CHAPTER 4 — The Letter Under Clara’s Mattress
CHAPTER 4 — The Letter Under Clara’s Mattress
The letter was sealed with old red wax.
Alexander recognized Eleanor’s handwriting immediately.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
Clara stood on the opposite side of the desk.
Vanessa remained by the door, pale and silent.
Alexander began reading.
Alexander,
If you are holding this letter, then I am gone, and Clara has finally found her way into your home.
He stopped.
Clara stared at him.
“I didn’t know that letter was in my room.”
Alexander continued.
Do not blame Clara. She knows only pieces of the truth. I kept the rest from her because I wanted her to have a life untouched by the Whitmore name.
But I failed.
Seven years ago, I gave birth to your daughter.
Clara’s breath caught.
Alexander looked at her.
She shook her head slowly.
“No.”
He forced himself to continue.
The child was taken from me before I could hold her. I was told she died.
Later, I discovered the death certificate was forged.
Clara gripped the desk.
Vanessa moved toward the door.
Two security guards blocked her path.
Alexander read the final paragraph aloud.
The woman who arranged everything is now living in your house.
She has raised your children.
And she will destroy anyone who threatens to expose what she did.
The letter ended with a name.
Vanessa.
Clara turned toward her.
“You stole my sister?”
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
“I stole no one.”
Alexander’s eyes burned.
“Where is my daughter?”
“I don’t know.”
“You forged Eleanor’s death.”
“No.”
“You paid someone to tell me she died.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Eleanor was sick. She disappeared willingly.”
Clara stepped forward.
“My mother spent the last years of her life searching for her child.”
Vanessa looked at her with disgust.
“Your mother should have stayed away.”
The admission escaped before she could stop it.
Everyone heard it.
Alexander approached his wife.
“What did you do to Eleanor?”
Vanessa’s confidence finally cracked.
“I protected what belonged to me.”
“You mean my fortune.”
“I mean my family.”
“You built this family on the disappearance of another woman and her baby.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with rage.
“You would have chosen her.”
“Yes,” Alexander said.
The answer shattered something inside her.
Vanessa lunged across the desk and grabbed the letter.
Before anyone could stop her, she threw it into the fireplace.
Flames climbed over Eleanor’s words.
Clara cried out.
But Alexander did not panic.
He looked at Vanessa with terrifying calm.
“That was a copy.”
Her face collapsed.
Then the head of security entered.
“Sir, we traced the hospital where Miss Bennett gave birth.”
Alexander turned.
“And?”
“The baby did not die.”
“Where is she?”
May you like
The security chief swallowed.
“The adoption records list Vanessa Whitmore as the legal guardian.”
