I had not entered my father’s house since the funeral.
The front steps were covered with fallen leaves, and the brass knocker had darkened with age. The windows were shuttered, the garden overgrown, and the porch light flickered as we approached.
Police vehicles lined the street.
Detective Harris had insisted on bringing a full team, but I barely noticed them. All I could think about was the woman inside.
My sister-in-law.
Olivia’s stolen daughter.
A twenty-three-year-old stranger who had lived her entire life without knowing that her biological mother had spent years searching for her.
Olivia stood beside me, gripping my hand.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered.
“So am I.””
“What if she doesn’t want to see me?””
“Then we’ll respect that.””
Olivia nodded, though tears were already gathering in her eyes.
Harris motioned for the officers to surround the house.
A loudspeaker crackled.
“Police! If anyone is inside, come out with your hands visible!””
Nothing happened.
The front door stood slightly ajar.
I pushed it open.
Dust floated through the foyer. The old grandfather clock was still ticking, though its face had cracked. My father’s study door stood open at the end of the hallway.
A woman’s voice came from inside.
“Damien?””
I froze.
The voice sounded like Olivia’s, but younger.
Olivia stepped forward.
“Elise?””
“No.””
A woman emerged from the study.
She had chestnut hair, gray eyes, and the same tiny dimple on her left cheek that Sophie and Ruby shared.
She wore dark jeans, a plain white sweater, and a silver necklace with a blackbird pendant.
Olivia made a sound somewhere between a sob and a gasp.
The woman stared at her.
“Are you Olivia Cole?””
Olivia nodded.
“Yes.””
The woman took one step backward.
“No. That’s impossible.””
Olivia lifted both hands.
“My name is Olivia. I gave birth to a daughter twenty-three years ago. They told me she died.””
The woman’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was told my mother died giving birth to me.””
Olivia shook her head.
“They lied.””
The woman looked at me.
“Who are you?””
“Damien Cole. Olivia’s husband.””
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course you are. The man in all the photographs.””
I swallowed.
“You’ve seen photographs of me?””
“Richard kept a box of them. He told me you were my half-brother.””
Olivia staggered.
“What?””
The woman turned toward her.
“He told me my father was a man who died before I was born. He said Richard took me in because my mother was unstable.””
Olivia covered her mouth.
“He was your grandfather.””
The woman’s face went white.
“No.””
“He was my father.””
“No!””
Her voice echoed through the house.
She backed into the study, knocking a stack of papers from a desk.
“You’re lying.””
“I wish I were.””
The woman grabbed a framed photograph and held it up.
It showed Richard standing beside a teenage girl.
The girl was Olivia.
The date on the frame was twenty-four years earlier.
“I was told this was my mother,” the woman whispered, pointing to Olivia in the photograph.
Olivia began to cry.
“I was your mother.””
The woman dropped the frame.
Glass shattered across the floor.
“Get away from me!””
Olivia stopped moving.
I stepped between them, but Olivia touched my arm.
“No, Damien. Let her speak.””
The woman pressed her hands against her temples.
“My whole life was a lie. Richard told me I was special. He said he was the only person who could protect me. He paid for my education, chose my friends, and decided where I would live.””
She looked at Olivia.
“He said you abandoned me because you wanted a different life.””
Olivia shook her head.
“I was nineteen. I was frightened, and my parents told me you had died. I didn’t know they had taken you.””
The woman stared at her.
“Then why didn’t you find me?””
Olivia’s voice broke.
“I tried. I found your records years later, but they had been altered. Every lead ended with another false name.
When I became pregnant with the twins, Richard discovered I was still searching. He used Victor to keep me quiet.””
The woman sank into a chair.
For several seconds, she simply stared at her hands.
Then she whispered, “My name is Elise.””
Olivia knelt in front of her.
“Your name was given to you by people who wanted to hide you. You can keep it if you want. You can choose another name. You can do whatever feels right.””
Elise looked at her.
“Do you have other children?””
“Yes.””
“Where are they?””
“Safe.””
“Do they know about me?””
“They know we found you.””
Elise’s lips trembled.
“Do they look like me?””
Olivia smiled through her tears.
“Exactly like me.””
For the first time, Elise looked curious rather than frightened.
“Can I meet them?””
“Whenever you’re ready.””
Detective Harris entered the room, followed by two officers.
“We need to secure this property and take statements,” he said.
“But before we do, Elise, we need to ask you about the files found in the basement.””
Elise’s expression changed.
“What files?””
Harris held up a document.
“The records concerning the private embryo program.””
Elise stared at the paper.
Then she looked at Olivia.
“Richard told me never to mention those records.””
“Why?”” I asked.
She took a shaky breath.
“Because he said the program wasn’t finished.””
Harris leaned forward.
“What does that mean?””
Elise opened a desk drawer and removed a small black notebook.
“Richard gave me this before he died. He said it contained instructions for protecting the family. He told me to burn it if anyone ever asked about the clinic.””
She handed it to Harris.
He opened the notebook and turned several pages.
Then he stopped.
His face drained of color.
“What is it?”” I demanded.
Harris turned the notebook toward me.
A list of names filled the page. Some were crossed out. Others had dates beside them.
At the bottom was a recent entry.
*SUBJECT 14 — TRANSFER COMPLETE.*
Beside it was a photograph of a young woman.
She had dark hair, gray eyes, and a tiny dimple on her left cheek.
She looked like Olivia.
She looked like Elise.
She looked like Sophie and Ruby.
And beneath the photograph was a name.
*DR. SAMUEL PRICE.*
I stared at the page.
“Why is a doctor listed as a subject?””
Elise shook her head.
“Because Richard believed Dr. Price had stolen one of the original embryos.””
Olivia gripped my arm.
“Which embryo?””
Elise looked at her.
“The one they never implanted.””
Harris turned another page.
A final note had been written in Richard’s handwriting.
If Subject 14 is still alive, the Cole family is not safe.
My phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered.
A man’s voice spoke calmly.
“Damien Cole?””
“Who is this?””
“Dr. Samuel Price.””
I looked at the notebook.
“What do you want?””
“I believe your family has found the wrong daughter.””
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?””
“It means Richard Cole didn’t have one secret child. He had two.””
I gripped the phone.
“Where are you?””
“Somewhere your father made sure no one would ever look.””
“Tell me where!””
The doctor paused.
Then he said, “Ask Olivia what happened to the baby she delivered before the twins.””
Olivia’s face turned white.
Price continued.
“Because the child you just found isn’t the only daughter who was stolen from her.””
The call ended.
I stared at Olivia.
She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I don’t understand.””
Then Elise opened the notebook to its final page.
A photograph had been tucked inside.
It showed a newborn baby wearing a hospital bracelet.
The name on the bracelet was unmistakable.
*OLIVIA COLE.*
But the date was from six months after the hospital had officially recorded Olivia’s death.
May you like
And beneath it, Richard had written one final sentence.
The original daughter is still alive.
