Chapter 8: The Daughter Who Was Taught to Hate Us
The message seemed to drain the warmth from the room.
I read it twice before showing Eleanor.
She took a screenshot and handed my phone to the officer beside her.
“Preserve this. We may need the original message data.””
My father was still staring at the parental consent form.
“I never signed that.””
Amelia looked at him.
“You don't remember signing it?””
“No.””
“You don't remember giving me away?””
“No.””
Her expression twisted.
“Then why does your signature say otherwise?””
My father had no answer.
I moved closer to Amelia, careful not to touch her without permission.
“Can you tell us what Vanessa meant about you being paid?””
Amelia looked toward the officers.
“Not here.””
Eleanor nodded.
“That's reasonable. We'll arrange a private interview with an investigator and a support specialist. You don't have to explain everything at once.””
Amelia shook her head.
“You don't understand. Vanessa knows where I live. She knows my employer. She knows the people who raised me.””
“Are they involved?”” I asked.
“I don't know.””
Her hands began to shake.
“She told me my adoptive parents were the only people who had ever wanted me. She said my biological family had abandoned me, and if I ever tried to contact them, they'd take everything away.””
My mother covered her mouth.
“Oh, Amelia.””
Amelia looked at her sharply.
“Please don't call me that like you know me.””
Lydia stepped back.
“I'm sorry.””
The pain on my mother's face was almost unbearable, but Amelia had the right to her anger. She had been taken from us as a newborn, raised under a different name, and taught that her own family had rejected her.
She couldn't be expected to embrace us simply because we had found her.
I crouched beside her.
“You don't have to trust us today.””
She looked at me.
“Then why are you here?””
“Because you're my sister.””
Her lower lip trembled.
“You don't even know me.””
“No,” I said.
“But I want to.””
For a moment, I thought she might reach for my hand.
Instead, she turned away.
“Vanessa said you'd say that.””
The words made my stomach tighten.
“What else did she tell you?””
Amelia closed her eyes.
“That your father was dangerous. That he had used his money to buy people, and when my mother tried to expose him, he had her declared dead.””
My father looked horrified.
“I would never—”
“She showed me documents,” Amelia interrupted.
“Hospital records. Letters. A photograph of him standing outside the building where my mother was supposedly treated.””
She swallowed.
“She said you had been trying to find me because Grandpa left me money. She said I was worth more to you alive than dead.””
My father lowered his head.
“I'm sorry.””
Amelia laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
I understood then that the word had become meaningless to her. She had spent her life hearing explanations for why people had failed her.
She didn't need another apology.
She needed evidence.
Eleanor approached.
“Amelia, did Vanessa tell you to come to the warehouse tonight?””
Amelia nodded.
“She said I had to retrieve a file. She told me someone would bring it to me, and I should make sure Ariya came alone.””
“Did she tell you what was in the file?””
“No.””
“Did you agree to help her?””
Amelia hesitated.
“Yes.””
My mother closed her eyes.
Amelia's voice rose defensively.
“I didn't know she was going to have me tied up! I thought I was helping someone uncover fraud. She said Ariya had stolen my inheritance and that Marcus was trying to erase me again.””
I shook my head.
“I didn't know you existed until today.””
“I know that now.””
She looked at me, and for the first time, I saw something besides anger in her eyes.
Shame.
“I sent the first message,” she whispered.
“What?””
“The message telling you to come to Riverside Park. I had been given access to your contact information. Vanessa told me to send it.””
My mother stared at her.
“You were the person who brought Ariya to the park?””
Amelia nodded.
“But when I saw you two together, I couldn't go through with it. I was supposed to record your conversation and send it to Vanessa. Instead, I warned you to run.””
My heart pounded.
The unknown number.
The warnings.
The photograph of me outside the house.
Amelia had been watching me before we met.
“Why didn't you tell me who you were?”” I asked.
“Because I was afraid.””
She looked at the floor.
“I'd been told my whole life that my biological family was dangerous. Then Vanessa told me she would pay off my debts if I helped her recover a document from the warehouse.””
“Your debts?”” my father asked.
Amelia stiffened.
“I don't want your money.””
“I didn't offer—”
“Everyone offers money when they want something.””
The room fell silent.
I thought of the trust, the millions of dollars, the documents that had turned our family into a battlefield.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the brass key from my grandfather's letter.
“This key opened a box with photographs of us as babies. Grandpa knew you were alive. He tried to protect both of us.””
Amelia stared at the key.
“Grandpa Thomas?””
I nodded.
“He left me a letter.””
She began to cry silently.
“He used to send birthday cards to my old address. My adoptive mother told me they were from a distant relative. Then, when I turned sixteen, the cards stopped.””
My father looked up.
“Do you still have them?””
Amelia nodded.
“They're at my apartment.””
Eleanor exchanged a look with the investigator.
“Those cards could be important evidence. But we shouldn't send you back there until we know it's safe.””
Amelia hugged herself.
“I don't have anywhere else to go.””
My mother took a small step forward.
“You can stay with me.””
Amelia looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because you're my daughter.””
“You don't know anything about me.””
“I know you were born six minutes after your sister. I know you had a tiny mark above your left eyebrow. I know I spent eighteen years wondering whether you were cold, whether you were frightened, whether you had anyone to hold you when you cried.””
Lydia's voice broke.
“I don't know your favorite food. I don't know what makes you laugh. I don't know whether you like music or hate it when people touch your hair. But I want to learn every single thing.””
Amelia stared at her for a long time.
Then she whispered, “I don't know how to be your daughter.””
My mother nodded through her tears.
“Then we'll learn together.””
An officer approached Eleanor and handed her a second evidence bag.
“We found a laptop in the office. It was left running. Our technical team recovered several messages before securing it.””
Eleanor examined the screen.
“What messages?””
“The most recent exchange appears to be between someone identified as VJ and an account registered to Evelyn Vale.””
She read the first line silently.
Then she looked at my father.
“Marcus, you need to see this.””
He stood beside her.
The message was dated three days earlier.
*VJ: The girls must never meet. If they compare records, everything falls apart.*
The reply came almost immediately.
*EV: What about the trust?*
*VJ: Once Marcus signs the final transfer, we won't need the girls anymore.*
My father gripped the edge of the table.
“What final transfer?””
Eleanor scrolled down.
A third message appeared.
*EV: He doesn't know about the account in his name.*
*VJ: He will sign it tomorrow. Tell him it's for the graduation fund.*
I felt sick.
Tomorrow.
My graduation fund.
Vanessa had been preparing another deception while pretending to celebrate my academic success.
My father shook his head.
“I never agreed to transfer any money.””
Eleanor continued reading.
The next message contained a list of account numbers, a company registration, and an instruction to destroy the original trust documents once the transfer was completed.
Then came a final exchange.
*EV: And the girls?*
*VJ: Ariya will be easy to control. Amelia already believes us. If either one becomes a problem, we use the other.*
Amelia began trembling.
“I was supposed to deliver the file tonight,” she whispered.
“Vanessa said it would prove Marcus had stolen money from the family.””
I took her hand.
“It's all right.””
“No, it isn't.”” Her voice cracked.
“I helped her.””
“You were manipulated.””
“I still helped her.””
I squeezed her fingers.
“Then help us stop her.””
Amelia looked at me.
Something changed in her expression.
For the first time, she wasn't looking at me as a rival, an enemy, or a stranger who had appeared to take away the only life she knew.
She was looking at me as someone who understood what it meant to be trapped by another person's lies.
Eleanor turned to the investigator.
“We need to preserve that laptop, trace the accounts, and obtain a warrant for the financial records. We also need to identify the source of the forged consent form.””
The investigator nodded.
“We're already working on it.””
My father stepped away from the table.
“I need to call my board.””
Eleanor stopped him.
“Not yet. If the messages are authentic, someone inside your company may be involved. We should secure the financial records before anyone is alerted.””
He reluctantly agreed.
Then Amelia spoke.
“There is something else.””
Everyone turned.
She reached into the pocket of the borrowed jacket and withdrew a small memory card.
“Vanessa gave me this before I came here. She said it contained the evidence that would prove Marcus signed the papers.””
Eleanor accepted it carefully.
“Did you examine it?””
“No. But she told me to destroy it after I copied the file from the warehouse.””
“Why didn't you?””
Amelia looked at me.
“Because I wanted to know whether she was telling the truth.””
Eleanor handed the card to the investigator.
“We'll have it examined.””
A few minutes later, the technical specialist returned with a laptop and a grim expression.
“The memory card contains an audio recording.””
He connected the device to a speaker.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
Vanessa.
“I don't care what you have to do. The girls must never discover they're twins.””
Another voice answered.
A man.
“Your husband is already asking questions.””
“Then make sure he stops.””
“And if he doesn't?””
There was a long silence.
Then Vanessa spoke again, her voice cold and deliberate.
“If Marcus discovers what happened that night, tell him the truth about Lydia.””
My mother went rigid.
The recording continued.
“And if he still refuses to cooperate,” the man asked, “what about the second baby?””
Vanessa laughed softly.
“There was never supposed to be a second baby.””
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
My mother slowly lowered herself into a chair.
My father stared at the laptop as if he wanted to smash it.
I turned toward Eleanor.
“What does that mean?””
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she replayed the final seconds.
There was never supposed to be a second baby.
My mother began to cry.
“That's not what happened.””
I knelt beside her.
“What do you mean?””
She looked at me through tears.
“When I went into labor, the doctors told me I was having one baby. Then, during the delivery, another doctor rushed into the room and said they had discovered a second heartbeat.””
She took a trembling breath.
“I had never been told I was carrying twins. No one had prepared me. They said it was rare, that the second baby had been hidden behind the first on the scans.””
My father stared at her.
“But how could that happen?””
“I don't know. I only know what they told me.””
Eleanor paused the recording.
“There's a possibility Vanessa was involved before the delivery, not just afterward.””
My stomach tightened.
“You mean she knew Mom was having twins?””
“Possibly.””
My mother wiped her cheeks.
“Vanessa had visited me at the hospital before the birth. She told me she wanted to help because Marcus was busy with the company. She brought flowers and asked questions about the pregnancy.””
My father looked stunned.
“She told me she had never visited you.””
Lydia laughed through her tears.
“Of course she did.””
Eleanor closed the laptop.
“We need to determine when Vanessa first learned about the second baby and who authorized the transfer.””
Amelia looked at me.
“If she knew about us before we were born, then everything that happened afterward was planned.””
I thought of the forged documents, the hidden trust, and the woman who had spent eighteen years trying to keep two sisters apart.
Then I looked at my father.
“There's only one person who can tell us what Vanessa was planning before we were born.””
He nodded slowly.
“Vanessa.””
Eleanor's phone rang.
She listened for several seconds, then turned toward us.
“The police have located her vehicle outside your home. She appears to have returned.””
My father grabbed his coat.
“I'm going back.””
Eleanor stood.
“Marcus, don't confront her alone.””
He looked at the evidence on the table.
“She has been lying to me for eighteen years.””
“And if you confront her now, she may destroy the remaining records.””
He stopped.
I took Amelia's hand.
“Then we make sure she can't destroy anything else.””
My sister looked at me, her eyes red but determined.
For the first time, she nodded without hesitation.
We were no longer two girls being manipulated from opposite sides of a family.
May you like
We were two witnesses who could finally compare the truth.
And Vanessa had no idea how much we had already discovered.
