Chapter 14 - The Father No One Claimed
Sebastian denied it immediately.
“That is impossible.”
Grant remained on the secure screen.
“My mother’s letter names you.”
“A letter can be forged.”
“She described a hotel in Zurich in 1984.”
Sebastian stopped speaking.
Claire watched him.
“Were you there with Marian Hale?”
His expression changed.
“It was before I met your mother.”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
The word entered the room like smoke.
Grant’s face tightened.
“So it could be true.”
Sebastian looked toward him.
“I did not know Marian became pregnant.”
“She gave birth eight months later.”
Nathan checked the dates.
“The timeline is possible.”
Claire sat slowly.
Her husband might be her father’s biological son.
Grant would be her half-brother by blood.
Nausea rose in her throat.
Sebastian shook his head.
“Malcolm knew I had been with Marian. He could have created this story to destabilize us.”
Grant’s voice sharpened.
“There is a DNA report.”
“From a Northbridge laboratory.”
“There is also a blood sample.”
Sebastian’s face hardened.
“Where is the box?”
Grant looked toward Claire.
“I will tell her. Not you.”
“You do not have the right to make demands.”
“I spent my life believing Malcolm was my father. I married Claire without knowing any of this.”
Claire stood abruptly.
“Stop.”
Both men fell silent.
“We are not accepting a Northbridge document as truth.”
She looked at Nathan.
“Arrange independent DNA testing.”
Sebastian nodded.
Grant’s face showed fear for the first time.
“If it is true…”
Claire could not let him finish.
The marriage was already destroyed by betrayal and violence. The possibility of a blood connection turned the past into something unbearable.
Nathan ended the call after Grant provided the safe-deposit location through a privileged channel.
The box was held at a private bank under the name Gabriel Winter.
Daniel’s team obtained it by evening.
Inside was the red wooden bird.
Claire recognized a small scratch near one wing where she had dropped it on the garden steps as a child.
There were photographs of children inside Bellweather Institute.
Grant appeared in several.
Vanessa appeared too.
In one image, five-year-old Claire sat between them.
Eleanor stood behind the children.
So did Malcolm.
On the back was written:
Family integration trial, phase two.
Claire gripped the photograph.
“Mother knew we were there together.”
Nathan opened Marian’s letter.
Grant,
The man you call Father did not give you life. He gave you a purpose.
Your biological father may never know you exist. Malcolm used that secret to control me and later to control you.
Do not trust the Ashfords blindly, but do not believe Malcolm when he says they abandoned you. Sebastian was never told.
Vanessa is Malcolm’s child. Protect her if you can. Fear her if you cannot.
The final item in the box was a list of patient numbers.
Claire’s number appeared beside a status.
BELLFLOWER PRIME.
Grant’s appeared beside WINTER ONE.
Vanessa’s appeared beside WINTER CONTROL.
Another number had no name.
WINTER TWO.
Status active.
“Another child,” Claire said.
Nathan turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared beneath the list.
Winter Two placed inside Ashford household.
Claire looked up.
“Inside our household?”
Sebastian joined them at the mansion after leaving the hospital against medical advice. His injured arm remained in a sling.
He studied the list.
“I do not recognize the code.”
“Who lived with us when I was young?”
“Staff. Tutors. Security.”
“Children?”
“No.”
Rosa stood near the door.
Her face had gone pale.
Claire noticed.
“Rosa?”
The housekeeper lowered her eyes.
“There was one child.”
Sebastian turned toward her.
“What are you talking about?”
“My sister’s daughter stayed in the staff residence for several years.”
“Why don’t I remember her?” Claire asked.
“You were told she moved away.”
“What was her name?”
Rosa’s voice trembled.
“Violet.”
Nathan searched the list.
No Violet appeared.
Claire walked closer to Rosa.
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared after the fire at Bellweather Institute.”
“How old was she?”
“Seven.”
“Was her body found?”
“No.”
Sebastian looked toward Daniel.
“Search every record.”
Rosa began crying.
“I was told never to speak of her.”
“By whom?” Claire asked.
“Mrs. Ashford.”
Claire stepped back.
Her mother had hidden another child inside the household and erased her from Claire’s memory.
Or Claire’s memory had been altered too.
That night, the independent laboratory collected samples from Sebastian and Grant.
Results would take time, even under urgent conditions.
Meanwhile, authorities froze dozens of companies connected to Vesper Meridian. Dr. Brooks signed a preliminary cooperation agreement. Edward Pike agreed to testify in exchange for reduced charges.
But Malcolm and Vanessa remained missing.
At ten thirty, the mansion security system detected movement beneath the archive.
Daniel led a team into the underground vault.
Claire followed despite orders to remain upstairs.
The sealed personal cabinet stood open again.
This time, the black recorder and Eleanor’s letter were gone.
In their place sat the red wooden bird.
Claire had left it in Nathan’s locked evidence case.
Someone had entered the house, opened a secure room, taken the bird, and placed it underground without appearing on a single camera.
A small speaker inside the toy activated.
A girl’s voice began to sing.
Claire recognized the melody.
Her childhood lullaby.
Then the singing stopped.
An adult woman spoke.
“Hello, Claire.”
Rosa gasped.
Claire looked at her.
“You know that voice.”
Rosa covered her mouth.
“It’s Violet.”
The speaker continued.
“You have spent two days searching for Malcolm and Vanessa. You should have been searching for me.”
Claire picked up the bird.
“Where are you?”
The recording did not answer directly.
“Eleanor did not save me from Northbridge. She chose you instead.”
May you like
A cold silence followed.
Then Violet said, “Ask Rosa what your mother did on the night of the Bellweather fire.”
