Chapter 8: The Daughter They Stole
David ran upstairs.
Ethan was right behind him.
The house seemed to stretch as they climbed, every step louder than the one before it.
“Lauren!””
No answer.
Then another scream.
“David!””
He reached the landing and saw an open bedroom door at the end of the hall.
A lamp had been knocked over.
A chair lay on its side.
The curtains were moving in the open window.
David rushed inside.
Lauren was on the floor beside the bed.
Her wrists were tied behind her back.
Blood streaked one side of her face.
David dropped beside her.
“Lauren.””
She looked up.
“David…”
“Who did this?””
“Your father.””
Ethan pulled out a knife and cut the restraints.
Lauren struggled upright.
“Where's Rebecca?””
Lauren shook her head.
“I don't know.””
David grabbed her shoulders.
“Where is Sophie?””
Lauren stared at him.
“What?””
“Sophie.””
“She’s with Maya.””
David froze.
“No.””
Lauren's face changed.
“What?””
David pulled out his phone.
There were six missed calls from Maya.
His heart stopped.
He called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a text arrived.
*DAVID, COME BACK NOW.*
A second message followed.
*SOPHIE IS GONE.*
David stood so quickly Lauren nearly fell backward.
“No.””
Ethan took the phone.
“When?””
“Just now.””
David looked at Lauren.
“Who took her?””
“I don't know.””
“You said my father was here.””
“I saw him downstairs.””
“Then he took her.””
Lauren shook her head.
“No.””
“Why not?””
“Because he wasn't alone.””
David's blood ran cold.
“Who was with him?””
Lauren's eyes filled.
“Rebecca.””
Ethan swore.
David felt the room tilt.
“Your mother.””
Lauren nodded.
“They came for the child.””
David's voice became a whisper.
“My child?””
Lauren didn't answer.
David grabbed his jacket.
“Where did they take her?””
“I don't know.””
“You do.””
“No.””
“You do!””
Lauren recoiled.
Ethan stepped between them.
“David.””
He looked at his brother.
“She knows.””
“She knows something,” Ethan said.
“But screaming won't make her remember it.””
Lauren wiped the blood from her cheek.
“I know where they might go.””
David stared at her.
“Where?””
“The old house.””
“What old house?””
“Your mother's.””
David frowned.
“My mother's house was sold.””
“Not that one.””
Lauren's voice dropped.
“The house Rebecca kept.””
David felt another piece click into place.
“Where?””
“Outside town.””
Ethan was already moving.
“Let's go.””
They made it downstairs.
Nathan Cole was still in the study.
David stopped.
“You're coming.””
Nathan looked at him.
“I won't survive the drive.””
“Then tell me where the house is.””
Nathan hesitated.
Lauren answered for him.
“Blackridge Road.””
David knew it.
A narrow rural road forty minutes outside the city.
His father owned land there.
Land David had never been allowed to visit.
He had been told the property was worthless.
Old family land.
Too expensive to maintain.
He had never questioned it.
Now he wondered why.
They drove in two cars.
David drove Lauren.
Ethan followed.
The road disappeared into dense trees.
No houses.
No traffic.
No cell signal.
Lauren stared through the window.
“Rebecca used to bring me here.””
“When?””
“When I was little.””
“What do you remember?””
“She said it was where our family kept things that couldn't be found.””
“What kind of things?””
“Records. Money. Photographs.””
“Bodies?””
Lauren looked at him.
David didn't blink.
“Wouldn't surprise you anymore, would it?””
“No.””
After a few miles, the trees opened.
A large stone house appeared on a hill.
Its windows were boarded.
A rusted gate hung open.
David pulled over.
Ethan's car stopped behind them.
Everyone got out.
The house looked abandoned.
But the front door was unlocked.
David's pulse quickened.
Lauren whispered, “She’s here.””
“Who?””
“Rebecca.””
They entered.
Dust covered the floor.
The air smelled stale.
Ethan pointed at the staircase.
“Someone's been here recently.””
There were muddy footprints.
Small.
Child-sized.
David's stomach turned.
“Sophie.””
He followed the prints.
They led downstairs.
A cellar door stood open.
David descended.
“Daddy!””
Sophie screamed.
David ran.
He found her tied to a wooden chair.
A cloth had been wrapped around her wrists, but she wasn't bleeding.
David dropped beside her.
“Sophie.””
She burst into tears.
“I was scared.””
“I've got you.””
He untied her.
She grabbed his shirt.
“Don't let her take me.””
“Who?””
“Grandma.””
David froze.
“Rebecca?””
Sophie nodded.
“She said you're not my real daddy.””
David's heart cracked.
“She said you're trying to steal me.””
David pulled Sophie against his chest.
“She lied.””
A woman's voice floated from the darkness.
“She didn't.””
David looked up.
Rebecca stepped into the cellar.
She looked older than the photograph.
Gray hair.
Elegant black coat.
Calm eyes.
A pistol rested loosely in one hand.
Ethan moved in front of David.
Rebecca smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.””
He raised his weapon.
“You're done.””
“Am I?””
“Put the gun down.””
Rebecca glanced at him.
“You've been hiding for six years and still think you can give orders.””
David stood, keeping Sophie behind him.
“You killed Anna.””
Rebecca looked at him.
“No.””
“Then who did?””
“I didn't.””
“You helped hide her.””
“Yes.””
“You helped steal my daughter.””
Rebecca's expression softened.
“I saved her.””
David laughed bitterly.
“By kidnapping her?””
“She was never yours.””
Sophie whimpered behind him.
David looked back.
“Don't listen.””
Rebecca shook her head.
“You deserve the truth.””
“I've heard enough truth from liars.””
“Then listen to the blood.””
David stared.
Rebecca pointed at Sophie.
“That child is not Anna's.””
David's breath caught.
“You said Anna gave birth to her.””
“She did.””
“Then how is she not her daughter?””
Rebecca's expression hardened.
“Because the baby Anna gave birth to died.””
Silence.
David felt Sophie tighten her grip on his jacket.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“She died?””
“Hours after birth.””
David shook his head.
“You're lying.””
“I wish I were.””
Rebecca lowered the gun slightly.
“Anna couldn't accept it.””
“What happened?””
“She was devastated. She had lost too much already.””
David stared at her.
“And you replaced her baby.””
Rebecca nodded.
“With another.””
“Whose?””
Rebecca looked at Lauren.
Lauren closed her eyes.
David turned.
“Lauren?””
Lauren whispered, “Don't.””
“Whose baby is Sophie?””
Rebecca answered.
“My granddaughter's.””
David's expression froze.
“You're saying…”
Rebecca nodded.
“Sophie is Lauren's biological daughter.””
David looked at Lauren.
She was crying.
“No.””
“David,” she whispered.
“No.””
“I didn't know how to tell you.””
“You're her mother?””
Lauren nodded.
David's head spun.
That meant the woman he had nearly married had secretly been Sophie's mother all along.
But another question was immediate.
“Then Anna?””
Rebecca looked at him.
“Anna raised her for four years because Lauren couldn't.””
David stared at Lauren.
“Why?””
Lauren covered her mouth.
“I was nineteen.””
“Who was the father?””
Lauren looked toward Ethan.
Ethan went rigid.
David saw it.
“No.””
Ethan's face was full of pain.
“David…”
“No.””
Lauren whispered, “It's Ethan.””
David stepped backward.
Sophie was Lauren's daughter.
Ethan was her father.
Anna had raised her.
And David had spent eight years believing she was his.
He looked at Sophie.
She looked back through wet eyes.
“Daddy?””
The word tore through him.
David knelt.
He took her face in his hands.
“You're my daughter.””
Sophie nodded.
“I know.””
David kissed her forehead.
“I don't care what any paper says.””
Rebecca watched silently.
Then she said, “That's what Anna wanted.””
David looked up.
“What?””
“For you to love her anyway.””
Lauren began sobbing.
David turned to her.
“Why did you come into my life?””
“To get close to you.””
He stood.
“Why?””
“Because Rebecca ordered me to.””
“Why?””
“Because she wanted something from the company.””
David looked at Rebecca.
“What?””
Rebecca smiled.
“The shares your father left you.””
David frowned.
“My father didn't leave me anything.””
Rebecca shook her head.
“Your father didn't give you the shares.””
She took a folded document from her coat.
“He gave them to Sophie.””
David stared.
“That's impossible.””
Rebecca held out the paper.
“Read it.””
David took it.
The document transferred controlling ownership of Mercer Holdings into a trust.
Beneficiary:
*Sophie Mercer.*
Trustee:
*Lauren Cole.*
Effective date:
The day Sophie turned eighteen.
David looked at Lauren.
“You were going to control everything.””
“Until she was eighteen.””
“Your mother would control you.””
Lauren nodded.
“She threatened to take Sophie if I didn't cooperate.””
Rebecca's expression changed.
“You're making me sound cruel.””
“You kidnapped my daughter.””
“I protected her from your father.””
David turned.
“Enough.””
Everyone fell silent.
“Where is my father?””
Rebecca smiled faintly.
“Exactly where he should be.””
“What does that mean?””
“He's waiting.””
“Where?””
“Back at your house.””
David felt a chill.
“For what?””
Rebecca looked toward Sophie.
“To finish what Anna started.””
David's stomach dropped.
“What did Anna start?””
Rebecca's smile disappeared.
“She found the original birth records.””
David stared.
“Where?””
“In your house.””
“Where in my house?””
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Behind the nursery wall.””
David's heart slammed against his ribs.
The nursery had been untouched since Anna died.
He had never been able to change it.
Rebecca continued.
“Anna hid something there the night before she died.””
“What?””
“A recording.””
David's mouth went dry.
“Of what?””
“Your father admitting who ordered her murder.””
David looked at Ethan.
His brother nodded slowly.
“That means the recording can prove everything.””
Rebecca's eyes hardened.
“Yes.””
David held Sophie closer.
“Then why tell me?””
Rebecca looked toward the cellar door.
“Because I don't have the recording.””
“Who does?””
Rebecca smiled.
“Your father.””
A sudden sound came from upstairs.
A car door slammed.
Then another.
Ethan raised his weapon.
“He's here.””
David looked at the staircase.
“Who?””
Rebecca answered softly.
“Your father.””
She turned toward the stairs.
“And he's not alone.””
A man's voice echoed through the house.
“David!””
David recognized it immediately.
His father.
Then a second voice called from upstairs.
A woman's voice.
Anna's voice.
David stopped breathing.
“David, don't believe Rebecca.””
Sophie screamed.
“That sounds like Mommy.””
David stared into the darkness above.
May you like
And then Anna's voice said:
“She's lying about who really killed me.””