Chapter 6 - The Second Baby
“No.”
The word came out automatically.
Victor looked at Dominic.
“Tell her.”
Dominic stared back.
“I didn't know.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Of course you didn't. Your father made sure of that.”
I gripped the edge of the table.
“My mother had twins?”
“Your mother?” Victor asked.
I glared at him.
“Don't.”
He understood immediately.
“Lucia raised you. I won't disrespect that.”
“Then answer me.”
Victor nodded.
“Mrs. Sterling gave birth to twin girls.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I was at the hospital.”
“You were nineteen. You saw one baby.”
“There was only one crib.”
“There were two.”
Victor walked toward the tape cabinet.
“Your father had already made a decision.”
“What decision?”
“To erase one child.”
My stomach twisted.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because of inheritance.”
Victor explained that Arthur Sterling's father had written the family trust strangely.
Control would eventually pass to the youngest surviving child born into the direct bloodline once that child reached thirty.
Arthur expected one daughter.
Twins changed everything.
One became a threat to the structure he had spent years building.
“This makes no sense,” I said. “Why hide a baby instead of changing the trust?”
“Because he couldn't.”
Victor’s eyes darkened.
“The trust was controlled by an outside legal office.”
Dominic looked sick.
“What happened to the other girl?”
Victor didn't answer.
A voice came from the hall.
“I can answer that.”
Cassandra.
She stood at the far end of the corridor.
A small pistol hung at her side.
Marcus was behind her.
Alive.
But his hands were zip-tied.
One of Cassandra’s men held a weapon against his back.
Dominic stepped in front of me.
Cassandra smiled.
“Still protecting the help?”
“She is my sister.”
Cassandra tilted her head.
“Which one?”
Silence.
Then she laughed.
“That is the problem, isn't it?”
She looked at me.
“You're not Sophia.”
My heartbeat stopped.
Victor whispered, “Cassandra.”
“Tell them.”
He said nothing.
She raised the gun.
“Tell them.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“The baby Lucia took from the East Wing was not Sophia.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
Victor looked at me.
“It was her twin.”
“What's her name?”
He swallowed.
“Elena.”
My own name.
Cassandra smiled.
“There it is.”
I couldn't understand.
“Then where is Sophia?”
Cassandra looked toward the ballroom.
“Much closer than you think.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
Cassandra continued.
“Your father kept Sophia.”
Victor shook his head.
“Arthur sent her away.”
“Yes.”
“With whom?”
Cassandra’s smile disappeared.
“My mother.”
Everything went quiet.
I stared at her.
“No.”
May you like
Cassandra’s eyes met mine.
“Hello, sister.”
