Chapter 4
No one spoke for several seconds.
The old laboratory seemed to hold its breath.
Richard looked at Daniel.
“What did she mean?”
Daniel’s gaze moved toward Sophie.
“Not here.”
“You will answer me now.”
Sophie whimpered against Richard’s shoulder.
Her injured wrist was beginning to swell.
Mason stepped forward.
“Your daughter needs a doctor.”
Richard knew he was right.
He also knew Vanessa had dropped a secret into the room because she wanted to tear them apart.
He would not let her use Sophie to do it.
He carried his daughter outside.
An ambulance had arrived beyond the gates.
Paramedics examined Sophie and secured her wrist in a temporary brace.
Richard stayed beside her as they loaded her into the ambulance.
Caroline tried to follow.
Richard blocked the door.
“You’re not coming with us.”
Her face tightened with pain.
“I understand.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“I loved Elizabeth.”
“Then explain why you disappeared after her death.”
Daniel moved beside her.
“We thought Vanessa believed Caroline died in the fire. Staying hidden kept her alive.”
“And who protected Sophie?”
Neither of them answered.
Richard entered the ambulance.
As the doors closed, he saw Mason placing Vanessa in a police car.
She turned her head and smiled at him through the window.
It was the smile of someone who believed the worst was still ahead.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed that Sophie had a small fracture in her wrist.
She would recover.
The bruises on her ribs were documented.
A child protection specialist spoke to her gently while Richard waited outside the examination room.
Every minute felt like punishment.
He remembered how Vanessa had entered their lives.
She had approached him at a charity auction fourteen months after Elizabeth’s death.
She had known exactly what to say.
She never pressured him.
She brought Sophie books.
She listened when Richard talked about grief.
When he traveled, she offered to stay at the estate so Sophie would not feel alone.
He had mistaken patience for kindness.
The examination-room door opened.
Dr. Patel stepped out.
“Your daughter is asking for you.”
Richard entered.
Sophie sat on the bed with a purple cast covering her wrist.
She tried to smile.
“It’s my favorite color.”
He kissed her forehead.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Is Vanessa coming back?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Sophie studied his face.
“Is the lady really Mommy’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t Mommy tell me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Mommy know her?”
Richard thought about the photograph.
“Yes. I think she did.”
Sophie looked down at her cast.
“She came to my room once.”
“Who?”
“The lady who looks like Mommy.”
Richard pulled a chair closer.
“When?”
“Before my birthday.”
Sophie had turned six four months earlier.
“Did she speak to you?”
“She was outside my window.”
“Your bedroom is on the second floor.”
“She stood by the big tree.”
“What did she do?”
“She held up a sign.”
“What did it say?”
“I couldn’t read all of it.”
Sophie frowned, trying to remember.
“It said, ‘Find the music.’”
Richard’s phone rang.
It was Mason.
“We found Vanessa’s second vehicle behind the laboratory,” the detective said. “Inside it were passports, cash, and documents under different names.”
“She planned to run.”
“Looks that way.”
“Did she say anything?”
“She asked for an attorney.”
“What about Daniel and Caroline?”
“They agreed to come to the station.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“Vanessa claimed Elizabeth had another child.”
Mason was silent.
“You knew,” Richard said.
“I suspected there was something missing from Elizabeth’s medical history.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the records were sealed before I could access them.”
“By whom?”
“Your father’s attorney.”
Richard closed his eyes.
His father, Charles Sterling, had died seven months before Elizabeth.
He had been powerful, respected, and feared.
Richard had spent his entire life trying to earn his approval.
Now that approval felt like poison.
“Where is my father’s attorney?”
“Martin Hale retired last year.”
“Find him.”
“I already have officers going to his home.”
Sophie tugged Richard’s sleeve.
“Daddy, I’m hungry.”
The words cut through him.
He ended the call and ordered soup, bread, fruit, and a grilled-cheese sandwich.
When the tray arrived, Sophie stared at it.
“You can eat all of this?”
“Anything you want.”
“Vanessa said girls who eat too much get ugly.”
Richard knelt beside the bed.
“Vanessa was wrong about everything.”
“Even Mommy?”
“What did she say about Mommy?”
Sophie hesitated.
“She said Mommy left because I cried too much.”
Richard fought to remain calm.
“Your mother loved every sound you made.”
“She said Mommy tried to give me away.”
“No.”
“She showed me a paper.”
“What paper?”
“It had my name. And Daniel’s.”
Before Richard could question her further, the door opened.
Maria rushed in.
The longtime housekeeper had a bruise on her forehead.
Richard stood.
“Where have you been?”
“Locked in the wine cellar.”
“What?”
“Miss Vanessa caught me giving Sophie a sandwich last night. She struck me with a bottle and took my keys.”
Richard helped her into a chair.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was mistreating Sophie?”
“I tried.”
Maria’s eyes filled with tears.
“I sent emails. I left messages with your office.”
Richard pulled out his phone.
There were no emails from her.
“I never received them.”
“Miss Vanessa changed the household accounts. She said you ordered it.”
His executive assistant, Claire, had also begun screening all personal messages after Vanessa suggested Richard needed protection from “emotional distractions.”
He had agreed without thinking.
“Did you see the locked drawer?” he asked.
Maria nodded.
“Mrs. Sterling gave me the music player before she died. She told me to hide it until Sophie was old enough.”
“You gave it to Vanessa?”
“No. Vanessa found it.”
“When?”
“The week after she moved into the estate.”
Richard felt sick.
“What was on it?”
“A lullaby. And a message.”
“What message?”
“I never heard all of it. Mrs. Sterling made me promise not to listen.”
Sophie pushed away her sandwich.
“Vanessa played it.”
Richard sat beside her.
“What did you hear?”
“Mommy said Daniel would protect me if she couldn’t.”
Maria began to cry.
Richard took out his phone and called Thomas.
“Go to the blue room. Bring Elizabeth’s music player to the hospital. Do not give it to anyone else.”
“It’s gone,” Thomas said.
Richard stood.
“What?”
“I just checked the drawer. Someone returned to the house after we left.”
“Who?”
“The cameras were disabled.”
“Check every room.”
“I already did. Elizabeth’s bedroom is open.”
Richard’s chest tightened.
“And?”
“The room has been searched.”
“Was anything taken?”
“I can’t tell. But there’s a message written across the mirror.”
“What does it say?”
Thomas read it aloud.
“Richard, your father chose which child would live.”
The hospital room became very quiet.
Sophie looked up at him.
“What does that mean?”
Richard forced his voice to remain steady.
“I don’t know.”
But Maria had gone pale.
“You know something,” he said.
She shook her head.
“Maria.”
She glanced toward Sophie.
Richard asked Dr. Patel to keep Sophie company and led Maria into the hallway.
“Tell me.”
Maria lowered her voice.
“Mrs. Sterling was pregnant before Sophie.”
Richard stared at her.
“She had a miscarriage.”
“That is what your father told you.”
“I was with Elizabeth at the hospital.”
“You arrived after the delivery.”
Richard could barely understand the words.
“What delivery?”
“She gave birth early.”
“No.”
“Two babies.”
His legs felt weak.
“Twins?”
Maria nodded.
“A boy and a girl. The girl was very sick. The boy was stronger.”
“Where are they?”
“The girl died.”
“And the boy?”
“Your father took him.”
Richard pressed a hand against the wall.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Elizabeth woke up and was told both children had died. Months later, she found evidence that the boy survived.”
“Daniel?”
“No. Daniel helped her search.”
“Then who is the child Vanessa mentioned?”
Maria began to answer.
A scream came from Sophie’s room.
Richard ran inside.
The window was open.
The doctor lay unconscious beside the bed.
Sophie was gone.
On her pillow rested the missing music player.
Richard pressed the button.
May you like
Elizabeth’s voice filled the room.
“Richard, if you are hearing this, they have taken Sophie. Trust Daniel. Find our son before your mother does.”
