Chapter 6 - The Woman Victor Chose
Rebecca Carter woke two hours later.
Her first question was about Lily.
Victor stood at the foot of her hospital bed.
“Is she my daughter?”
Rebecca began crying.
That was answer enough.
Andrew Carter sat beside her.
“We didn't steal her.”
“Then explain.”
Rebecca looked toward Elena.
“She gave Eva to us.”
Elena recoiled.
“What?”
“Nine years ago.”
Rebecca told them everything.
She had worked as a pediatric nurse under an assumed name at the clinic Elena used. One night, a terrified woman arrived carrying three-year-old Eva.
The woman claimed Elena had been killed.
“She gave me documents and money,” Rebecca whispered. “She told us to disappear.”
“Who?”
Rebecca looked at Nikolai.
“Marina Volkov.”
Everyone went silent.
Aliyah understood first.
“Sergei's sister was protecting Eva?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She said her brother wanted to use the child against Victor.”
Victor paced toward the window.
“So Marina took Eva before Sergei could.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she return her to Elena?”
“She believed everyone around Elena had been compromised.”
Nikolai stiffened.
“Including me.”
Rebecca nodded.
Victor turned.
“Then why take Lily now?”
Nobody had an answer.
Until Aliyah did.
“Maybe Marina didn't.”
Victor looked at her.
“Andrew only saw a blond woman. Sergei knew Marina once protected Eva. What if he's using her identity?”
Nikolai immediately began making calls.
Victor looked exhausted.
Aliyah found him alone later on the hospital roof.
Snow had begun falling.
“You should be inside.”
“So should you.”
He almost smiled.
She stood beside him.
“Elena is alive,” he said. “My daughter is alive.”
“Yes.”
“I spent twelve years believing I had nothing.”
Aliyah said nothing.
Victor looked at her.
“And now I don't know what I'm supposed to feel.”
“You don't have to choose one thing.”
His gaze held hers.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“It isn't simple. It's just true.”
Victor lifted his hand.
His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair from her cheek.
The movement was so gentle she barely breathed.
He realized what he'd done.
But this time he didn't retreat.
“Aliyah.”
“Yes?”
“You should leave Boston.”
“No.”
“Sergei knows who you are.”
“Still no.”
“I can send you anywhere.”
“I have finals.”
Victor stared at her.
She smiled.
“I'm serious.”
“You're facing a criminal conspiracy and you're concerned about examinations?”
“I paid tuition. I'm taking the exams.”
He laughed.
Aliyah had never heard him laugh before.
It changed his entire face.
Then his expression softened.
“I don't understand you.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because mysterious women are apparently your weakness.”
The smile vanished.
Aliyah immediately regretted it.
“Elena—”
“Is my past.”
“She is your wife.”
“Was.”
“She came back.”
Victor looked across the city.
“The woman I married disappeared twelve years ago. Elena and I both became different people afterward.”
Aliyah's heartbeat changed.
“That doesn't mean what you're feeling right now is real.”
He turned toward her.
“What am I feeling?”
“You tell me.”
Victor stepped closer.
“I think about whether you've eaten.”
Aliyah blinked.
“I know when your classes end.”
“Still creepy.”
“I know you rub your thumb against your index finger when you're worried. I know you pretend exhaustion doesn't affect you. I know you hate asking for help.”
He moved closer.
“And every time you walk out of a room, I notice.”
Aliyah couldn't speak.
Victor's hand came to her cheek.
Then the roof door opened.
Elena stood there.
Victor immediately stepped back.
Pain flashed across her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“Elena—”
“No. Don't apologize.”
She approached Aliyah.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
Elena handed her an envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Aliyah at age six.
Standing beside her mother.
Behind them was Elena.
Aliyah stared.
“My mother knew you?”
Elena nodded.
“Your mother worked for me.”
Aliyah looked between them.
“What are you talking about?”
“She was my accountant.”
The world seemed to tilt.
Elena continued.
“And she helped me copy Sergei's records.”
Aliyah felt cold.
“Why didn't she ever tell me?”
“Because after the crash, she disappeared too.”
“She didn't disappear. She raised me.”
Elena's expression changed.
“No, Aliyah.”
Victor stepped closer.
Elena spoke carefully.
“The woman you call your mother isn't Naomi Brooks.”
Aliyah stared.
May you like
“That’s impossible.”
“Naomi Brooks died twelve years ago.”
