Chapter 12: The Girl Who Had Been Hidden for Eighteen Years
Nobody moved.
I stared through the window.
The young woman outside looked almost exactly my age. She had dark brown hair, the same sharp eyebrows I saw in the mirror every morning, and a small dimple beneath her left cheek.
Vanessa was speaking to her.
The girl looked uncomfortable.
Then she raised her hand and knocked again.
Dad turned toward Evelyn.
"Who is she?""
Evelyn's face had gone completely white.
"Olivia.""
I felt my stomach drop.
Vanessa's daughter.
The girl whose records had been altered.
The girl who had supposedly been raised by another family.
Dad opened the door but kept one hand against it.
"Vanessa. What are you doing here?""
She didn't look at him.
Her eyes went straight to me.
"Ethan. We need to talk.""
I stepped forward.
"About what?""
She motioned toward the young woman.
"About your sister.""
Olivia frowned.
"Vanessa, you said he already knew.""
I looked at her.
"Know what?""
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Please. Let us come inside.""
Dad shook his head.
"After everything you've done, you think I'm going to invite you into another house?""
Olivia looked confused.
"What's happening?""
Vanessa turned to her.
"Don't say anything until I've explained.""
Olivia pulled away.
"I'm eighteen. You don't get to tell me what to say anymore.""
Her voice was shaking.
I stared at her.
"Are you really Olivia Bennett?""
She nodded.
"That's what my adoption papers say.""
"Who raised you?""
"A couple named Robert and Patricia Moore. They adopted me when I was a baby.""
Evelyn appeared behind us.
When Olivia saw her, she stopped.
"You know me?""
Evelyn nodded.
"I remember the day you were born.""
Olivia looked at Vanessa.
"You told me I was adopted because you couldn't raise me.""
Vanessa's lips trembled.
"That was true.""
"Then why did you tell me last month that my birth father was dead?""
Nobody answered.
Olivia pulled a folded paper from her jacket.
"I found this in your office.""
She handed it to me.
It was a bank statement.
The account belonged to Williams Family Holdings.
Regular payments had been made to Patricia Moore for eighteen years.
The last payment was dated two weeks earlier.
I looked at Olivia.
"Did you know about this?""
She shook her head.
"No. I thought my adoptive parents were receiving financial assistance from the government. I never knew someone was paying them.""
Vanessa reached for the document.
Olivia pulled it away.
"Stop lying to me!""
Dad stepped between them.
"Vanessa, tell us the truth.""
She looked at the floor.
"Daniel arranged everything.""
"Everything?"" Dad repeated.
"Your brother was Olivia's biological father. He wanted to keep her identity hidden because he was married, and the child would have exposed the affair.""
Olivia looked sick.
"You're saying my father is Daniel?""
Vanessa nodded.
Olivia backed away.
"No.""
"Olivia—"
"Don't touch me!""
She turned toward me.
"Is it true?""
I didn't know what to say.
Evelyn quietly placed the original birth record on the table.
Olivia picked it up.
She read the name.
Then she read it again.
"Daniel Williams.""
Her voice broke.
"Why would he do this to me?""
Vanessa began crying.
"Because he said it was the only way to protect us.""
Olivia laughed bitterly.
"Protect us? You left me with strangers!""
"I was trying to keep you safe.""
"Then why did you spend eighteen years paying people to keep me away from you?""
Vanessa had no answer.
Dad looked at the hospital records.
"Why did you change Ethan's records too?""
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
"Daniel wanted the trust.""
"Don't lie to me.""
"I'm not!""
"Then explain the second child.""
Vanessa went completely still.
Evelyn stepped forward.
"Tell them what happened to the original records.""
Vanessa shook her head.
"That isn't what you think.""
I approached her.
"My mother died because she discovered what you and Daniel were doing. Didn't she?""
Vanessa looked at me.
For several seconds, I thought she might finally admit everything.
Instead, she said something that made Dad take a step backward.
"Danielle wasn't supposed to die.""
The room became painfully quiet.
Dad's voice was barely audible.
"What did you just say?""
Vanessa started trembling.
"She was going to expose Daniel. She had the financial records, the hospital documents, and a recording.""
"What recording?"" Andrew asked.
He had entered quietly a few minutes earlier and was standing near the doorway.
Vanessa looked at him.
Her face twisted with anger.
"You should have stayed away.""
Andrew stepped forward.
"You know what happened to Danielle.""
Vanessa shook her head.
"I wasn't there when it happened.""
"Then who was?""
She looked toward the window.
Nobody moved.
Finally, she whispered:
"Daniel.""
Dad closed his eyes.
I felt my legs weakening.
"My uncle caused Mom's accident?""
Vanessa didn't answer.
Olivia grabbed her arm.
"Tell them everything!""
Vanessa suddenly pulled away.
"Fine! You want the truth? Daniel planned to scare Danielle into giving up the evidence. He arranged for someone to follow her that night.""
Dad's face turned red.
"Who?""
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Then her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen.
Her expression changed instantly.
The caller's name was displayed.
*DANIEL WILLIAMS.*
Dad took one step toward her.
"Put it on speaker.""
Vanessa shook her head.
"Marcus, please.""
"Put it on speaker!""
Her trembling finger pressed the green button.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
"Vanessa, where are you?""
She looked at me.
"At Evelyn's.""
There was a pause.
Then Daniel said something that made everyone freeze.
"Have you told Ethan that his mother was still alive when you left the accident scene?""
Dad snatched the phone.
"What?""
Daniel laughed softly.
"Hello, brother.""
Dad's voice cracked.
"What happened to Danielle?""
Daniel replied calmly.
"Ask Vanessa why she drove away while your wife was still breathing.""
Then the call ended.
Vanessa sank into a chair.
May you like
Olivia covered her mouth.
And I stood completely motionless, realizing that the person who might have known how to save my mother had been standing in our living room all along.
