Chapter 5 - The Sister Who Was Erased
Natalie had kept the secret for six years.
She had rehearsed telling Marina a hundred times.
Never like this.
Never while Marina sat in a ruined wedding dress holding a photograph that could destroy everything she believed about her family.
"Her name was Lily," Natalie whispered.
Marina stared at her.
"Was?"
Natalie closed her eyes.
"That's what your uncle told everyone."
Adrian moved closer.
"Start at the beginning."
Natalie nodded.
"Your father had another daughter."
Marina felt something sharp settle beneath her ribs.
"With whom?"
"A woman named Rebecca Shaw."
Marina remembered the name.
Not clearly.
A Christmas party when she was eleven.
A beautiful woman with blond hair had stood beside her father near the fireplace.
Her mother had gone quiet when the woman entered.
Later, Daniel had told Marina that grown-up relationships were complicated.
"Rebecca worked at the distillery," Natalie continued. "She was involved with your father before he married your mother. Lily was born a year before you."
Marina stared at the photograph.
"So I have an older sister."
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
Natalie looked at Bennett.
He lowered his head.
Marina stood.
"Where is she?"
"We don't know," Natalie answered.
"That's not good enough."
"Gerald told us Lily died in a car accident twelve years ago. But I never found a death certificate."
Marina's breathing quickened.
"Did my father know?"
"He believed Lily was alive."
"Then why didn't he find her?"
"He tried."
Natalie reached into her bag.
She removed a worn leather notebook.
"Your father kept this in a locked drawer. I took it after his funeral because Gerald ordered everything in his office destroyed."
Marina opened the notebook.
The first pages contained names, dates, and bank account references.
Then she found something that made her chest tighten.
A list of birthday gifts.
For Lily.
A silver bracelet at sixteen.
A camera at seventeen.
A leather-bound journal at eighteen.
A necklace at nineteen.
Every entry ended with the same word.
Returned.
Marina turned another page.
There was a note in her father's handwriting.
She still refuses to see me. I don't blame her. But I won't stop trying.
Marina pressed her fingers against the paper.
She had spent years grieving the father she thought she knew.
Now she was discovering an entirely different man.
One who had failed another daughter.
One who had spent years trying to repair something he had broken.
"Why did Gerald say she died?"
Natalie shook her head.
"I think Lily discovered something about the company."
Adrian took the photograph.
He studied the woman standing beside their fathers.
"Who is this?"
Natalie leaned forward.
"Rebecca."
Adrian went still.
Marina noticed immediately.
"You recognize her."
He didn't answer.
"Adrian."
He looked at her.
"Rebecca Shaw worked for my father."
Marina frowned.
"At the warehouse?"
"She managed the financial records."
Owen, who had remained silent near the doorway, spoke.
"Adrian, we need to talk."
Adrian ignored him.
"When my father died, Rebecca disappeared."
Natalie looked shocked.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because Rebecca was still working at Bell Creek twelve years ago."
Adrian's expression changed.
"Under what name?"
Natalie hesitated.
"Rebecca Lane."
Adrian turned toward Owen.
"Get me everything on Rebecca Lane."
Owen left immediately.
Marina looked between them.
"You're telling me my sister's mother was connected to both of our fathers?"
"Yes," Adrian said.
"And she disappeared after the fire?"
"According to the records I have."
"Then reappeared under another name?"
"Apparently."
Marina let out a shaky breath.
"My family is beginning to sound like a very expensive crime scene."
Nobody laughed.
That was when she realized how serious the situation had become.
Evelyn returned with the results of the flash-drive examination.
"It's clean enough to inspect in isolation."
She connected it to a separate laptop.
Folders appeared.
Loan agreements.
Corporate correspondence.
Internal memoranda.
Then one labeled Bell Trust—Contingencies.
Evelyn opened it.
Marina watched the screen.
A document appeared bearing Gerald's signature.
It outlined a plan to challenge Marina's legal capacity if she refused to sign the marriage-related restructuring papers.
The plan had been drafted four months before the wedding.
Marina felt cold.
Four months.
They had prepared for her refusal.
Even before she knew she had a choice.
Evelyn scrolled farther.
There was a second document.
A proposed conservatorship petition.
Attached was a list of potential witnesses.
Gerald Bell.
Richard Mercer.
Dr. Alan Whitcomb.
And Bennett Mercer.
Marina turned slowly.
Bennett looked sick.
"I didn't sign it."
"Your name is there."
"I know."
"Did you agree to testify against me?"
"No."
She stared at him.
"Then why are you on the list?"
"My father told me it was a contingency. He said Gerald was worried about your health."
Marina's voice cracked.
"And you believed him?"
Bennett had no answer.
She turned away.
For the first time since the wedding, she felt no urge to forgive him.
That frightened her.
But it also made her feel free.
Adrian's phone rang.
Owen's name appeared.
He answered.
"Talk."
Owen spoke for several seconds.
Adrian's face darkened.
"Send me the photograph."
The call ended.
A moment later, an image appeared on Adrian's phone.
He stared at it.
Then handed it to Marina.
It was a surveillance photograph taken outside a grocery store in Santa Rosa.
A blond woman stood beside a blue pickup truck.
She looked to be in her early thirties.
Her eyes were unmistakable.
They were Daniel Bell's eyes.
Marina covered her mouth.
"Lily?"
Adrian nodded.
"The woman in that photograph is alive."
Marina started crying.
Then Adrian said something that stopped her tears.
"And according to the records Owen found, she has been working under an assumed name for the last six years."
"Doing what?"
May you like
Adrian hesitated.
"Investigating me."
