Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Eleanor immediately ordered the archive sealed.
Maya was confused.
“Why would anyone care about my birth records?”
Eleanor struggled with the truth.
“I don't know yet.”
“But you think I should be afraid.”
“Yes.”
Maya stared at her.
“Why?”
Eleanor looked at the young woman.
Because saying the truth aloud would change both their lives.
“I think you may have been connected to my family before you were ever hired.”
Maya shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“I know.”
“But there's something I need you to do.”
“What?”
“Don't tell anyone about this conversation.”
Maya nodded.
That afternoon, Eleanor contacted Thomas Reed again.
This time he agreed to meet.
They chose a quiet café far from Manhattan.
Thomas arrived carrying an old briefcase.
He looked twenty years older than the last time Eleanor had seen him.
When he sat across from her, his hands trembled.
“You look exactly the same.”
Eleanor frowned.
“I assume that's a compliment.”
“It isn't.”
He opened the briefcase.
Inside was a hospital record.
Eleanor saw her own name.
Then another name.
Baby B. Vance.
Her hands went numb.
“What is this?”
“Your original delivery record.”
“Why wasn't it in my file?”
“Because someone removed it.”
“Who?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Your husband.”
Eleanor's heart stopped.
“Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the second child was alive.”
She could barely breathe.
“Where was she?”
Thomas shook his head.
“That is where the story gets complicated.”
He explained that Eleanor had delivered twins.
The first baby was Chloe.
The second baby was a girl.
Healthy.
Strong.
But immediately after delivery, Richard had instructed hospital administrators to keep the second birth private.
He claimed the child had died.
The doctors were ordered to alter the records.
But one nurse refused.
Her name was Sarah Collins.
Maya's adoptive mother.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
“Sarah knew?”
“Yes.”
“She saved my daughter?”
Thomas nodded.
“She took the baby.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed your husband intended to make the child disappear permanently.”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“Where did Sarah take her?”
“She raised her.”
“Maya.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor sat motionless.
Twenty-five years.
Twenty-five years of loving Chloe while another daughter grew up across the city.
Twenty-five years of wondering what was missing.
She asked the only question that mattered.
“Why did Sarah never tell me?”
Thomas looked down.
“Because she was afraid of Richard.”
“He could destroy her.”
“And he tried.”
“What happened?”
“Sarah spent years moving between neighborhoods.”
“She worked low-paying jobs.”
“She kept Maya hidden.”
“She believed that one day Richard would stop looking.”
“He didn't.”
“When did he stop?”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“He never did.”
Eleanor's blood ran cold.
“What do you mean?”
Thomas pulled out another document.
It was a private investigation report.
Maya's childhood.
Schools.
Addresses.
Photographs.
Her adoptive mother had been monitored.
The report had been prepared when Maya was twelve.
At the bottom was a company name.
Vance Security Consulting.
Eleanor knew it.
Her family had hired them for years.
Richard had been tracking his own daughter.
Without her knowledge.
She felt betrayed all over again.
“What happened to Sarah?”
Thomas hesitated.
“She died two years ago.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The woman who had protected her daughter was gone.
“What did she leave?”
“Only one letter.”
“Where is it?”
Thomas handed her an envelope.
Eleanor recognized the handwriting from an old charity application.
She opened it.
Eleanor,
If you are reading this, Richard is dead or I have finally decided that keeping silent is no longer enough.
The girl you lost is alive.
Her name is Maya.
I raised her because I loved her.
But she belongs with the truth.
I never wanted your money.
I never wanted your home.
I only wanted your daughter to have a chance to live without being hunted.
Please don't punish her for the sins of the people who came before her.
Eleanor couldn't stop crying.
For twenty-five years she had believed she had lost a child.
Now she knew she had a daughter.
And that daughter had walked into her mansion as a maid.
But there was another line at the bottom of the letter.
There is one more thing.
Richard wasn't afraid of Maya because she was his daughter.
May you like
He was afraid because she was the legal heir.
Eleanor's blood froze.
