Chapter 8 - ELEANOR'S CONFESSIONThe recording was only three minutes long.
But it destroyed everything Lena thought she knew.
Eleanor spoke slowly.
“I met Lena three years ago because of Mia.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“I watched her for six months before that morning.”
Lena opened her eyes.
Nora looked ashamed.
“Why?”
The recording continued.
“Lena had no idea she was being watched. She worked hard. She was honest. She had no powerful family. No connections. No reason to be involved in our world.”
A pause.
“That's why I chose her.”
Lena felt betrayed.
Eleanor continued.
“I needed someone outside the foundation. Someone the people around me could not control.”
Nora whispered:
“She was trying to protect you.”
Lena shook her head.
“She should have told me.”
“Yes.”
The recording continued.
“Lena, if you are hearing this, I am sorry I made you part of this without asking.”
Lena stared at the phone.
“You may hate me.”
A pause.
“You should.”
Then Eleanor's voice became quieter.
“But there is something you must know.”
Lena held her breath.
“The three coins are not a symbol.”
Nora looked at her.
“They are a code.”
The recording continued.
“Twenty-seven years ago, my daughter Claire survived the accident.”
Lena felt the room tilt.
“She was taken to a private hospital under a false name. When I arrived, she was gone.”
Eleanor's voice trembled.
“I spent years searching.”
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“Claire is alive.”
Lena stared at Nora.
The recording continued.
“She is the person behind the missing children.”
Lena stopped breathing.
Nora whispered:
“No.”
Eleanor continued.
“I found her last year.”
Lena felt cold.
“She believed I abandoned her.”
A pause.
“She believes I allowed her to die.”
Another pause.
“She has built an entire network around that hatred.”
Lena's hands began to shake.
“She uses the three coins because they were the last thing I gave her before the accident.”
Lena looked at the framed coins in her restaurant.
The recording continued.
“Claire has been searching for Mia.”
Lena's blood froze.
“Because Mia is the only person who can prove Claire's identity.”
Nora suddenly looked at her phone.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There’s a new message.”
She opened it.
A location appeared.
An abandoned train station.
Lena recognized it immediately.
The same station where Mia had once waited for her mother.
Lena stood.
“We’re going.”
Nora grabbed her arm.
“You can't.”
Lena looked at her.
“There are twenty-three children.”
Nora released her.
Lena walked toward the door.
Behind her, the phone played Eleanor's final words.
“If Claire has taken Eli, she will take Mia next.”
Lena stopped.
Mia was standing in the hallway.
She had heard everything.
Her face was pale.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“I'm going with you.”
