Chapter 10 - THE GIRL NAMED ELENA
The child’s registered name was Elena Ward.
Her tuition had been paid through a Bennett Foundation account disguised as an educational grant. She had attended three private schools in six years.
Every time a teacher asked questions about her family, she was transferred.
Mara contacted Swiss authorities and arranged protective custody.
But when officers arrived at Elena’s boarding school, her room was empty.
A suitcase remained open on the bed.
Her passport was gone.
Security cameras showed Richard Vale entering the campus twelve hours earlier.
He had taken Elena through a service gate.
His vehicle was later found abandoned near a train station.
Vanessa watched the footage repeatedly.
“That is her,” she said.
“You cannot know from a video,” Mara replied.
“I know.”
The girl’s face resembled Vanessa’s childhood photographs.
The same dark eyes.
The same shape of the mouth.
Even Claire saw it.
Vanessa pressed a hand against the screen.
“She was alive all these years.”
Claire stood beside Lily’s incubator.
The baby’s breathing had improved. The doctors believed they might remove the tube within forty-eight hours.
Two sisters.
One raised in secrecy.
One created from a preserved embryo and implanted without consent.
Victoria had called Lily the return of Vanessa’s daughter.
But perhaps she had never intended to reunite Vanessa with either child.
Perhaps the children were assets.
Insurance.
Leverage.
Heirs.
Mara questioned Victoria again.
The interview took place at the hospital because Victoria had complained of chest pain shortly after the vineyard search. Doctors found no cardiac emergency, but she remained under observation in a guarded room.
Victoria sat upright in bed wearing a silk robe brought by her assistant.
“You are distressing my daughter with speculation,” she told Mara.
“Elena Ward is missing.”
“I have never met anyone by that name.”
“Richard Vale is listed as her guardian.”
“Richard represents hundreds of clients.”
“The child’s education was paid through your foundation.”
“We support disadvantaged students.”
“Is Elena your granddaughter?”
Victoria smiled faintly.
“You seem determined to assign family connections where none exist.”
Mara placed the wedding photograph on the table.
“What does ‘the child belongs to us’ mean?”
“A cruel joke.”
“Who wrote it?”
“I do not know.”
“Why did you prepare a nursery marked Rose?”
“For Vanessa’s future child.”
“Why did you create custody documents for Claire’s baby?”
“My attorneys handle family planning.”
“Why did you order Dr. Hart to implant Vanessa’s embryo into Claire?”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“I did no such thing.”
“Hart has begun cooperating.”
That was not entirely true.
Hart had provided only fragments, but Mara watched Victoria’s reaction.
Victoria’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“What did he say?”
“That North River maintained a private reproductive program for your family.”
“He is lying to reduce his sentence.”
“Did you know Vanessa’s first child survived?”
Victoria looked toward the window.
“Vanessa was unstable after the birth.”
“She was drugged.”
“She was emotional.”
“Did you remove Elena from the clinic?”
“I protected her.”
The words escaped before Victoria could stop them.
Mara leaned forward.
“From whom?”
Victoria remained silent.
“From Vanessa?”
“No.”
“From Daniel Price?”
Victoria’s eyes flashed.
“That boy would have destroyed everything.”
“He died two weeks after the birth.”
“A tragic accident.”
“Was it?”
Victoria turned back to Mara.
“You have built an entire conspiracy from the fears of weak people.”
“Weak people?”
“Claire craves victimhood. Vanessa craves a childhood that never existed. Evan craves forgiveness without courage. Hart craves survival.”
“And you?”
“I crave order.”
“Where is Elena?”
“I don’t know.”
“Richard took her.”
“Then ask Richard.”
“We cannot find him.”
For the first time, Victoria looked concerned.
It lasted less than a second.
But Mara saw it.
“You did not authorize him to take her.”
Victoria said nothing.
“You have lost control of your attorney.”
“You should leave.”
“Elena is evidence. If Richard harms her, every agreement protecting you becomes meaningless.”
Victoria’s face became still.
“What agreements?”
Mara stood.
“The ones Richard has been making with prosecutors since dawn.”
That was also a calculated exaggeration.
Victoria’s voice sharpened.
“Richard would never negotiate without me.”
“Then you may not know him as well as you believe.”
Mara left the room.
Ten minutes later, Victoria attempted to make a call using a nurse’s phone.
The number was traced to a prepaid device moving east toward the coast.
Agents intercepted the signal near a private airfield.
By the time they arrived, a jet had already taken off.
The flight plan listed Montreal as the destination.
But the plane changed direction over international waters.
Its transponder disappeared.
At the same time, Claire received a video call on the emergency phone.
The caller identification showed no number.
Mara answered beside her.
Richard Vale appeared on the screen.
Behind him sat Elena.
The girl looked frightened but unharmed.
Richard smiled.
“Claire, congratulations on your daughter.”
“Let Elena go,” Mara said.
“I will, when Victoria gives me what she owes.”
“What does she owe you?”
Richard looked toward the girl.
“The Bennett name.”
Claire frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“Elena is not only Vanessa’s child.”
“You already know Daniel Price was her father.”
Richard’s smile widened.
“No. That is what the records were designed to show.”
Vanessa stepped into view.
“Who is her father?”
Richard looked directly at her.
“The same man who fathered you.”
The call ended.
Vanessa stood motionless.
Charles Bennett had been listed as her father her entire life.
But Richard’s message suggested a different truth.
Claire looked toward the guarded corridor.
Charles was still at the vineyard under questioning.
Mara called her agents.
“Do not let Charles Bennett leave.”
May you like
The answer came moments later.
Charles was already gone.
