Chapter 2 - THE STRANGER WHO KNEW HER BIRTH NAME
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The elevator doors opened into the lobby.
Nora stepped out slowly, one hand gripping the suitcase and the other holding her phone. The marble floor reflected the golden light from the ceiling. Beyond the glass entrance, Boston was being washed by a cold October rain.
She read the messages again.
The missing heir to the Whitmore family.
Her husband trying to access her mother's records.
For years, Nora had treated her adoption as a closed chapter. Evelyn Bellamy had loved her, raised her, and given her a home. Nora had never felt that she needed another family to prove she was wanted.
But Evelyn's final months had changed something.
Her mother had sometimes called Nora by a name she did not recognize.
Elena.
And once, while drifting in and out of sleep, Evelyn had whispered, “They never stopped looking, sweetheart.”
Nora had asked who.
Evelyn had only cried.
A black sedan pulled to the curb.
The driver stepped out.
“Mrs. Rourke?”
Nora stopped.
“Who sent you?”
“Mr. Rourke asked me to bring you home.”
“I am not going home.”
The driver glanced toward the elevators.
“He said you might be upset.”
Nora gave him a tired smile.
“Tell him he should have considered that before his speech.”
She turned toward the street.
A woman standing beneath a dark umbrella approached her.
“Nora Bellamy?”
Nora looked up.
“Yes?”
“My name is Holly Mercer. Your friend Holly gave me your number. She said you might need an attorney tonight.”
Nora's shoulders loosened slightly.
“Holly sent you?”
“She said you were leaving your husband and that you shouldn't be alone.”
Nora swallowed.
It was a simple sentence.
Yet it nearly made her cry.
Holly Mercer helped her into a waiting car. They drove to a hotel near Beacon Hill, where Nora had made a reservation under her maiden name.
Once inside the room, Nora placed the suitcase beside the sofa.
Holly remained standing.
“Before we discuss anything, I need to ask whether Camden has ever threatened you physically.”
“No.”
“Has he controlled your money?”
“He controls most of it. I have a separate account.”
“Has he ever threatened to take the baby?”
Nora looked down.
“Not directly.”
Holly sat across from her.
“Then let's make sure he doesn't get the chance.”
Nora opened her suitcase and removed the laptop hidden beneath the false lining.
“I have records.”
“What kind?”
“Breakwater's original financial records. Contracts, bank statements, incorporation documents, and correspondence.”
Holly's expression sharpened.
“Why do you have them?”
“Because two years ago, I noticed my name disappearing from documents I had signed. Camden said it was a routine restructuring. I believed him until I found a signature that wasn't mine.”
Holly opened the laptop.
“Show me.”
Nora pulled up the file.
The original incorporation paperwork listed Nora Bellamy as a founding partner alongside Camden Rourke. The later version listed only Camden.
A restructuring document carried what appeared to be Nora's signature.
She stared at it.
“I never signed this.”
Holly leaned closer.
“Do you have a copy of the original?”
“Three.”
“Good. Don't alter anything. We'll preserve these and have a forensic accountant examine them.”
Nora nodded.
Then her phone vibrated.
The unknown number called.
Holly gestured for her to answer, and Nora placed it on speaker.
“Hello?”
A man's voice came through.
“Ms. Bellamy, my name is Daniel Whitmore. I apologize for contacting you so late.”
“Who are you?”
“I represent the Whitmore family trust. Your DNA results have identified you as a direct descendant of Eleanor Whitmore.”
Nora's throat tightened.
“What was my mother's name?”
“Eleanor.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“What happened to her?”
Daniel hesitated.
“That is something I would prefer to explain in person.”
“Why now?”
“Because someone submitted a request for your sealed identity records five weeks ago.”
Holly looked at Nora.
“Who submitted it?” Nora asked.
Daniel's voice dropped.
“An attorney working on behalf of Camden Rourke.”
Nora's fingers went cold.
“Why would my husband be looking for my birth records?”
“I believe,” Daniel said carefully, “that your husband may know more about your family than he has ever told you.”
The call ended.
Nora stared at the phone.
Holly closed the laptop.
“Tomorrow, we meet Daniel Whitmore. Tonight, you get some rest.”
Nora shook her head.
“I can't sleep.”
“Then don't sleep. But don't make any decisions without us.”
A new message appeared.
This one came from Camden.
Come home. We need to talk about our daughter.
Nora read it twice.
Then she typed:
Our daughter is safe. I am safe. Do not come looking for me.
She sent it.
May you like
For eleven years, she had waited for Camden to notice when she was hurting.
Tonight, she had finally stopped waiting.
