CHAPTER 7 — The Sister She Never Knew
The station fell silent.
Emily couldn't breathe.
"No..."
She stared at Margaret through the giant television screens.
"You're lying."
Margaret smiled.
"Am I?"
Daniel looked back and forth between Emily and Lily, completely frozen.
Margaret continued.
"Your parents never told you the truth because they were paid to keep it buried."
Emily's knees nearly gave out.
"My parents are dead."
"They weren't your biological parents."
Every word hit harder than the last.
Lily slowly reached into the leather notebook.
"There was one page I never understood."
She unfolded a yellow birth certificate.
Two infant names.
Born on the same day.
Same hospital.
Same mother.
Sophia Carter.
Emily Carter.
Twins.
Emily's vision blurred.
"My whole life..."
"...I had a sister."
Daniel gently held her shoulders as tears streamed down her face.
"You never knew."
Emily shook her head.
"They stole her from me..."
Lily looked at Emily with trembling eyes.
"My mom talked about you before she died."
Emily's heart stopped.
"What?"
Lily handed her a tiny cassette recorder.
"My mother recorded one final message."
Emily pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Sophia's weak voice emerged.
"Emily... if you're hearing this... they lied to us our entire lives."
"You were never abandoned."
"I searched for you every year."
"If Daniel is with you... tell him I never stopped loving him."
Daniel covered his face, unable to hold back his tears.
Sophia continued.
"The Harrington fortune was built on stolen children... stolen identities... and murder."
"The proof isn't in the notebook."
"It's under Blackwood Manor."
The recording ended.
Suddenly...
Every light inside the station went dark.
A deafening explosion echoed from outside.
May you like
The parking garage erupted into flames.
Margaret had decided there would be no survivors.
