.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“How much does she know?”
Victor looked at me.
“Enough to know Elena isn't the only Sterling heir who survived that fire.”
Nobody moved.
I felt the room tilt.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Victor’s eyes filled with fear.
“It means you had a twin.”
