Chapter 4 - The Mistress Who Vanished
By sunrise, reporters surrounded the villa.
The story spread quickly: foundation director missing, billionaire’s pregnant wife threatened, rumors of an affair. Photographs of Adrian and Vanessa appeared online beside headlines that transformed uncertainty into scandal.
Amelia watched from the library as a television presenter described her as “the betrayed heiress.”
“I am not an heiress,” she muttered.
“You own thirty percent of Hart Biotech,” Adrian said.
“Only because your father put the shares in my name before he died.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What?”
Amelia turned from the screen. “He said it would protect the company if the board turned against you.”
“When?”
“Three days before his heart attack.”
Adrian went to the hidden safe and removed a sealed legal envelope. Inside was a copy of his father’s final will. The transfer was there, but so was a clause neither of them had noticed.
Upon confirmation that Amelia Hart is deceased or legally incapacitated, her shares transfer to the Mirror Trust.
The trustee’s identity had been blacked out.
“So someone gains control if I die,” Amelia said.
“Or if they prove you are not legally you.”
The words hung between them.
Detective Cross entered with news that the blood in Vanessa’s car belonged to Vanessa, but the amount was not fatal. Tire tracks suggested she had driven away in another vehicle.
“Did she run,” Amelia asked, “or was she taken?”
Cross placed a photograph on the desk. It came from a gas station camera twelve miles away. Vanessa sat in the passenger seat of a black sedan. At the wheel was a woman wearing sunglasses and a scarf.
Even with half her face hidden, she looked exactly like Amelia.
Adrian gripped the desk.
Cross studied Amelia. “Where were you at 3:42 this morning?”
“In this house.”
“With witnesses?”
“My son.”
“A six-year-old who claims another woman looks like his mother.”
Adrian stepped forward. “Detective.”
“It is my job to ask.”
After Cross left, Amelia found Noah in the greenhouse with his nanny. He was drawing three women beside a pool.
“Who are they?” Amelia asked.
He pointed to the first. “You.”
The second wore a red dress. “The mean lady.”
The third stood beneath the water.
“And her?”
Noah looked confused. “The sleeping mommy.”
Amelia’s blood turned cold.
“Where did you see her?”
“In Grandma’s room.”
Adrian’s mother, Evelyn, had died when Noah was a baby. Her rooms remained locked in the east wing.
Noah led Amelia to an old portrait. Behind it, a fingerprint scanner waited in the wall. When Amelia touched it, the panel opened.
A private elevator descended beneath the villa.
She should have called Adrian. Instead, she stepped inside with Noah’s drawing folded in her pocket.
The elevator opened into a laboratory preserved in darkness. Emergency lights flickered on as she entered. Dust covered the floor. Medical beds stood behind glass partitions. Cabinets contained masks, wigs, contact lenses, and prosthetic fingertips.
At the center of the room stood two cylindrical tanks.
One was empty.
The other contained cloudy liquid and the shape of a human body.
Amelia approached until her reflection merged with the face behind the glass.
It was another woman.
It was her.
The eyes opened.
A hand struck the glass from inside.
Alarms erupted.
The tank began to drain.
Amelia stumbled backward as the woman’s mouth formed two silent words.
Help me.
May you like
Then the laboratory doors locked, and Adrian’s voice came through the speakers.
“Amelia, do not let her out.”
