Chapter 5 - The Enemy Inside the Hospital
I stared at the photograph until my hands went numb.
Our son was sleeping in the nursery.
The picture had been taken minutes earlier.
Someone inside the hospital had access.
"Lock down the floor."
Marcus was already moving.
"Security?"
"Private team is coming."
Daniel stood frozen.
"Sebastian..."
I turned.
"If anyone connected to my mother enters this hospital, I want to know before they reach the elevator."
Within minutes, the hospital security chief joined us.
Cameras were reviewed.
Visitor logs were checked.
Then we found him.
A man wearing a maintenance uniform.
He had entered the maternity floor using a stolen badge.
He had not reached the nursery.
But he had been close.
Too close.
Police detained him.
During questioning, he refused to speak.
Then Marcus discovered something in his pocket.
A photograph of Eleanor.
On the back was a handwritten number.
The number belonged to Arthur.
The entire operation was connected.
I returned to Clara.
She was awake.
I sat beside her.
"Someone photographed our son."
Her face went pale.
"Is he safe?"
"Yes."
She exhaled.
"Sebastian..."
"What?"
"My mother-in-law once told me something."
"What?"
"She said your father had another child."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"She said Arthur wasn't your father's only brother."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
"That's what she said."
I remembered the succession documents.
Arthur.
The trust.
The heir.
I called my father's old attorney.
He answered after midnight.
"Sebastian?"
"I need to ask you something about my father's estate."
A long silence followed.
"Which part?"
"Was there another heir?"
The attorney sighed.
"Your father had a daughter."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
"Victoria Vance."
"Where is she?"
"We were told she died."
"We were told?"
"Your grandmother ordered the records sealed."
"Why?"
"Because Victoria was born with a different mother."
I looked at Clara.
"Does my mother know?"
"Yes."
"Where is Victoria?"
"I don't know."
Then the attorney added:
"Your father searched for her before he died."
That night, Marcus discovered an old photograph.
A little girl.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A small silver bracelet.
On the back:
Victoria, age six.
I recognized the bracelet.
I had seen it before.
In my mother's jewelry box.
The next morning, Eleanor was arrested.
Not for what she had done to Clara.
Not yet.
For fraud, identity theft, and financial conspiracy.
She refused to speak.
Until I walked into the interrogation room.
She looked at me.
"You'll regret this."
"No."
She smiled.
"You think Clara loves you?"
I didn't respond.
"She married your money."
I leaned forward.
"She loved me when I had nothing."
Eleanor's smile disappeared.
"You don't know what your father did."
"Then tell me."
She looked away.
"Your father abandoned Victoria."
"Why?"
"Because she was dangerous."
I frowned.
"She's a child."
"Not anymore."
My mother finally looked at me.
"Victoria survived."
My heart pounded.
"Where?"
Eleanor smiled.
"You'll never find her."
I stood.
"I already have."
Her expression changed.
I placed a photograph on the table.
Victoria.
Older now.
Alive.
My mother stared.
"Who gave you that?"
I smiled coldly.
"You taught me something."
"What?"
"Never trust the person who insists they have nothing to hide."
Then I left.
Outside, Marcus waited.
"We found her."
"Where?"
"She works under another name."
"Where?"
Marcus handed me an address.
It was a small bakery three hours away.
I looked at the photograph again.
Victoria.
My father's forgotten daughter.
May you like
My sister.
And perhaps the missing piece in my mother's entire plan.
