CHAPTER 4 — THE TWIN WHO WAS SOLD
The recording ended.
No one moved.
No one even remembered they were standing at a birthday party.
Three hundred guests had just witnessed something that belonged in a courtroom.
Not a ballroom.
Chloe slowly looked toward her father.
"I heard it..."
She whispered.
"Tell me it isn't real."
Victor rubbed both hands across his face.
"It isn't what it sounds like."
Emily let out a quiet laugh.
"The guilty always say that."
Victor suddenly exploded.
"You know nothing!"
His voice echoed through the ballroom.
"I did what I had to do!"
Richard slammed his cane against the marble floor.
"What you had to do?"
"You sold your daughter!"
Victor turned toward him.
"I SAVED THIS FAMILY!"
His scream stunned everyone.
"You think investors wanted twins?"
"You think the Lancaster Board would've accepted two heirs?"
"The inheritance agreement required one direct successor."
"If the truth came out..."
"The company would've been split."
"The board would've removed me."
"I would've lost everything!"
Emily stared at him.
"So..."
"...I was worth less than your stock price."
Victor couldn't answer.
Because...
It was true.
Emily slowly bent down and picked up the old velvet jewelry box.
She held the broken butterfly necklace in her palm.
"My grandmother told me something before she died."
"She said Mom fought you."
"She begged you not to separate us."
Victor's lips trembled.
Emily continued,
"She said Mom threatened divorce."
Richard looked horrified.
"What?"
Emily nodded.
"She refused to sign the adoption papers."
Victor closed his eyes.
Emily looked directly at him.
"So you forged her signature."
The ballroom exploded again.
"No..."
Richard whispered.
Victor shouted,
"She would've died anyway!"
Emily froze.
"What did you say?"
He realized his mistake.
Too late.
Emily stepped closer.
"What do you mean..."
"...she would've died anyway?"
Victor stumbled backward.
"I..."
"I didn't..."
Emily's voice became ice.
"My mother didn't die during childbirth..."
"...did she?"
No answer.
Richard slowly looked at his son.
"...Victor?"
Victor's breathing became heavier.
Finally...
He whispered,
"No."
The ballroom became so quiet that even the cameras stopped clicking.
Chloe felt her knees weaken.
"What..."
"...happened?"
Victor covered his face.
"She survived."
The room gasped.
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"Then where is she?"
Victor looked toward the floor.
"I told her Emily was dead."
"I told her the baby didn't survive."
Emily's heart shattered.
"And Chloe?"
Victor whispered,
"I told Chloe her mother died."
Chloe stared at him as if looking at a stranger.
"You lied to both of us..."
"For twenty-three years."
Victor nodded.
"I thought..."
"...it was the only way."
Emily shook her head slowly.
"No."
"It was the easiest way."
Just then...
A calm female voice echoed from the ballroom entrance.
"No, Victor."
"It was the cruelest way."
Every head turned.
An elderly woman with silver hair stood in the doorway, leaning lightly on a wooden cane.
Though older...
Though thinner...
Though marked by time...
Chloe recognized her instantly.
From every childhood photograph.
From every portrait hanging inside the Lancaster mansion.
The birthday cake slipped from the table and crashed onto the floor.
Chloe's lips trembled.
Impossible.
Her voice barely escaped.
"...Mom?"
The woman smiled through tears.
"Happy birthday..."
"...my daughters."
May you like
The ballroom erupted into absolute chaos.
END OF CHAPTER 4
