Chapter 11 - THE HEIR NOBODY KNEW ABOUT|
Claire stared at the photograph.
The baby in her arms had dark hair and a small silver bracelet around one wrist. She recognized the blanket. She recognized the room.
But she did not recognize the child.
"Where did you get this?" she asked.
Vanessa smiled.
"Your husband knows."
Ethan took the photograph.
"Is this Rose?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
Claire's face went pale.
"Then who?"
Vanessa looked directly at her.
"Your daughter."
The room fell silent.
Claire shook her head.
"I don't have a daughter."
"You gave birth to her six years ago."
"No."
"You were told she died."
Claire stepped backward.
Ethan looked at her.
"Claire?"
She covered her mouth.
Six years earlier, Claire had been hospitalized after a difficult pregnancy. She had been told her baby was stillborn. Ethan had been out of town on family business, and Richard had arranged the funeral privately.
Claire had never seen the child.
She had believed the doctors.
"You're lying," she whispered.
Vanessa opened the folder and showed her a birth record.
The child's name was listed as Amelia Blackwell.
The mother was Claire.
The father was Ethan.
Ethan stared at the document.
"Why wasn't I told?"
"Because your father wanted the child raised outside the family," Vanessa replied. "He believed she was more valuable as a hidden heir."
Claire's knees weakened.
"Where is she?"
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
"That depends on whether you cooperate."
Ethan moved toward her.
"Tell me where my daughter is."
"Give me the trust."
"No."
"Then you will never see her."
Claire grabbed Ethan's arm.
"Don't let her take her away."
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
"You've made one mistake."
"What?"
"You think I still care about the money."
He turned to Marcus.
"Get every record of that trust. Freeze the accounts. Contact the federal investigator."
Vanessa laughed.
"You can't freeze what you don't control."
She tapped the folder.
"Your father placed the trust in my name six months ago."
Ethan's face hardened.
"How?"
"Because he believed you would marry me."
Claire looked at the document.
The final page contained a signature.
Richard Blackwell.
But there was something else.
A handwritten note.
Amelia must never be returned to Claire.
Claire began to cry.
"Where is she?"
Vanessa looked toward the front doors.
"Somewhere safe."
A phone rang.
Vanessa answered.
"Yes?"
She listened.
Her smile disappeared.
"What do you mean she's gone?"
Ethan stepped closer.
"Who?"
Vanessa slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time, she looked genuinely terrified.
"Amelia."
Claire's breath caught.
"Where is my daughter?"
Vanessa looked at Ethan.
"Someone took her from the safe house."
Then another message arrived.
It contained a photograph of a little girl standing outside the Blackwell mansion.
May you like
And beneath it were five words.
She is already inside your house.
