Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN WHO KEPT THE BRACELET| Nomi arrived at the estate shortly after sunrise.
She had insisted on speaking to Julian in person, but she refused to enter through the main doors. The memory of Vivian tearing her uniform had left her unable to walk beneath the ballroom chandeliers without feeling the heat of four hundred eyes on her skin.
Julian understood.
He met her at the side entrance with a clean coat and the original medical file.
"Thank you for coming back," he said.
"I'm not doing it for your family."
"I know."
They sat in the small conservatory, where morning light spilled over the plants. For several minutes, Nomi studied the photograph of the two infants.
"I remember Michael," she said. "He was always getting into trouble. He used to hide biscuits under his pillow and insist the crumbs belonged to someone else."
Julian smiled faintly.
"Sounds like a normal child."
"He was the only person in that foster home who made me feel like I belonged somewhere."
She traced the faded writing beneath the male infant's record.
"I thought he had been adopted. I searched for him when I turned eighteen, but the agency said his records had been sealed."
"Did you ever hear from him?"
"No."
Julian opened the folder and showed her the hospital bracelet.
Nomi recognized the surname immediately.
"Dwart."
"Your father's name was Thomas Dwart. Michael may have been related to him."
"Then he could have been my brother?"
"Possibly. We need DNA testing."
Nomi looked away.
She had spent her adult life believing that she had no family. The idea that the one person who had made her childhood bearable might have shared her blood felt almost cruel.
"What happened to him?"
"We don't know."
Julian showed her the transfer order signed by Catherine.
Nomi examined the signature.
"This was signed by your mother?"
"Yes."
"Then she knows where he went."
Julian didn't answer.
He had asked Catherine the same question. She insisted that she had never known the boy's identity, only that Richard had instructed her to sign a temporary guardianship order.
Nomi stood.
"I want to speak to her."
Julian led her to the sitting room.
Catherine was waiting near the window, looking older than she had the night before. When Nomi entered, she rose immediately.
"I owe you an apology," she said.
Nomi folded her arms.
"For what?"
"For allowing you to be humiliated in my home. For keeping silent about the clinic. And for signing a document I didn't understand."
"Did you know my brother?"
Catherine's face changed.
"Your brother?"
"Michael Dwart. He was in foster care with me. He disappeared when we were children. I believe your family took him."
Catherine sat down slowly.
"I remember a boy being brought to the estate. Your father—"
She stopped herself.
"Richard Ashcom told me he was a child who needed temporary protection. He was frightened, and he wouldn't speak to anyone except the nurse who accompanied him."
"Did he have a scar?"
Catherine nodded.
"On his wrist. A small crescent-shaped mark."
Nomi's breath caught.
"Where did he go?"
"Your father took him away the next morning. He said the boy had been reunited with relatives."
"Did you believe him?"
"I wanted to."
Nomi turned toward Julian.
"Everyone in this family keeps wanting to believe things instead of finding out what happened."
Catherine lowered her eyes.
"You're right."
She opened a drawer and removed a small silver bracelet.
Three letters were engraved on its underside.
M.A.C.
"I kept this because I was told it belonged to the boy. Your father said it was a family heirloom. I never understood why he left it with me."
Nomi took the bracelet.
Inside the clasp was a tiny inscription.
For Michael, until we find you.
She covered her mouth.
Julian examined the bracelet.
"Who gave it to you?"
Catherine shook her head.
"A woman came to the estate the night of the fire. She said her name was Margaret. She claimed the boy was her son."
Nomi looked up sharply.
"Margaret Callaway?"
Catherine nodded.
"She was alive."
The room went silent.
"Your family told Eleanor that her daughter died," Nomi whispered.
"And Richard told me the same thing," Catherine replied. "But I saw her with my own eyes."
Nomi felt tears gathering.
"Where is she?"
Catherine looked toward Julian.
"I don't know. But she left something behind."
She handed him a small envelope that had been sealed inside the bracelet box.
Julian opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Margaret Callaway standing beside a young man in a hospital corridor.
The man was Thomas Dwart.
May you like
And between them stood a teenage girl with a long scar across her back.
The photograph had been taken three years earlier.
