Chapter 6 - The Woman in Green
Jordan examined the photograph for signs of manipulation.
“The image is real,” he said. “At least the original film appears real.”
“That woman cannot be Melissa.”
“She looks exactly like her.”
Claire compared the photograph to recent pictures of her sister.
The same narrow eyes.
The same high cheekbones.
The same small scar above the eyebrow.
“It could be our mother’s sister,” Claire said.
“Did Anna have a sister?”
“Not that I know of.”
Lily touched the screen.
“That’s the lady.”
“Are you sure?”
“She smells like Grandma’s flowers.”
Evelyn grew white lilies in a greenhouse behind her mansion. She wore perfume made from their oil.
Claire called Melissa.
No answer.
She called again.
The phone went directly to voicemail.
Jordan checked the hospital directory for employees matching the face, but no one appeared.
Elena arrived with a portable scanner and copied Anna’s documents.
When she saw the woman in green, her controlled expression finally broke.
“You recognize her,” Claire said.
Elena closed the laptop.
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“I have seen similar photographs.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name was Dr. Miriam Vale.”
“Rebecca’s sister?”
“Her mother.”
Claire stared at the frozen image.
“She looks like Melissa.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elena remained silent.
Claire remembered Anna’s warning.
Do not assume Melissa is innocent merely because she is afraid.
“Is Melissa my sister?”
Elena looked toward Lily.
“We should not discuss this in front of her.”
Claire asked Jordan’s sister to take Lily upstairs.
Once the child was gone, Elena removed another document from her case.
It was a birth certificate.
MELISSA MIRIAM VALE
Mother: Rebecca Vale
Father: Unknown
Date of birth: June 14
Claire’s sister had always celebrated her birthday on October 2.
“Anna adopted her,” Elena said.
“Why was I never told?”
“Because Rebecca disappeared after Meridian’s first trial.”
“What trial?”
“A prenatal treatment intended to correct the metabolic disorder before birth. Miriam Vale led the program. Anna and Dr. Warren worked beneath her.”
“What went wrong?”
“The treatment did not simply correct the disorder. It changed how certain genes activated in response to nutrition.”
Claire thought of Lily’s sudden inability to tolerate food.
“Meridian wanted to continue.”
“They believed the altered response could be controlled and inherited.”
“Multigenerational viability.”
Elena nodded.
“Rebecca was the first child treated. Melissa was born years later.”
“Then Melissa is the second generation.”
“Yes.”
Claire felt sick.
“And Lily?”
“Should have no biological connection to Rebecca’s line.”
“But the refrigerator said Lily isn’t the third generation.”
“That may mean Meridian lied about which family line they were studying.”
Claire paced the kitchen.
“Why does Melissa look like Miriam?”
“Family resemblance.”
“No. Lily saw her at the hospital.”
Elena’s voice softened.
“Children under sedation sometimes confuse faces.”
“Lily recognized her before I said anything.”
Jordan reopened the enlarged photograph.
“There’s another possibility.”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
“The woman visiting Lily may not be Melissa.”
He placed a recent photograph of Melissa beside the old image.
“Look at the scar.”
Melissa’s scar was above her left eyebrow.
The woman in green had a scar above her right.
A mirror image.
Claire’s phone rang.
Melissa.
Claire answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Melissa was whispering.
“At Grandma’s house.”
“Why?”
“She knows I helped you.”
“Leave.”
“I can’t.”
A muffled voice sounded behind her.
Then Evelyn spoke clearly.
“Tell Claire to bring the file.”
Melissa gasped.
The call ended.
Claire grabbed her coat.
Elena blocked the door.
“It is a trap.”
“She has my sister.”
“Perhaps.”
“You think Melissa is involved?”
“I think Meridian survives by making family members choose between guilt and fear.”
Claire drove to Evelyn’s mansion anyway.
Jordan and Elena followed in another car.
The front door stood open.
Inside, the dining room had been restored after the birthday dinner. The white tablecloth was gone. The chandelier lights were dim.
Melissa sat alone at the table.
Her injured wrist was wrapped in a brace.
“Where is Grandma?” Claire asked.
Melissa looked up.
“She left.”
“Did she hurt you?”
“No.”
“Why did you call?”
“I needed you to come.”
Claire stopped several feet away.
Melissa’s face was pale but calm.
Too calm.
“Did you know Anna adopted you?”
Melissa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Since I was sixteen.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Dad said you would hate me.”
“Why would I hate you?”
“Because Lily got sick after I came back into your life.”
Claire stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Melissa pulled a medical vial from her pocket.
A clear liquid moved inside.
“I visited you after Lily was born. Grandma told me it was a vitamin injection.”
Claire remembered the day.
Melissa had held newborn Lily while Claire slept.
“You injected my baby?”
“I didn’t know.”
Claire slapped the vial from her hand.
It shattered on the floor.
“You never told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“For nine years?”
“I thought she was fine. Then the symptoms began.”
Claire struggled to breathe.
“You caused this.”
Melissa stood.
“I was trying to help her.”
“You chose Grandma over my child.”
“I was a child when they started controlling me.”
“You were twenty-three when Lily was born.”
Melissa flinched.
A floorboard creaked behind Claire.
The woman in the green coat stood in the doorway.
She looked almost exactly like Melissa.
But older.
And the scar was above her right eyebrow.
May you like
Melissa turned toward her and whispered one word.
“Mother.”
