The child they gave away

Elena held Lily tightly.

The words on the pendant refused to leave her mind.

JONATHAN'S LAST HEIR.

She looked at Catherine. “You knew Amelia. You knew Jonathan. Tell me what this means.”

Catherine lowered herself into a chair.

“I need you to understand something. Jonathan didn't trust Alexander. He believed the Blackwood inheritance would destroy anyone who stood between Alexander and his power.”

“Then why would he leave a child in the middle of it?” Adrian demanded.

“Because he believed that child would be safer away from the family.”

Elena glanced at Lily.

“Are you saying someone took my daughter away from me?”

“No,” Catherine replied quickly. “I'm saying the pendant may have been passed down to Lily. We haven't established that she is the child in the photograph.”

Adrian nodded. “We need evidence before we accept another claim.”

Lily looked between them.

“Does this mean I'm part of the secret?”

Elena knelt in front of her.

“You are my daughter. That is the only thing you need to remember right now.”

“But why does everyone keep looking for me?”

Elena struggled to answer.

“Because some people make terrible choices when they want power. And we're trying to make sure none of those choices hurt you.”

Lily nodded, though the worry in her eyes remained.

---

Across the room, Lydia examined the photograph again.

“There's something strange about this,” she said.

Adrian approached her.

“What?”

“Look at Daniel's hand.”

She pointed to the photograph.

Daniel was standing beside Jonathan, but his right hand rested against the woman's shoulder. It was not a casual gesture. He appeared to be shielding her from someone outside the frame.

Lydia turned the photograph towards Catherine.

“Could Daniel have been protecting Amelia and the child?”

Catherine studied it.

“That is possible.”

Elena looked up.

“Then why did he hide all this from me?”

“Perhaps because he believed the truth would put you in danger,” Adrian said.

Elena shook her head.

“I'm tired of people deciding what I can handle.”

She stood and walked towards the window.

Her entire life had been shaped by secrets. She had been given a name that might not have been hers, raised without knowing the truth about her family, and forced to discover her own history through strangers and hidden documents.

Now Lily was being pulled into the same mystery.

Elena turned back.

“No more secrets. Whatever Daniel knows, we're going to find out.”

---

Catherine returned to the document she had taken from her handbag.

“There is one place we haven't searched,” she said. “Jonathan's private archive.”

Adrian frowned.

“We already searched the chapel.”

“Not the chapel. The room beneath it.”

Lydia looked surprised.

“You knew there was another room?”

“I knew Jonathan had a private archive. I never knew how to enter it.”

Adrian folded his arms.

“Then why didn't you tell us earlier?”

“Because the entrance was sealed after Jonathan disappeared. Daniel was the only person who knew the second access point.”

Elena immediately thought of the bracelet.

“Could the missing page have something to do with it?”

“Possibly,” Catherine answered. “The page may contain the name of the third heir.”

Adrian reached for his phone.

“I'll arrange for us to return tonight.”

“No,” Catherine said firmly. “If Alexander's people are watching the estate, walking straight into it would be foolish.”

Before Adrian could respond, Lydia's phone vibrated.

An unknown number.

She opened the message.

A photograph appeared on the screen.

Daniel was sitting in a dimly lit room, his face tired but alert. He was alive.

Below the photograph was a message:

BRING THE PENDANT. COME ALONE.

Elena's heart raced.

“They have him.”

Adrian took the phone.

“This is a trap.”

“I don't care,” Elena replied. “He's my father.”

“You're not going anywhere alone.”

“They specifically asked for me to come alone.”

“And you think they'll release him because you obey?”

Elena looked at Daniel's photograph again.

“I can't abandon him.”

Adrian's expression softened.

“We won't. But we need to think.”

Catherine suddenly stood.

“Don't answer the message.”

“Why?” Lydia asked.

“Because they are not asking for the pendant because of its value. They want to confirm something.”

Elena turned towards her.

“What?”

Catherine looked at Lily.

“They want to know whether the child has been told the truth.”

Everyone became silent.

Then Lily spoke from behind Elena.

“What truth?”

Catherine closed her eyes briefly.

“The truth about the person who gave you your name.”

Elena's breath caught.

“My name?”

Catherine nodded.

“Daniel Bennett did not choose your name by accident. He was following Jonathan's instructions.”

Elena stared at her.

“Jonathan gave me the name Elena Rose?”

“Yes. And he left another instruction. If the third heir was ever found, the person who raised her must reveal what happened.”

Adrian looked at the photograph of Daniel.

“So Daniel has been protecting the third heir all along.”

Catherine shook her head.

“Not exactly.”

She reached for the pendant and examined its inscription again.

“Daniel was protecting the person who gave the third heir away.”

Elena felt her hands go cold.

“Who was that person?”

Catherine looked directly at her.

“Your mother.”

Before Elena could respond, the guesthouse lights went out.

A phone rang somewhere in the darkness.

It was Daniel's number.

Adrian answered.

A familiar voice spoke.

“Elena, don't believe Catherine.”

It was Daniel.

“Dad? Where are you?”

“Listen carefully. The person you should be afraid of isn't Alexander.”

Elena stepped closer to the phone.

“Who is it?”

Daniel took a shaky breath.

“It's the person who has been helping you find the truth.”

The call ended.

Slowly, everyone turned towards Catherine.

And Catherine was no longer in the room.