Chapter 5: The Daughter They Erased
“Mom, answer me.””
My voice echoed through the nearly empty ballroom.
Eleanor stared at the floor.
Her fingers trembled around the handle of her handbag.
“I thought she was safe,” she whispered.
“Who?””
“Your sister.””
I felt the air leave my lungs.
I had no sister.
At least, I had never been told I had one.
My father had always described our family as small. Just the three of us. He used to joke that I was enough trouble for an entire generation.
“Her name?”” I demanded.
“Isabella.””
I stepped backward.
“Isabella?””
My mother nodded.
“She was born when you were seven.””
I stared at her.
Seven years old.
I remembered that year. I remembered my father taking me to Central Park. I remembered my mother spending several months away from the family estate, supposedly recovering from surgery.
I remembered being told she had suffered a miscarriage.
“You told me the baby died.””
Eleanor covered her face.
“I know.””
“Why?””
“Because Charles threatened us.””
I looked across the ballroom.
Charles was sitting between two security guards. His expensive suit was wrinkled, and his expression had changed from arrogance to fury.
He heard my mother's words.
“Eleanor, stop talking.””
She flinched.
I moved between them.
“You don't give her instructions anymore.””
Charles laughed.
“You think you can protect her? You couldn't even protect your father.””
I grabbed his collar.
“Say his name again.””
“Dominic!””
Michael pulled me back.
Charles straightened his tie.
“Your father made his own mistakes. He trusted the wrong people. That's why everything collapsed.””
“My father trusted you.””
“And he paid for it.””
The words hung between us.
I released Michael's arm.
“Thank you, Charles. That's the first honest thing you've said tonight.””
His attorney stepped forward.
“Mr. Whitmore will not answer further questions without legal representation.””
“Then make sure his lawyer explains why he's involved in an attempted theft, financial fraud, and possibly murder.””
The attorney said nothing.
My mother touched my sleeve.
“Dominic, please. We need to leave.””
“Not until you tell me where Isabella is.””
She looked toward the ceiling.
“She's alive.””
I closed my eyes.
For five years, I had believed my family had been reduced to memories and a handful of photographs.
Now I was learning that my parents had hidden an entire person from me.
“Where is she?””
“An apartment in Boston. She was raised under another name.””
“Who raised her?””
“Her nurse, Margaret.””
“Why didn't you go to her?””
Eleanor's lips trembled.
“Because I wasn't allowed to.””
I looked at Charles.
He was watching us carefully.
“Who wasn't allowing you?””
My mother didn't answer.
Instead, she reached into her handbag and removed a folded photograph.
It showed a little girl sitting on a garden swing.
She had dark hair, a small birthmark beneath her left eye, and a wide smile.
I recognized the eyes immediately.
My father's eyes.
On the back was a date and a handwritten message.
For my brother Dominic. I hope we meet someday.
I stared at the words.
“Where did you get this?””
“Your father kept it in his desk. I found it after he died.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I was afraid that if you knew she existed, Charles would find her.””
I turned toward Charles.
He suddenly looked away.
My mother continued.
“Your father discovered that Charles had been moving money through companies connected to Adrian Keller. When he threatened to expose them, they used Isabella to control us.””
“Control you how?””
Eleanor swallowed.
“They told us that if your father went to the police, Isabella would disappear.””
My hands curled into fists.
“And you believed them?””
“I was a mother trying to protect her child!””
Her voice cracked.
“I watched your father die, Dominic. I watched them destroy our family. Then they told me you were dead too.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
She nodded.
“Adrian told me your boat had been found. He showed me a photograph of the wreckage. He said there was no body because the water had carried you away.””
I remembered the accident.
The explosion.
The freezing water.
The days I spent in a hospital bed after fishermen pulled me from the coast.
Someone had wanted me dead.
And someone had convinced my mother they had succeeded.
“Why didn't you investigate?””
“I did. But Charles had people watching me. When I finally found out you were alive, I couldn't reach you without exposing Isabella.””
A security guard approached Michael.
“Mr. Harris, the police are outside. They want to speak with everyone involved.””
Michael nodded.
“Bring them in.””
Before he could move, my mother grabbed my wrist.
“Dominic, there's something else.””
I looked at her.
“Your father didn't die from a heart attack.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What are you saying?””
She glanced toward Charles.
“He was poisoned.””
The room seemed to become colder.
“Who did it?””
Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Then she whispered, “Adrian Keller administered the medication. But the person who ordered it was—”
A sudden crash came from the lobby.
The glass entrance doors shattered.
Everyone turned.
A black SUV had stopped outside.
Two men stepped out.
One of them held a photograph.
Even from across the room, I recognized the little girl.
Isabella.
The man raised his phone and called my mother.
Her phone rang.
She looked at the screen and began shaking.
“Don't answer it,” I said.
But she already had.
A distorted voice filled the ballroom.
“Eleanor, you have ten minutes to return what you stole. Otherwise, your daughter will pay for your decision.””
My mother dropped the phone.
I looked at the photograph in the man's hand.
Then I turned toward Michael.
“Lock down every exit.””
He nodded.
I reached for my phone.
“Find my sister.””
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Because whoever had hidden Isabella from me for twenty-one years had just made the biggest mistake of his life.
He had given me a reason to stop playing defense.
