The marriage that never ended

The room fell silent.

Elena stared at Margaret.

“Michael Hayes was your husband?”

Margaret nodded slowly.

“Before I married Daniel, yes.”

Catherine took a step forward.

“That isn't possible.”

Margaret turned toward her.

“I wish it weren't.”

“You told me Michael died before I discovered I was pregnant.”

“I know what you were told.”

Catherine's eyes filled with anger.

“Then explain why you were married to him.”

Margaret looked down at the photograph in Elena's hands.

“Because someone needed to give him a reason to disappear.”

Jonathan's expression hardened.

“Margaret, be careful.”

She ignored him.

“Michael was already in danger when I met him. He had discovered something about the original inheritance agreement. Something that could have destroyed the Vale family.”

Charles folded his arms.

“And you expect us to believe you married him to protect him?”

“No,” Margaret replied. “I married him because he asked me to.”

Catherine shook her head.

“Why would he ask you?”

“Because he needed a legal wife who could help him disappear without raising suspicion.”

Elena frowned.

“So your marriage was a cover?”

Margaret nodded.

“It lasted only a few months. We never lived as husband and wife. Michael was protecting someone, and I agreed to help.”

“Who?” Adrian asked.

Margaret looked at Catherine.

“Her.”

Catherine froze.

“Me?”

“Michael knew Charles was watching you. He knew about your relationship with him, and he knew you were expecting a child.”

Charles's expression changed.

“You're saying Michael married you to protect Catherine?”

“Not exactly,” Margaret replied. “He married me because Charles was searching for a woman connected to him. If Michael had remained unmarried, everyone would have continued looking at Catherine.”

Catherine's voice trembled.

“Why didn't he tell me?”

“Because he believed you were safer believing he was dead.”

“That was not his decision to make!”

“No,” Margaret whispered. “It wasn't.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Catherine approached Margaret.

“Did you know I was pregnant?”

Margaret hesitated.

“Yes.”

Catherine's face crumpled.

“And you knew my baby was taken from me?”

“I knew a child had been moved. I didn't know where Evelyn took her.”

“You could have told me!”

“I tried.”

Catherine stared at her.

“What?”

“After Michael disappeared, I received a letter. He told me that if you ever came looking for him, I should give you a particular message.”

“What message?”

Margaret closed her eyes briefly.

“He said your daughter was alive, but finding her would expose the person who had protected her.”

Catherine covered her mouth.

“Who was that person?”

Margaret shook her head.

“I don't know.”

Charles gave a bitter laugh.

“You expect us to believe that you helped Michael disappear, knew about Catherine's child, and somehow know nothing about the rest?”

“I know more than you think.”

“Then speak.”

Margaret looked at him.

“You were never supposed to be part of the original agreement, Charles.”

Charles's smile disappeared.

“What did you say?”

“The original agreement was between Jonathan, Michael and three other people. Your name was added later.”

Jonathan stepped forward.

“Margaret.”

But she continued.

“Michael discovered that someone had altered the inheritance records before the three babies were born. He believed the changes were made to determine who would eventually control the Vale estate.”

Adrian looked at the documents on the table.

“That's why the hospital records were changed?”

“Partly.”

Elena's thoughts raced.

“Then why was I brought home by Margaret? Why was my identity changed?”

Margaret turned toward her.

“Because the person who was supposed to take you never arrived.”

Elena went still.

“What?”

Margaret's voice broke.

“I was told that the baby I brought home was mine. I believed it. I loved you as my daughter. But years later, I discovered that the hospital had given me a different child.”

Elena swallowed.

“Did you ever find out who my biological mother was?”

Margaret looked at Jonathan.

He didn't answer.

That silence frightened Elena more than any confession.

“Jonathan?”

He finally spoke.

“Michael left behind a record. It contained the names of the three women who gave birth that night. But one name had been deliberately removed.”

“Whose name?” Adrian asked.

Jonathan shook his head.

“We never found out.”

Catherine stepped closer.

“Could that woman be the mother of my daughter?”

“It's possible,” Jonathan replied.

Catherine's eyes filled again.

“Then my child might have been given another identity.”

Margaret nodded.

“That's what Michael feared.”

Elena looked at the photograph.

The woman wearing the necklace had been standing beside Michael. If Margaret had been his legal wife, who was the woman in the picture?

“Margaret, who is she?”

Margaret examined the photograph.

Her expression changed.

“Where did you get this?”

“From the residence where Evelyn stayed.”

Margaret touched the edge of the picture.

“This woman isn't Catherine.”

Catherine frowned.

“Then who is she?”

Margaret's voice dropped.

“Her name was Rose.”

Elena's heart skipped.

“Rose?”

“Michael called her his sister.”

Charles immediately stepped forward.

“Michael never had a sister.”

Margaret looked at him.

“That is what he wanted everyone to believe.”

Jonathan took the photograph from Elena.

He studied the woman's face for several seconds.

Then he turned it over.

There was something written beneath the faded date.

THE FOURTH WOMAN MUST NEVER BE FOUND.

Adrian read the words aloud.

“Four women?”

Margaret nodded.

“Three women gave birth that night. But Michael believed another woman had been involved in changing the records.”

“Rose?” Elena asked.

“I don't know.”

Suddenly, Catherine noticed something on the photograph.

“Wait.”

She pointed to the woman's hand.

A small ring was visible on her finger.

Catherine's face drained of colour.

“I've seen that ring before.”

“Where?” Jonathan asked.

Catherine slowly looked toward Charles.

“On the woman who visited me in the hospital after my daughter was born.”

Charles stared at her.

“You never told me about that.”

“Because I thought she was one of Michael's relatives.”

Margaret's eyes widened.

“What did she look like?”

Catherine struggled to remember.

“Dark hair. A scar near her left eyebrow. She told me my daughter was safe.”

Elena looked at the photograph again.

The woman had a faint mark near her eyebrow.

It was Rose.

Before anyone could speak, Adrian's phone vibrated.

An unknown number.

He opened the message.

There was a photograph of Margaret and Michael standing outside a courthouse.

Beneath it were four words.

YOUR MOTHER IS STILL LYING.

Adrian looked up.

“Margaret, who sent this?”

She stared at the screen.

Then her hands began to tremble.

“That's impossible.”

Elena moved closer.

“What is it?”

Margaret looked at the photograph, then at the people gathered around her.

“Michael didn't disappear after our marriage.”

She swallowed.

“He disappeared before it.”

Jonathan's expression turned pale.

“Margaret, don't.”

But she continued.

“The man I married wasn't Michael Hayes.”

She pointed at the photograph.

“That was his brother.”

Catherine took a step backward.

“Michael had a brother?”

Margaret nodded.

“And his name was Rose's husband.”

A new message appeared on Adrian's phone.

ASK JONATHAN WHO HE BURIED TWENTY YEARS AGO.

Everyone turned toward Jonathan.

He didn't look surprised.

He looked terrified.

Because he knew exactly whose grave they were being asked to open.