Chapter 9: The Mother Buried Under Another Name
Thomas looked as though Vincent had struck him.
"You're lying.""
Vincent adjusted his cufflinks.
"Am I?""
He turned toward me.
"Your father has always been very good at playing the victim, Isabella.""
Adrian stepped between us.
"Shut your mouth.""
Vincent ignored him.
"Ten years ago, Margaret discovered that Thomas had hidden the original Whitmore trust documents. She planned to turn him in.""
Thomas shook his head.
"That's not what happened.""
Vincent smiled.
"Then tell your daughter the truth.""
I looked at my father.
"Did you kill Margaret?""
His eyes filled with tears.
"No, sweetheart.""
"Then why does he have her death certificate?""
Thomas stared at the document.
"Because Vincent forged it.""
Vincent chuckled.
"Convenient.""
Rose stepped forward.
"I have the original hospital records.""
Vincent's smile faded slightly.
"What?""
Rose removed a folded paper from her coat.
"Margaret was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital ten years ago under a false name. She was treated for a gunshot wound.""
Adrian took the paper.
"Who signed the admission?""
Rose pointed to the bottom.
"Vincent Kane.""
The room went silent.
Vincent's expression hardened.
"Give me that.""
Rose stepped backward.
"No.""
He raised his gun.
Marco immediately aimed at him.
"Put it down.""
Vincent looked at his son.
"You would point a gun at your own father?""
Marco's voice shook.
"You stopped being my father when you threatened my family.""
Vincent laughed.
"Family? You don't even know what family means.""
Adrian moved slightly toward the exit.
"Marco, keep him talking.""
Vincent noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
"Still planning to play hero, Adrian?""
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Thomas.
"Where's the second exit?""
Thomas pointed toward the back wall.
Vincent followed his gaze.
Then he fired.
The bullet struck the filing cabinet beside Thomas.
Everyone ducked.
Marco returned fire.
The gunman behind Vincent collapsed against the doorway.
Vincent disappeared through the storage room entrance.
"Go!"" Adrian shouted.
We rushed toward the tunnel.
Rose helped Thomas down the narrow steps.
I followed Adrian.
But halfway through the passage, I heard a voice behind me.
"Isabella!""
I turned.
Vincent stood at the far end.
His gun was pointed directly at me.
Adrian spun around.
"Don't!""
Vincent smiled.
"Give me the notebook, and I'll let her walk.""
Adrian held the evidence against his chest.
"You won't touch her.""
"Then perhaps we should ask Marco how much he wants to protect his little sister.""
Vincent looked toward the tunnel entrance.
Marco appeared behind him.
His face was covered in blood.
"Drop the weapon.""
Vincent's expression changed.
"Son...""
"Don't call me that.""
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Vincent lowered his gun.
Not because he was surrendering.
Because he had spotted something behind Marco.
A second armed man emerged from the darkness.
Marco turned.
A shot rang out.
Adrian lunged forward.
He tackled me to the ground.
The bullet struck the wall above us.
Marco returned fire.
The second gunman fell.
Vincent ran.
Adrian started after him.
But I grabbed his arm.
"Don't leave me.""
He stopped.
Then he looked toward the tunnel.
"Marco, get them out!""
We escaped through the river entrance and reached the waiting vehicles.
By the time we arrived at a private medical clinic, Marco had received treatment for a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
Thomas was exhausted.
Rose sat beside him.
And I couldn't stop thinking about the document Vincent had shown us.
Margaret's death certificate.
At dawn, Adrian entered the room holding a tablet.
"I found something.""
I sat up.
"What?""
He placed the tablet on the bed.
A photograph appeared.
It showed a woman entering a private nursing facility in Connecticut.
She had silver hair and walked with a cane.
Her face was older.
But I recognized her immediately.
The woman from my childhood memories.
The woman who used to sing to me.
My mother.
I stared at the screen.
"That's her.""
Thomas looked at the photograph.
His entire body stiffened.
"No.""
I turned toward him.
"What?""
"That's impossible.""
Adrian zoomed in.
The photograph had been taken three days earlier.
Thomas slowly stood.
"She's dead.""
I shook my head.
"Father, look at her.""
He approached the screen.
His hands trembled.
Then he noticed the small scar near her left eyebrow.
His knees nearly buckled.
"Margaret.""
I looked at him.
"That's my mother?""
He nodded slowly.
"That's Margaret Whitmore.""
Adrian frowned.
"Your mother's twin sister?""
Thomas shook his head.
"No. Margaret was your mother's name.""
He pointed at the photograph.
"That's the woman I married.""
I felt the room tilt.
"But Vincent said she was dead.""
Thomas's voice cracked.
"Because I watched them bury her.""
Rose looked up.
"Then who was buried?""
Nobody answered.
Adrian opened another file.
It contained a photograph of a cemetery gravestone.
The inscription read:
MARGARET WHITMORE 1978–2016
But beneath it was a small detail.
A recent maintenance record.
The grave had been opened six months earlier.
And the person who authorized the exhumation was listed as:
*VINCENT KANE.*
Adrian immediately called Marco.
"Find out who is at that nursing facility. I want the full security footage.""
Marco answered weakly.
"Already working on it.""
Then Adrian's tablet chimed.
An email had arrived from an unknown sender.
No subject.
Only one attachment.
A video.
Adrian pressed play.
The footage showed a small bedroom.
A woman sat beside the window, staring at a photograph of two little girls.
Then she slowly turned toward the camera.
Her eyes widened.
"Adrian?""
He froze.
The woman began crying.
"Isabella?""
I covered my mouth.
It was her.
The woman I remembered from the fire.
The woman I had spent ten years believing was dead.
She leaned closer to the camera.
"Sweetheart, if you're watching this, you need to listen carefully.""
Her voice trembled.
"Vincent isn't the person who ordered the fire.""
Adrian stepped closer to the screen.
"Then who did?""
My mother looked directly into the camera.
And whispered:
"Your father did.""
The video ended.
For several seconds, the room remained silent.
Then Thomas grabbed the edge of the bed.
"That's not possible.""
Adrian looked at him.
"Why?""
Thomas shook his head.
"Because the man who ordered the fire...""
He paused.
"...was already dead when the mansion burned.""
I stared at him.
"Who was it?""
Thomas looked at me with absolute terror.
Then he answered.
"Your grandfather.""
And before anyone could ask another question, the nursing facility called Adrian.
A nurse spoke in a trembling voice.
"Mr. Kane, your mother has disappeared.""
A pause.
Then she added:
"But she left something behind.""
"What?""
"A handwritten note addressed to Isabella.""
Adrian put the call on speaker.
The nurse read the message aloud.
"Tell my daughter that the baby we buried ten years ago wasn't her sister.""
My blood turned cold.
May you like
The nurse continued.
"Tell her the child who died in that fire was...""
