Chapter 5 - THE DAUGHTER WHO DISAPPEAREDSofia stared at the photograph until her hands began to tremble.
There were two little girls.
That was the only explanation.
Two children who looked nearly identical.
One wearing yellow.
One wearing blue.
She remembered the yellow dress because Claire had sewn it herself.
The memory was vivid.
A summer afternoon.
A birthday cake.
Her mother laughing as she chased Sofia through the garden.
But she had never remembered another child.
Never.
Sofia turned the photograph over.
A date was written in the corner.
June 14, 2003.
Sofia's sixth birthday.
Beneath it were two names.
Sofia and Elise.
Her breath caught.
“Elise?”
Atlas pressed against her leg.
Sofia looked toward the hospital.
Somewhere upstairs, Julien was waiting.
And somewhere beyond the hospital walls, a woman she had believed dead might be hiding.
But now there was another question.
Who was Elise?
Sofia returned to Room 207 at 12:02 p.m.
Julien was resting, his face pale against the pillow.
When she placed the photograph in his hand, he began to cry.
Not quietly.
Not with restraint.
The sound seemed torn from somewhere deep inside him.
“Elise,” he whispered.
Sofia sat beside him.
“Who is she?”
Julien covered his face.
“My other daughter.”
The words struck Sofia like a physical blow.
“I have a sister?”
Julien nodded.
“Your twin.”
Sofia felt the room tilt.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't Mom tell me?”
Julien looked at the photograph.
“Because Elise was taken.”
Sofia couldn't move.
“When?”
“Three months after that picture.”
He struggled to continue.
“Adrian came to our house with two men. He said Meridian had discovered that Claire had copied confidential research records. He demanded the evidence.”
“What did Mom do?”
“She refused.”
Julien's voice broke.
“So they took Elise.”
Sofia pressed a hand over her mouth.
“What happened to her?”
“We searched. We begged. We made deals we never should have made.”
He looked at Sofia.
“Adrian promised Elise would be returned if we cooperated.”
“And was she?”
Julien shook his head.
“No.”
Sofia stood abruptly.
“You let me grow up believing I was an only child?”
“Claire wanted to tell you.”
“Then why didn't she?”
“Because Adrian threatened to take you too.”
Sofia turned away.
The anger was unbearable.
She had spent her childhood feeling different from other children.
She had dreamed of having a sister.
Someone to share secrets with.
Someone who understood the loneliness of losing a parent.
And all along, she had one.
A sister who had been stolen from her.
“Is she alive?” Sofia whispered.
Julien looked down.
“I don't know.”
The answer hurt more than she expected.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Sofia remembered the key.
She placed it on the bed.
“Finn led me to this.”
Julien examined the metal.
His expression changed.
“Where did you find it?”
“Under a paving stone near the hospital.”
Julien turned the key over.
A number was engraved along the shaft.
614.
June 14.
Their birthday.
Julien closed his eyes.
“Claire used that number for everything she wanted us to remember.”
“What does it open?”
He hesitated.
“There's a house outside Bellhaven. An old farmhouse near Miller's Creek.”
Sofia frowned.
“I know that place.”
Julien nodded.
“Your mother inherited it from her grandmother. Adrian thought it had been sold years ago.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
Julien looked toward the door.
“Claire kept it hidden through a trust.”
Sofia held up the key.
“Then I'm going there.”
“Not alone.”
“I don't have a choice.”
Julien gripped her wrist.
“Sofia, listen. If Elise is alive, Adrian has spent twenty-three years making sure she doesn't know who she is.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Then it's time someone told her.”
Her phone vibrated.
Another message from the unknown number.
This time, there was no photograph.
May you like
Only a sentence.
IF YOU WANT TO MEET YOUR SISTER, COME TO MILLER'S CREEK BEFORE DARK.
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