Chapter 22 — Margaret Vale

The house was supposed to be empty.

That was the first thing Adrian noticed.

The second was the front door.

It was open.

Lena stayed close to him as they walked toward the small house at the end of the quiet street. Daniel remained a few steps behind them, watching the road.

“Your mother is supposed to be inside?” Adrian asked.

Daniel nodded. “That's what I was told.”

Lena's heart was pounding.

After everything that had happened, hearing that her mother was alive should have made her feel relieved.

Instead, she felt afraid.

Adrian reached for her hand.

She looked at him.

“We go in together.”

She nodded.

They stepped inside.

The house was dark and unusually quiet.

“Margaret?” Daniel called.

No answer.

Lena looked around.

There were old photographs on the walls. A younger Margaret stood beside Adrian's mother in several of them.

Then Lena saw something that made her stop.

A photograph of her mother.

She walked toward it.

Her mother was much younger, standing beside Margaret.

And in her arms was a baby.

Lena stared at the photograph.

“That's me.”

Adrian came closer.

“You're sure?”

“I know my mother's face.”

He looked at the baby.

Something about the picture bothered him.

“What?”

Lena noticed his expression.

“You see something?”

Adrian pointed toward the baby's wrist.

There was a small silver bracelet.

The same bracelet they had seen in the old hospital records.

Lena's heart raced.

“That was the bracelet from the file.”

“Yes.”

Daniel walked over.

His face changed when he saw the photograph.

“I've never seen this.”

“Then my mother kept it from you too,” Lena said.

A noise came from upstairs.

Everyone froze.

Adrian immediately moved in front of Lena.

“Stay here.”

“No.”

“Lena—”

“I'm coming.”

He gave her a frustrated look but didn't argue.

They climbed the stairs.

The hallway was empty.

At the end was a bedroom with the door slightly open.

Adrian pushed it wider.

The room was empty.

Except for a chair beside the window.

And a woman sitting in it.

“Margaret?”

The woman slowly turned.

She was older now, her hair completely gray.

But Lena recognized her from the photographs.

Margaret looked at Lena.

Then her eyes filled with tears.

“You look just like your mother.”

Lena stepped closer.

“Where is my mother?”

Margaret looked toward the door.

“She was here.”

“When?”

“Less than an hour ago.”

Lena's heart sank.

“Where did she go?”

“I don't know.”

“You said you found her.”

“I did.”

“Then how did she disappear?”

Margaret looked at Adrian.

“Because they found us.”

Adrian's expression hardened.

“Who?”

Margaret's hands trembled.

“The people who have been searching for the child.”

Lena's chest tightened.

“The baby?”

Margaret nodded.

“Your mother brought you here because she knew they were close.”

“But the messages said the baby wasn't me.”

Margaret looked at her for a long moment.

“That's because there were two babies.”

Lena stopped breathing.

Adrian stared at her.

“Two?”

Margaret nodded.

“Twins.”

The room seemed to spin.

Lena gripped the edge of the desk.

“My mother had twins?”

“Yes.”

“Where is the other one?”

Margaret looked down.

“That is the question your mother has spent twenty-four years trying to answer.”

Lena's voice trembled.

“Who is she?”

“We don't know.”

“Then why are they looking for her?”

“Because she inherited something.”

“What?”

Margaret hesitated.

“The Blackwood legacy.”

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

“What exactly?”

Margaret looked at him.

“Your father's secret trust.”

Silence.

Adrian stepped closer.

“My father had a hidden trust?”

“Yes.”

“Why would a baby inherit it?”

“Because the trust wasn't meant for your father.”

Margaret's voice dropped.

“It was created for someone your father believed would expose him.”

Lena stared at her.

“Me?”

“No.”

Margaret shook her head.

“Your sister.”

Lena felt tears fill her eyes.

“I have a sister.”

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

Margaret looked toward the window.

Before she could answer, the glass shattered.

Adrian pulled Lena to the floor.

A bullet struck the wall behind them.

“Down!”

Daniel dropped beside them.

Another shot rang out.

Margaret screamed.

Adrian crawled toward the window and looked outside.

“They're here.”

Lena's heart raced.

“How many?”

“Three.”

Then Margaret suddenly grabbed Lena's wrist.

Her eyes were filled with terror.

“There is one thing you need to know.”

“What?”

Margaret leaned closer.

“The woman you've been calling your mother…”

She swallowed.

“She wasn't the only one who gave birth that night.”

Lena stared at her.

“What are you saying?”

Margaret's voice trembled.

“Your biological mother isn't the woman you think she is.”

Adrian's face went pale.

Before Lena could ask another question, the bedroom door exploded inward.