Chapter 7 - Vanessa’s First Secret
Nora stepped away from the wall.
“How did you get inside?”
“You never changed the temporary gate code.”
“I gave that code to Mom for emergencies.”
“She gave it to me.”
Nora looked past Vanessa.
“Did anyone follow you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Vanessa closed the bedroom door.
“I parked near the old church and walked through the trees.”
“That is a terrible way to prove no one followed you.”
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
Nora studied her sister.
Vanessa’s makeup was streaked. Her hands trembled around the strap of her handbag.
“What happened?”
“Chase knows you visited Evelyn.”
“How?”
“His grandfather called him.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were trying to steal family property.”
“Whose family?”
“I asked the same question.”
Nora pointed toward the drawing.
“You said you know Eli.”
Vanessa crossed the room slowly.
“When we were children, Mom used to talk in her sleep.”
“That is your evidence?”
“No.”
Vanessa opened her handbag and removed the wooden music box.
The blue birds were faded, and one corner had been damaged.
“You took it from Mom?”
“She gave it to me this morning.”
“Why?”
“She told me to burn it.”
Nora accepted the box carefully.
Inside the lid, the inscription remained visible.
To Nora, so you will always remember the lake.
Love, Grandmother Evelyn.
Nora wound the key.
A soft melody filled the room.
Vanessa reached inside and pressed one of the carved birds.
A hidden compartment opened beneath the velvet lining.
Inside was a photograph folded in half.
Nora unfolded it.
Margaret sat in a hospital bed holding two newborn babies.
One wore a pink identification band.
The other wore blue.
On the back, Evelyn had written:
Nora and Elias, together at last.
Nora lowered herself onto the edge of the bed.
“My twin.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Mom told me his name once when I was sixteen.”
“What did she say happened to him?”
“She said he died in the hospital fire.”
“Evelyn believed he was alive.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Vanessa sat beside her.
“When I found the music box in the attic, there was another note in the hidden compartment. I removed it before Mom saw.”
“Where is it?”
“I kept it for years.”
“Where?”
“Chase found it after we got married.”
Nora looked at her sharply.
“What did it say?”
“That Evelyn had located Elias.”
“Where?”
“It didn’t give a place. It said she had arranged for someone named Lillian to protect him until she could expose the truth.”
“Lillian Cross. Evelyn’s housekeeper.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Chase took the note to his grandfather.”
“You let him?”
“I didn’t understand any of this. He told me Evelyn had kidnapped a baby and created false records. He said the note could hurt our family.”
“Our family?”
“I thought he meant us.”
Nora stood.
“He meant the Holloways.”
“I know that now.”
“Why did you come here?”
Vanessa looked down at her hands.
“Because Chase has been lying to me.”
“That is not new.”
Vanessa flinched.
Nora immediately regretted the cruelty, but she did not apologize.
Vanessa had mocked her for years while protecting the family that stole from them.
“After Grandfather called,” Vanessa continued, “Chase locked himself in his office. I heard him speaking to someone. He said, ‘If Nora finds Elias, the patents revert.’”
Nora’s heartbeat quickened.
“He used the name?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“He said the trust requires both twins.”
Nora picked up the photograph.
“So I cannot claim it alone.”
“That is what it sounded like.”
“Did Chase say where Elias is?”
“No. But I found this.”
Vanessa handed her a business card.
It belonged to Dr. Malcolm Reeves, the physician who had declared Evelyn incompetent.
An address had been handwritten on the back.
“Where did you find it?”
“In Chase’s safe.”
“Why were you searching his safe?”
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
“Because apparently humiliation makes people curious.”
Nora waited.
Vanessa’s expression collapsed.
“Our house does not belong to us.”
“What?”
“The company owns it. The deed displayed at the housewarming was ceremonial. Chase told me we had purchased it together.”
Nora said nothing.
“All the bank statements he showed me were false,” Vanessa continued. “The down payment Mom and Dad gave us went into a Holloway investment account.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred and eighty thousand dollars.”
Nora felt anger rise.
Richard and Margaret had mocked her for lacking equity while their money was being taken by the Holloways.
“Does Chase know you discovered this?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You need to leave the house.”
“I already packed a bag.”
“Stay here tonight.”
Vanessa looked around the room.
“You still want me here?”
“I did not say I trust you.”
“I understand.”
Nora held up the photograph.
“You knew I had a twin and said nothing.”
“I was afraid.”
“You were always afraid of losing your place in the family.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The honest answer surprised Nora.
Vanessa stood.
“Do you know what it was like being the daughter they praised?”
Nora laughed without humor.
“Are you asking me to feel sorry for you?”
“No. I’m telling you praise can be another kind of cage.”
“You enjoyed it.”
“I did. Until I realized I was only valuable when I helped them hurt you.”
Nora turned away.
She was not ready to forgive her.
But she believed Vanessa was afraid.
That mattered.
They brought the photograph and business card downstairs.
Samuel examined the handwritten address.
“It belongs to an abandoned medical clinic seventy miles west of here.”
“Reeves’s clinic?” Nora asked.
“It closed after the fraud investigation.”
Adrian looked at Vanessa.
“Does Chase know you came here?”
“No.”
“Your phone?”
“I left it at the church.”
Samuel nodded approvingly.
“We should examine the clinic at daylight.”
A sound came from the security system.
The west gate alarm flashed.
Someone had entered through the wooded boundary.
The cameras showed a man running toward the mansion.
He was injured, holding one hand against his side.
Nora recognized him.
Chase.
He reached the terrace doors and collapsed.
Vanessa rushed forward, but Samuel stopped her.
“Wait.”
Chase struck the glass weakly.
Blood covered his shirt.
Nora activated the exterior speaker.
“What happened?”
Chase looked up.
“My grandfather knows Vanessa took the photograph.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“Who hurt you?” Nora asked.
Chase shook his head.
“You have to find Elias before midnight tomorrow.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because after midnight, he legally stops existing.”
