Chapter 13 - Baby B
Natalie placed a worn folder on the table. “My mother did not give birth to me,” she said. “She adopted me after my birth mother died. There were twins. She kept one and arranged for the other to go elsewhere.”
Daniel stared. “Why would she hide that?”
“Because our grandfather's will required equal shares to every grandchild by blood or adoption. Mother forged records to make me seem ineligible. She wanted my share, then yours, and now Lily's.”
Emma looked from Natalie to the faded photograph. “Who was the other baby?”
Natalie hesitated. “We found her six months ago. She's a nurse in Richmond. Her name is Claire. She has two boys, and she knew none of this.”
“Then why Lily?” Emma asked.
“Because the trust becomes irrevocable when the youngest named beneficiary turns seven. Lily's birthday is in three weeks. After that, Victoria can't make herself temporary trustee just by controlling the child.”
Daniel pressed both palms flat on the table. “So she's spent years setting this up.”
“Years,” Natalie echoed. “She tried to have me hospitalized when I started asking questions. When I escaped, she paid someone to spread a story that I'd died abroad.”
Natalie touched the corner of the old photograph, smoothing a crease across the two yellow blankets. She had spent years wondering whether some unseen sister shared her smile or hated the rain as much as she did. Finding Claire had not fixed her childhood. It had finally given that childhood a witness.
Emma stared at her husband. “And you never checked?”
Daniel's voice broke. “I believed her.”
“That's the problem,” Emma said. “You always believed her.”
Torres asked Natalie about the doctored video. Natalie explained June had contacted her in secret after Victoria refused to pay the last installment. Natalie told June to hide proof with Lily because adults' devices were being watched.
“Why would June help?” Daniel asked.
“Her son is sick. Victoria promised money for his treatment, then threatened him if she backed out.”
Torres's radio crackled. Fire crews had found the mansion's disabled gas valve, but not June. Nor had anyone found Merrick.
Then a deputy rushed in holding a fresh printout.
“A private plane was filed for a midnight departure,” he said. “Passenger manifest: Victoria Whitmore and Lily Whitmore.”
Emma looked at the clock. “But Lily's right here.”
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Torres studied the passenger photographs. “The girl in that plane isn't Lily. She's the decoy from the SUV.”
CHRISTMAS EVE BETRAYAL • THE MISSING DAUGHTER
