Chapter 18 - The Mother Without a FaceThe passage ended in a small room beneath the resort’s original foundation.
A woman sat behind a locked metal gate.
Her hair was short and gray. Bruises covered one side of her face. An adhesive bandage stretched from her temple to her jaw.
Mara stared at her.
The woman’s visible features did not resemble Elise.
But her eyes did.
“Mara,” she whispered.
Sofia unlocked the gate after checking the room for traps.
The woman attempted to stand but collapsed. Mara caught her.
“Who are you?”
The woman touched Mara’s scar.
“You got this when you fell against the greenhouse door. You were six. Your grandmother told everyone it happened during the crash because she didn’t want questions about why you were living at the coastal house.”
Mara stepped back.
Only Eleanor and Elise had known the truth about the scar.
The woman removed the bandage slowly. Beneath it, damaged skin showed evidence of old reconstructive surgery.
“My name is Elise Sutton.”
Patricia looked toward the cream coat upstairs.
“Then who came to the restaurant?”
Elise’s eyes filled with fear.
“Helena.”
Adrian went still.
“My mother?”
Elise looked at him.
“The woman who raised you used many names. Helena Vale was only the most useful.”
Adrian shook his head.
“My mother died nine years ago.”
“Did you see her body?”
The question silenced him.
Elise explained that after the crash, Eleanor had hidden her under another identity. Her injuries required years of surgery. When Elise tried to return, Helena threatened to kill Mara.
“So Grandmother kept you away?”
“At first.”
Elise looked toward the ceiling.
“Later, Eleanor stopped protecting me. She started protecting the trust.”
Mara felt something cold settle inside her.
“Why were you locked here?”
“I returned three weeks ago after Eleanor sent me a message. Helena was waiting. She needed my memories, my voice and enough biological material to pass the succession system.”
“The woman at dinner looked like you.”
“Because Helena has spent eighteen years preparing to become me.”
Sofia asked why Helena needed Elise’s identity.
“The trust does not belong to Eleanor’s descendants,” Elise said. “It belongs to the surviving daughter of the original founder.”
Mara showed her the list found beneath Eleanor’s chair.
Elise saw Margaret’s name and began trembling.
“You found it.”
“Who was Margaret Sutton?”
Elise looked directly at Mara.
“Eleanor’s older sister.”
“Where is she?”
Elise swallowed.
“She is the woman who died in the crash.”
Mara stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will,” Elise said, “when you learn which child Eleanor stole.”
A loud mechanical click echoed above them.
May you like
The hidden door slammed shut.
Then smoke began pouring through the ventilation grate.
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