Chapter 6 - THE SECOND DAUGHTER
The next morning, Elijah brought the file to Daniel's office.
I refused to meet him alone.
He understood.
For the first time in five years, my husband had to sit across from me with lawyers present.
The file was old.
Its pages were yellowed.
The first page contained a photograph of Catherine.
The second showed two babies.
One wore a blue bracelet.
The other wore pink.
My hands trembled.
“Which one is Laura?”
Elijah pointed.
“Pink.”
I looked at the other baby.
Blue bracelet.
The hospital record underneath read:
Baby A — Alexandra Bennett.
My world stopped.
I looked at Elijah.
“What?”
He stared at the document.
“You're Catherine's daughter.”
“My mother said I wasn't my father's biological daughter.”
“She was right.”
I couldn't speak.
Daniel looked at the document.
“There's more.”
The final page contained a legal agreement.
Richard Mercer had paid someone to alter the children's records.
One baby would be raised by the Mercers.
The other would be raised by my father.
But why?
Daniel read the handwritten note.
“Your father discovered Richard was planning to use Laura's inheritance to gain control of the hotel group.”
I looked at Elijah.
“Then why marry me?”
His face crumpled.
“I didn't know.”
“Did your father know?”
“Yes.”
“Did your mother?”
“I don't know.”
Suddenly the door opened.
Evelyn Mercer entered.
She looked at me.
Then at the documents.
She didn't need to ask.
“You found out.”
I stood.
“You knew.”
She began crying.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father begged me to protect you.”
“You slapped me with silence for five years.”
“I thought Elijah would keep you safe.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He hit me.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
She closed her eyes.
“I saw the footage.”
I stared at her.
“Then why didn't you stop him?”
“Because I knew Laura was waiting for that moment.”
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn looked toward Elijah.
“Your father wanted you to inherit everything.”
Elijah stiffened.
“Everything?”
“The hotels. The voting trust. The foundation.”
I felt dizzy.
“Why?”
“Because the Mercer fortune was never supposed to belong to the Mercer family.”
Silence.
Evelyn looked at me.
“It belonged to your biological mother.”
I swallowed.
“Catherine?”
She nodded.
“Your father hid the assets until you were old enough to claim them.”
Elijah stared at his mother.
“So my entire company—”
“Was built on assets that legally belonged to Alexandra.”
His face went white.
I whispered:
“And Laura?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“She knows.”
A terrible silence followed.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message from Laura.
You found out, didn't you?
Another message appeared.
Now let's see who the world believes.
Then a photograph arrived.
It showed my mother entering a courthouse twenty-eight years earlier.
Beside her stood Richard Mercer.
On the back was written:
Your mother helped him take you.
May you like
I stared at it.
For the first time, I wondered whether my mother had told me the truth at all.
