Chapter 6 - THE HOUSE WHERE NO CHILDREN COULD STAY
Charlotte stared at her grandmother.
For several seconds, she seemed unable to understand the words.
“My mother is alive?”
Margaret nodded.
Charlotte's voice rose.
“Then where is she?”
Margaret looked toward Nicholas.
“Cape May.”
Charlotte stood so quickly that her chair tipped backward.
“You knew all these years?”
Tears rolled down Margaret's cheeks.
“Yes.”
Charlotte pressed a hand against her mouth.
“You watched me cry on my birthday because I thought she didn't want me.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe I was unwanted.”
Margaret tried to reach for her.
Charlotte moved away.
“Don't.”
Nicholas picked up Arthur's watch.
“Who is Charlotte's mother?”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
“Rose Marsh.”
The room went silent.
Nicholas stared.
“Elena's mother?”
Margaret nodded.
Charlotte's face drained of color.
“Are you saying Elena was my sister?”
“Your older half-sister.”
Charlotte gripped the chair.
For the first time, I saw Nicholas lose his composure completely.
He stepped backward, staring at the woman he'd intended to marry.
The woman who had encouraged his son to forget his dead mother.
The woman who had torn apart an old man's message.
And who now stood before him as Elena's younger sister.
Charlotte began shaking.
“I didn't know.”
Nicholas looked at her.
“Neither did I.”
She covered her face.
“Oh, God.”
I felt no pleasure in her humiliation.
Only a terrible sadness.
Whatever Charlotte had done, nobody deserved to discover their entire childhood had been built around a lie.
Nicholas turned to Margaret.
“Why separate them?”
Margaret wiped her eyes.
“Rose tried to expose the hospital's illegal transfers. The administrators threatened to ruin her. She was pressured into surrendering Charlotte. Arthur helped her place Elena with a family she trusted.”
“Why didn't he tell Elena?”
“He intended to.”
“When?”
Margaret looked down.
“Before she died.”
Nicholas stared at the pocket watch.
“Then we're going to Cape May.”
Prescott stepped forward.
“Vincent has men watching the house.”
Nicholas glanced at Daniel.
“How many?”
“We'll find out.”
Charlotte suddenly spoke.
“I'm coming.”
Nicholas shook his head.
“No.”
“She is my mother.”
“And Vincent may be waiting.”
Charlotte looked directly at him.
“You think I don't know what danger feels like?”
Nicholas's expression hardened.
“I think you brought danger into my son's home.”
Charlotte lowered her eyes.
Then she nodded.
“You're right.”
She reached into her handbag.
Nicholas stiffened.
But she withdrew only a small gold bracelet.
It carried a tiny elephant charm.
“My adoptive mother gave me this when I was ten,” she said. “She told me it belonged to my birth mother.”
Margaret stared at it.
“Rose wore that.”
Charlotte closed her fist around the bracelet.
“I need to return it.”
Nicholas considered her.
Then he looked at Daniel.
“She stays with the security team. No independent decisions.”
Charlotte nodded.
“Agreed.”
We left before sunrise.
Ethan remained at the mansion with Thomas and trusted guards.
Before leaving, Nicholas knelt beside him.
“I'm going to bring Grandpa home.”
Ethan touched his father's cheek.
“Promise?”
Nicholas hesitated.
Then he said, “I promise I'll do everything I can.”
Ethan nodded.
“And don't lose the plane.”
Nicholas smiled faintly.
“I won't.”
I stayed beside Ethan until he fell asleep.
Then Nicholas asked me to accompany them.
He wanted someone who knew Ethan's grandfather well enough to recognize anything unusual.
I agreed.
At Cape May, the old summer house stood beyond a line of pine trees.
Its white paint had faded.
The porch sagged.
Wild grass covered the garden.
But tire tracks marked the driveway.
Daniel examined them.
“Recent.”
Nicholas glanced at the windows.
“Vincent's here?”
“Possibly.”
They entered through the rear porch.
Inside, the house smelled of sea air and old furniture.
Family photographs lined the staircase.
Nicholas stopped before one.
It showed Arthur holding two small boys.
Nicholas at seven.
Vincent at four.
Their mother stood behind them, smiling.
Nicholas touched the glass.
“I haven't seen this picture in twenty years.”
Charlotte approached.
“She looks kind.”
Nicholas nodded.
“She was.”
Then we heard a woman's voice from the kitchen.
“Arthur?”
Nicholas turned.
An elderly woman stood in the doorway.
She wore a worn blue cardigan and held a wooden spoon.
Her silver hair was tied back.
She looked at Charlotte.
The spoon fell from her hand.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Charlotte stopped breathing.
The woman took one step forward.
“My little girl.”
Charlotte whispered, “Mom?”
Rose Marsh began crying.
Charlotte remained frozen.
Then she crossed the room and collapsed into her mother's arms.
I turned away, giving them what privacy I could.
Nicholas stood silently beside the staircase.
Rose stroked Charlotte's hair.
“I looked for you.”
Charlotte sobbed.
“Why didn't you find me?”
“They told me you had been adopted overseas. They changed your name. I didn't know where to look.”
Margaret's betrayal suddenly felt even larger.
Rose looked toward Nicholas.
“Elena's husband.”
Nicholas nodded.
“Yes.”
Rose's eyes filled.
“She loved you.”
Nicholas swallowed.
“I loved her.”
Rose reached into her cardigan pocket.
“I have something that belongs to her.”
She handed him a small silver necklace.
A heart-shaped locket.
Inside were two tiny photographs.
Elena as a child.
And Charlotte as an infant.
Nicholas stared.
“Did Elena know?”
Rose nodded.
“She learned the truth shortly before she died.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
Rose looked toward the window.
“Because Vincent threatened to take Ethan.”
Nicholas went still.
“What?”
Rose's voice trembled.
“Vincent discovered Elena was investigating the hospital. He told her that if she continued, your son would disappear.”
Nicholas gripped the locket.
“Ethan was two years old.”
Rose nodded.
“Elena believed your father could stop him.”
Nicholas looked devastated.
“And my father didn't.”
Rose shook her head.
“He tried.”
Then she reached beneath the kitchen table.
A wooden box rested against the wall.
Inside were letters, photographs, and a cassette recorder.
Rose picked up the recorder.
“Elena left a message.”
Nicholas stared.
“For me?”
“Yes.”
Rose pressed play.
A soft crackle filled the kitchen.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
Gentle.
Tired.
Unmistakably Elena's.
“Nicholas, if you're hearing this, something has gone terribly wrong.”
Nicholas closed his eyes.
For six years, he had longed to hear her voice again.
Now it filled the room.
“I need you to know I never stopped loving you. And I never wanted Ethan to grow up afraid.”
The recording paused.
Then Elena continued.
“Your brother knows about the hospital. He knows about the children. But he's not the one who started this.”
Nicholas opened his eyes.
Elena's voice trembled.
“The person responsible has been inside our family for years.”
The tape clicked.
Then another sound emerged.
A man's voice in the background.
“Turn that off, Elena.”
Nicholas froze.
He knew the voice.
Arthur Bellomo.
His father.
Then Elena said something barely audible.
“Arthur, tell Nicholas what happened to Isabella.”
The recording ended.
Nicholas stared at Rose.
“What happened to my mother?”
Rose began crying.
She looked toward the staircase.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“NICHOLAS, YOUR MOTHER DIDN'T DIE FROM THE ILLNESS YOUR FATHER TOLD YOU ABOUT. SHE DIED TRYING TO STOP THE SAME PEOPLE WHO THREATENED ELENA.”
