Chapter 5 - The Child Before Oliver
Claire listened to the recording three times.
The words did not change.
Daniel must never learn Claire’s first child survived.
Her hands began to shake.
She looked at Samuel.
“What does that mean?”
He appeared as confused as she was.
Vanessa backed against the wall.
“I received the recording yesterday. A man called me and said Claire had found something hidden in the house. He told me to watch the nursery.”
“Why would you obey him?” Agent Shaw asked.
Vanessa’s face tightened with shame.
“Because the rest of the recording concerns me.”
“What did you do?”
“I did not do anything.”
“Then why be afraid?”
Vanessa remained silent.
Claire stepped closer.
“You laughed while my children were thrown outside. You helped your mother humiliate me. Whatever secret you are protecting, I am not going to protect it for you.”
Vanessa looked toward the open door.
“I was adopted.”
Daniel, who had been listening from the hallway, pushed past the officer.
“What?”
Margaret appeared behind him.
“Vanessa, stop.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“You told me I was born in Switzerland because of Father’s business schedule. There is no birth certificate. There are only foundation documents.”
“That proves nothing,” Margaret snapped.
“The man sent me a genetic report.”
Vanessa looked at Claire.
“You and I share mitochondrial DNA.”
The room fell silent.
Claire shook her head.
“That would mean your mother and mine were related.”
“Or,” Agent Shaw said carefully, “that Helena Bennett was Vanessa’s biological mother.”
Richard sat heavily in a chair.
Margaret’s face turned gray.
Daniel looked between them.
“Tell me she is lying.”
Margaret did not answer.
Daniel’s voice rose.
“Tell me!”
Richard spoke instead.
“Helena gave birth to three children.”
Samuel stared at him.
“Twins.”
“She was told they were twins.”
Claire felt the room tilt.
Richard continued.
“The third child was a girl. Helena was unconscious after the delivery. Margaret had recently suffered a miscarriage. The physician arranged the transfer.”
Margaret slapped him.
“You promised never to say that.”
Daniel stepped away from his mother.
“You stole a baby?”
“I saved her,” Margaret said.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Claire could barely process the revelation.
Vanessa was not Daniel’s biological sister.
She was Claire’s sister.
The woman who had mocked her for having no family had unknowingly been standing beside her own sister for years.
But the recording mentioned Claire’s first child.
“That still does not explain the child,” Claire said.
Margaret looked toward the window.
Richard answered.
“Four years ago, before Oliver was born, you became pregnant.”
Claire remembered.
She had suffered severe bleeding at twenty-one weeks. Daniel had taken her to a private Hawthorne clinic. She had awakened after surgery and been told the baby had died.
There had been no funeral.
Margaret claimed seeing the body would traumatize her.
“You told me my son was stillborn.”
Daniel stared at his father.
Richard’s face collapsed.
“I believed that was true.”
Margaret said nothing.
Claire approached her.
“Did my baby survive?”
Margaret lifted her chin.
“I did what was necessary.”
Claire’s voice cracked.
“Where is my child?”
“You were unstable. Daniel’s future depended on an uncomplicated heir. The baby was premature and medically fragile.”
“Where is he?”
Margaret took a step backward.
“I arranged private care.”
Daniel grabbed his mother’s shoulders.
“Where is my son?”
Margaret looked at him with contempt.
“Do not pretend you wanted that child. You complained every day about Claire’s pregnancy. You said a disabled heir would destroy investor confidence.”
“I was frightened.”
“You were weak.”
Claire pressed one hand against the wall.
For four years, she had mourned a child who might still be alive.
Agent Shaw ordered Margaret separated from the family.
As officers escorted her away, Margaret turned toward Claire.
“You think taking this house makes you powerful?”
Claire’s eyes burned.
“I do not care about the house.”
“You will.”
Margaret smiled.
“Because the child is connected to the trust.”
“Where is he?”
Margaret looked toward the nursery window.
“The answer was inside the envelope.”
The stolen envelope.
The one someone had risked entering the mansion to retrieve.
Agent Shaw received a call from downstairs.
A body had been found inside the greenhouse.
The dead man wore black clothing.
In his hand was a torn piece of the missing envelope.
May you like
Written across it in Helena Bennett’s handwriting were six words.
Your first son is called Noah.
