Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Adrian spent the next morning searching every file connected to Ellie.
Birth certificate.
Hospital records.
Adoption records.
Insurance records.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Then his private investigator discovered something strange.
Ellie's original birth certificate had been amended six months after her birth.
The amendment changed the attending physician.
Adrian called the hospital.
The doctor listed on the original record had died.
The replacement doctor had no memory of the case.
Then came the bigger discovery.
Ellie's blood type didn't match Vanessa's.
Adrian's did.
But there was another match.
A blood sample in the Mercer family medical archive.
Eleanor.
Adrian confronted Vanessa.
She refused to answer.
“I want to see Ellie.”
“You abandoned her.”
“No.”
“You left.”
“I was forced.”
“By whom?”
Vanessa looked terrified.
“Your father.”
Adrian froze.
“What did he do?”
“He told me Ellie wasn't safe.”
“Why?”
“Because she was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Your father had another company.”
“What company?”
“A medical research company.”
Adrian stared.
The company had disappeared years earlier.
Its records had been sealed.
Vanessa whispered:
“They were conducting illegal genetic experiments.”
Adrian felt sick.
“What does Ellie have to do with that?”
“She was born with a rare genetic marker.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because your father wanted it.”
The truth was becoming monstrous.
Adrian returned home.
Lily was sitting with Ellie.
Ellie was coloring.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Adrian knelt.
“I love you.”
She smiled.
“I know.”
He hugged her.
Lily watched silently.
That evening, Adrian finally understood why Lily had become a cleaner.
She hadn't entered his home to steal.
She had entered to protect Ellie.
And the baby she carried?
Was part of the same family secret.
But there was another twist.
The person behind everything was not Adrian's father.
He was dead.
It was Adrian's CFO.
Daniel Cross.
Daniel had been stealing money from the company for years.
He had discovered the genetic research records.
He intended to sell them.
Ellie was leverage.
The baby was leverage.
And Lily had accidentally become the one person standing between him and millions of dollars.
Daniel kidnapped Lily that night.
Adrian arrived home to find the kitchen empty.
Ellie's drawing remained on the table.
A single sentence was written across it:
DON'T LET THEM TAKE LILY.
Adrian's blood froze.
His phone rang.
Daniel.
“You finally understand.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“If you touch her—”
“She's carrying something worth more than your company.”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“You have no idea who you're threatening.”
Daniel laughed.
“I know exactly who.”
Then he sent a photograph.
Lily was sitting in an abandoned warehouse.
Her hands were tied.
May you like
And beside her stood Eleanor Mercer.
Adrian's supposedly dead aunt.
