Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN ERASED|
Nadia refused to go alone.
Theodore argued that the message was clearly a trap, but Nadia had spent too many years wondering whether she had any family left. She agreed to a plan involving Marcus, discreet security, and a location chosen by their team rather than the person who had sent the photograph.
They traced Catherine to a small apartment above a laundromat in Philadelphia.
The building's landlord confirmed that a woman matching her description had rented the apartment under the name Claire Vance. She had left two days earlier after receiving a threatening phone call.
Inside, Nadia found a single suitcase, a stack of unopened letters, and a photograph of Margaret holding a baby.
On the back was a handwritten message.
I promised your mother I would keep you safe. I am sorry I failed.
Nadia sat on the edge of the bed.
For the first time since the orchid house, she cried.
Theodore stood near the doorway, unsure whether to approach. He had spent his life dealing with problems through money, influence, and force. None of those things could give Nadia back the years she had lost.
He sat beside her instead.
“You don't have to be strong every minute,” he said.
She wiped her cheeks.
“I don't know how to stop.”
“Then don't. Not here.”
The quiet kindness unsettled her more than his anger ever had.
They spent the afternoon examining Catherine's belongings. Among the letters, Nadia found a bank statement from a small account that had received regular deposits for twenty years. The payments originated from a company controlled by Victor Sloane.
Every transfer carried the same reference number.
C.V.—Confidential Custodial Fund.
Theodore recognized the account structure.
“It's not a charity payment. It's a settlement.”
“A settlement for what?”
“For keeping someone quiet.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Marcus opened it with his weapon drawn.
A middle-aged woman stood in the hallway. She had dark hair, a scar beneath her left eye, and the exhausted expression of someone who had not slept in days.
Nadia rose so quickly that the chair fell backward.
“Catherine?”
The woman stared at her.
Then her face crumpled.
“Nadia.”
They embraced in the narrow apartment, both crying. Catherine held Nadia's face in her hands, studying her features as though trying to recover years of memories from a single glance.
“You look like Margaret,” she whispered.
“You knew where I was?”
“Not at first. Richard told us you had died. Your mother believed him until she found the nurse. By then, the people watching us had already separated us.”
“Why didn't you come for me?”
Catherine closed her eyes.
“I tried. Every time I got close, someone threatened to expose a secret that could destroy the people helping me. Eventually, I realized the only way to protect you was to stay away.”
Nadia stepped back.
“You let me believe I had no family.”
“I thought it was the only way to keep you alive.”
Theodore watched the exchange in silence.
Catherine finally turned toward him.
“You're Richard's son.”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to understand something. Your father wasn't the only person involved. Victor Sloane arranged the adoption. He chose the family who raised Nadia. He paid for the altered records. And he kept a second file on every child connected to the arrangement.”
“Why?”
“Because each child was leverage. Some inherited property. Some carried secrets. Some were simply witnesses.”
Catherine reached into her coat and produced a folded document.
“This is the original list.”
Nadia opened it.
Thirty-seven names appeared on the page.
The final entry was not an adopted child.
It was a living adult.
Theodore Alexander Hawthorne—status: substituted identity.
Theodore stared at his own name.
May you like
Catherine looked directly at him.
“Your father didn't just hide Nadia's birth. He hid yours too.”
