Chapter 11: The Daughter Eleanor Kept
Nobody moved.
Eleanor stood beside the hospital bed, her hands trembling around the handle of her handbag.
Nathaniel looked at her as though he had never seen her before.
"You're telling me Eleanor raised our sister?""
Grace nodded.
"After Richard died, Eleanor took the youngest baby and disappeared from the family records. She gave her a different name.""
I looked at the silver locket.
"Which baby?""
Grace pointed to the fourth name.
Victoria.
My stomach dropped.
"Victoria?""
Grace shook her head.
"No. Victoria is Margaret's biological daughter. The fourth baby was named Catherine.""
Nathaniel rubbed his forehead.
"Where is Catherine now?""
Eleanor lowered herself into a chair.
"She's alive.""
"Where?""
"She lives in Connecticut. She has a husband and two children.""
I stared at Eleanor.
"You have been in contact with her?""
She nodded.
"Every year. On her birthday.""
"And you never told her she had three siblings?""
"I couldn't.""
Nathaniel's voice rose.
"You couldn't? You raised her while Rose grew up believing she was an orphan. You knew Grace was alive.
You knew I wasn't your biological son. What exactly could you do?""
Eleanor began crying.
"I was trying to protect the children.""
Grace interrupted.
"No. You were trying to protect yourself.""
Eleanor looked up.
Grace's voice became stronger.
"You took Catherine because you wanted one child you could love without Richard controlling every decision. You told me you were going to keep her safe. But you never gave me the chance to hold her again.""
Eleanor pressed her hands against her face.
"I loved her.""
"You stole thirty years from her.""
The room fell silent.
I approached the bed.
"Mom, why did you disappear? Why did you leave me with strangers?""
Grace took my hand.
"Because Richard had discovered that I was keeping copies of the original birth records. He threatened to have you killed if I didn't leave the country.""
"But you could have told someone.""
"I tried. I went to the police. The first officer I spoke to called Richard before I had even finished my statement.""
She looked at Detective Brooks.
"That's why I stopped trusting authorities.""
Brooks nodded.
"Do you remember the night Richard died?""
Grace's expression darkened.
"Every second.""
She looked at Nathaniel.
"Your father invited Eleanor to the mansion. He told her he had discovered where I was hiding. He wanted her to bring me back.""
Nathaniel frowned.
"Why would he want you back?""
"Because he needed the original documents. He believed I had evidence that could expose his financial crimes.""
"And the poison?""
Grace closed her eyes.
"Eleanor brought him a glass of whiskey. They argued. Richard threatened to expose what she had done with the children. Then he collapsed.""
I looked at Eleanor.
"Did you poison him?""
Eleanor shook her head.
"I didn't know there was anything in the glass.""
Grace continued.
"Richard had already been poisoned before Eleanor arrived. Someone switched his medication.""
Nathaniel looked at Brooks.
"Who had access to his medication?""
Grace reached toward the bedside table.
A small envelope lay beneath a glass of water.
"His doctor.""
Brooks opened it carefully.
Inside was a prescription record, a handwritten note, and a photograph of a medical office.
The note contained one sentence.
The dose was increased at the request of the person who inherited the company.
Nathaniel's face changed.
"I inherited the company.""
Grace nodded.
"Exactly.""
He looked horrified.
"Are you saying someone poisoned my father to make me billionaire?""
"Your father had changed his will the day before he died. You were supposed to inherit everything. But there was one condition.""
"What condition?""
"That you marry Victoria Sterling.""
Nathaniel stared at her.
"That's insane.""
"Richard believed Victoria's mother knew too much. He wanted to bind the families together. He wanted to keep the original hospital records buried forever.""
Brooks examined the prescription.
"Who signed this?""
Grace pointed to the bottom.
A signature.
Dr. Samuel Whitmore.
The same physician Eleanor had mentioned.
Brooks immediately called his team.
"We need to locate Whitmore. Now.""
Then Grace caught my wrist.
"Rose, there is something you need to know about your childhood.""
I leaned closer.
"What?""
"When the house burned, you weren't the only child Richard wanted removed.""
My stomach tightened.
"Who else?""
"Your foster father.""
I froze.
"My foster father died when I was sixteen.""
Grace nodded.
"Richard arranged that accident because he believed the man had discovered where I was hiding.""
I felt sick.
My foster father's car had gone off a bridge during a storm. The police called it an accident.
He had been the only person who treated me like family after my mother disappeared.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"I was afraid the same people would come after you.""
Nathaniel took my hand.
"We'll find out who did this.""
Grace looked at him.
"Be careful. The people involved are closer than you think.""
At that moment, Detective Brooks received a call.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his expression hardened.
"Dr. Whitmore is dead.""
Nathaniel stood.
"When?""
"An hour ago. His house caught fire.""
I looked at Grace.
She closed her eyes.
"They're cleaning up.""
Brooks continued.
"There's something else. We found a photograph in his office. It shows him with someone from the Callaway household.""
"Who?"" Nathaniel asked.
The detective turned his phone toward us.
The photograph showed a younger Dr. Whitmore standing beside a woman in a nurse's uniform.
The woman was holding a baby.
I recognized the baby from the hospital records.
But it was the nurse's face that made my blood turn cold.
It was my foster mother.
The woman who had raised me after Grace disappeared.
The woman who had told me my mother died in a fire.
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And beneath the photograph, someone had written:
Rose was never supposed to survive.
