Chapter 6: The Secret Beneath the Whitmore Estate
The pounding came again.
Three knocks.
A pause.
Three more.
My blood turned to ice.
Vincent noticed the change in my expression and smiled.
“You remember that, don't you?””
I stared at him.
“Who's down there?””
He ignored me and turned toward Daniel.
“Get Eleanor into the transport vehicle. Adrian can come with us if he behaves.””
Adrian tightened his grip around his mother's shoulders.
“You're not taking her anywhere.””
Vincent sighed.
“Must you make everything so difficult?””
He glanced at the medical monitor.
One of the guards reached for a small remote attached to the wall. Eleanor gasped and clutched her chest.
“Adrian,” she whispered, “don't let him—”
The monitor began beeping rapidly.
Adrian dropped beside her.
“Mom! Look at me!””
Vincent watched with cold amusement.
“The device is connected to a remote infusion system. Your mother needs medication every few hours. I've been kind enough to ensure she receives it.””
Eleanor's face had gone pale.
“You monster.””
“Careful, Eleanor. Anger isn't good for your condition.””
Adrian looked up.
“If she dies, I will tear your entire empire apart.””
Vincent adjusted his cuff links.
“If she dies, nephew, you'll have no idea how much of that empire was built on her secrets.””
I looked toward the basement stairs.
The pounding had stopped.
I needed to know who was down there.
“Let him take me,” I said.
Adrian turned toward me.
“No.””
“If Vincent wants me, I'll go with him. But you let your mother receive treatment, and you follow me.””
Vincent laughed softly.
“You think you're in a position to negotiate?””
“No,” I said.
“I think you're afraid of what's beneath this building.””
His smile vanished.
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Adrian understood.
He looked at Marco.
“Get Eleanor out. Now.””
Marco moved immediately. One of the guards rushed toward the monitor, but Adrian knocked his hand away and ripped the remote from the wall.
The machine continued beeping.
“Marco!”” Adrian shouted.
“Almost there!””
Marco and another guard lifted Eleanor carefully from the chair. They carried her into the corridor while Adrian stayed between Vincent and the exit.
Vincent's face reddened.
“You stupid boy. Do you have any idea what you've just done?””
Adrian raised the remote.
“Then explain it to me.””
Vincent lunged.
Adrian struck him across the jaw. Vincent staggered against the medical counter, knocking a tray of instruments onto the floor.
Daniel rushed toward Adrian, but Marco's men blocked the doorway.
I slipped free of the distracted guard and sprinted toward the basement stairs.
“Wren!”” Adrian shouted.
I kept running.
The stairs descended into darkness. A faint odor of mildew and old chemicals rose from below. I gripped the railing and followed the sound of my own breathing.
At the bottom stood a steel door with a small glass window.
The lock had been replaced recently.
Someone had scratched words into the paint.
*SHE IS STILL HERE.*
I pressed my face against the glass.
Beyond it lay a narrow room with a bed, a chair, and a single lamp. A woman sat on the bed with her back to me.
Her hair was almost entirely white.
Her shoulders were thin beneath a faded hospital gown.
I knocked three times.
The woman froze.
Then she turned.
I stumbled backward.
The face staring at me through the glass was the same face I had seen inside the locket.
Eleanor Kane's face.
But Eleanor was upstairs.
This woman had the same dark eyes, the same delicate nose, and the same faint scar beneath her chin.
She rose unsteadily and approached the door.
“Isabella?”” she whispered.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Who are you?””
The woman placed her palm against the glass.
“Please, sweetheart. You have to get me out of here.””
I searched her face for some explanation.
“Who are you?””
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
“I'm Eleanor.””
I shook my head.
“No. Eleanor is upstairs.””
The woman flinched.
Then she pulled the collar of her gown aside, revealing a small, crescent-shaped scar near her collarbone.
“I received this when I gave birth to you,” she whispered.
“You were premature. The doctors had to perform an emergency procedure.””
I remembered Margaret's words.
Ask her about the nursery.
But which Eleanor was telling the truth?
The woman behind the glass leaned closer.
“Vincent told you that my sister was your mother, didn't he?””
My mouth went dry.
“Sister?””
She nodded.
“My name is Eleanor Whitmore. The woman upstairs is Eleanor Kane, my identical twin.””
The world seemed to stop.
She continued, her voice shaking.
“We were born eleven minutes apart. Vincent married my sister into the Kane family because he wanted access to Adrian's father's business empire. But my sister discovered what he was doing. She tried to expose him.””
I gripped the doorframe.
“And me?””
“You were my daughter.””
The words struck like a physical blow.
I had spent ten years wondering whether anyone in the world had ever loved me.
Now a stranger behind a locked door was telling me she had given birth to me.
“Why didn't you find me?””
Eleanor pressed her forehead against the glass.
“I tried. After the fire, Vincent told me you had died. Then he brought me here and said that if I ever spoke, he'd make sure the rest of my family suffered.””
“Why did he tell everyone you were dead?””
“Because I knew what happened that night.””
She looked over her shoulder, as if afraid someone might be listening.
“Your aunt Eleanor helped me escape the burning mansion. She put you in my arms and told me to run. But Vincent's men caught us before we reached the road.””
I swallowed.
“Then how did I escape?””
Eleanor's eyes filled with grief.
“Your aunt distracted them. She screamed that she had hidden the evidence in the nursery. While they searched the house, she pushed you through the servants' passage.””
The memory returned in fragments.
A hand against my back.
A narrow tunnel.
Smoke.
The sound of a door slamming.
Eleanor continued.
“You ran into the woods. I heard you crying until the fire swallowed the house. I thought I'd lost you forever.””
I pressed my hand against the glass.
“Then why did you let me live on the streets?””
“I never knew you were alive.””
Her voice broke.
“Vincent told me you had been identified through dental records. He showed me a death certificate. I believed him for years.””
I stared at her.
“But you said you knew I was alive.””
“Because yesterday, someone came to my cell and told me you had been found. They said you were with Adrian Kane.””
“Who?””
Before she could answer, footsteps echoed from the stairs.
A voice called from above.
“Isabella!””
Adrian.
Eleanor grabbed my wrist through the narrow gap beneath the door.
“Listen to me. Your aunt is not the only person Vincent lied about.””
I leaned closer.
“What do you mean?””
She looked at me with desperate urgency.
“The fire wasn't meant to kill you. It was meant to destroy something your father left behind. Something worth more than the Whitmore estate.””
“My father?””
Eleanor nodded.
“Richard Whitmore discovered that Vincent had been stealing from both families for years. He hid the proof somewhere only you could find it.””
I stared at her.
“Where?””
Her eyes moved toward the far wall of the cell.
“Inside the nursery.””
A gunshot rang out upstairs.
I screamed.
Adrian's footsteps thundered down the stairs.
He appeared at the bottom, his shirt stained with blood that wasn't his. He raised his weapon toward the locked door.
“Wren, get away from it!””
I stumbled backward.
“What happened?””
“Vincent escaped. Marco is securing the building.””
Adrian looked through the glass.
Then he saw the woman inside.
His face went white.
“No.””
The woman reached for the window.
“Adrian, please.””
He stepped closer, staring at her face.
“You're supposed to be upstairs.””
The woman began sobbing.
“I'm Eleanor Whitmore.””
Adrian looked from her to the staircase.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared from Marco.
*BOSS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. THE WOMAN WE RESCUED IS NOT YOUR MOTHER.*
A second message followed.
*SHE'S BEEN IDENTIFIED AS VINCENT KANE'S WIFE.*
Adrian stared at the screen.
Behind the locked door, Eleanor Whitmore began pounding the glass.
“Adrian! Don't let him take Isabella to the nursery!””
I turned toward the stairs.
A man's shadow stretched across the wall above us.
Then Vincent's voice drifted down from the darkness.
“I'm afraid it's too late for that, little girl.””
May you like
He paused.
“Your father has been waiting ten years for you to come home.””
