Chapter 11 - The Child Vivian Never Buried
Vivian could not breathe.
“My second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.”
Price closed his eyes.
“That is what Thatcher told you.”
“I was in the hospital.”
“You were sedated before the procedure.”
“I saw the medical records.”
“I signed them.”
The confession hung in the room.
Vivian stepped away from the bed.
Her second pregnancy had ended eleven weeks before the expected birth.
She remembered waking after midnight with severe pain. Thatcher drove her to a private Ashford clinic. Dr. Price told her the baby had died and that an emergency procedure was required.
When Vivian awoke, Thatcher sat beside the bed.
He held her hand while she cried.
For years, that night had remained one of the few memories in which she believed he had truly loved her.
Now Dr. Price was telling her it had all been false.
“The baby survived?” Daniel asked.
Price nodded.
“A girl.”
Vivian pressed both hands against the wall.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You delivered her.”
“Yes.”
“You signed the death certificate.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me where they took her.”
“August arranged everything. The infant left the clinic before morning.”
“Did Thatcher know?”
“He was there.”
The room tilted.
Vivian remembered Thatcher kissing her forehead and saying, We can try again.
At that moment, their daughter had been alive somewhere in the same building.
“Why?” Vivian whispered.
“Alistair’s trust identified the first child as primary heir. The second child became successor. August wanted an heir outside Alistair’s control.”
“Why not take Sabina?”
“Sabina was already known publicly. The second child could disappear.”
Vivian’s sorrow transformed into fury.
“What was her name?”
Price’s eyes filled with tears.
“Thatcher called her Eleanor.”
Vivian struck the bedside table with both hands.
“You do not get to tell me what he called her. She was my daughter.”
A nurse entered, but Daniel quietly asked her to wait outside.
Vivian turned back to Price.
“How old is she?”
“Six.”
“Where did August send her?”
“I never knew.”
“What did she look like?”
Price struggled to answer.
“Dark hair. A small birthmark behind her right shoulder.”
“Who held her after she was born?”
“Beatrix.”
Vivian’s face became cold.
“Beatrix took my child?”
“She carried the baby from the delivery room.”
Every instinct demanded that Vivian tear the hospital apart, find Beatrix, and force the truth from her.
Daniel held her shoulders.
“We will find her.”
Vivian looked at him.
“You knew there was a second child in the trust.”
“I knew the trust referenced future children. I did not know a child had survived.”
“You have hidden everything from me.”
“I did not know.”
“Alistair knew.”
“He may have suspected.”
“He built an entire succession protocol.”
Daniel released her.
“You are right. He knew more than he told me.”
The detective requested an immediate arrest warrant for Dr. Price once his condition allowed transfer.
Price did not resist.
“I deserve it,” he said.
Vivian leaned close.
“You deserve to live long enough to help me find my daughter.”
The investigation expanded overnight.
The private clinic had closed five years earlier after a fire destroyed much of its archive. However, insurance records showed that one neonatal transport vehicle left the building at 3:20 on the morning of Vivian’s supposed miscarriage.
The vehicle belonged to a children’s charity called New Dawn House.
New Dawn operated private homes for displaced and medically vulnerable children.
Its financial sponsor was the Vale Family Foundation.
Daniel searched adoption records.
No infant named Eleanor matched the date.
But a six-year-old girl named Ellie North lived at a New Dawn residence in Maine.
Her birth history was sealed by court order.
The photograph showed a child with dark hair and gray eyes.
Vivian stared at the image for a long time.
“She looks like Sabina.”
Daniel did not disagree.
They could not legally remove Ellie or obtain her DNA without a court order. The girl had been placed with a foster guardian named Ruth North, a former Ashford Biogenics nurse.
Ruth had disappeared from public records three weeks earlier.
Ellie remained at the residence under the supervision of New Dawn staff.
Vivian wanted to leave immediately.
Daniel warned her that August might expect exactly that.
“What am I supposed to do? Wait?”
“We secure the location, involve state authorities, and confirm her identity.”
“She has been waiting six years.”
“She may not know she is waiting.”
The distinction broke Vivian’s heart.
Sabina entered the hospital lounge while Vivian was looking at Ellie’s photograph.
“Who is she?”
Vivian closed the file too late.
Sabina came closer.
“She looks like me.”
Vivian looked at Daniel.
There was no safe way to explain it.
“She might be your sister.”
Sabina’s eyes widened.
“I have a sister?”
“We’re trying to find out.”
“Does Dad know?”
“Yes.”
Sabina looked toward the floor.
“Did he choose dinner over her too?”
Vivian pulled her into an embrace.
The next morning, police reached the New Dawn residence.
The building was empty.
Staff computers had been removed.
Security footage showed two vans leaving shortly before dawn.
Ellie North was gone.
On the wall of her bedroom, investigators found a photograph of Vivian.
May you like
Across Vivian’s face, someone had written a message in red ink.
OPEN THE VAULT, OR LOSE ANOTHER DAUGHTER.
