CHAPTER 5 – The Child Who Vanished Into the Fire
The mansion fell into complete silence.
The elderly woman stepped forward without fear.
She looked directly at Daniel, then Michael, then Emily.
Finally, she whispered one name.
"Richard..."
Tears filled her eyes.
Attorney James Holloway immediately recognized her.
"Mrs. Eleanor Brooks..."
The siblings exchanged confused glances.
"Who is she?" Daniel demanded.
James took a deep breath.
"Thirty-two years ago, Eleanor Brooks was your family's nanny."
The room froze.
Eleanor carefully removed a faded photograph from her purse.
It showed Richard Whitmore standing beside his late wife, Catherine...
...holding four children.
Not three.
Four.
Emily's voice trembled.
"There were only three of us."
Eleanor slowly shook her head.
"No."
"There were four."
Michael stared at the picture.
A little girl, barely three years old, stood beside Catherine, smiling at the camera.
None of the siblings had ever seen her before.
"What happened to her?" Daniel whispered.
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"The night the Whitmore mansion caught fire..."
"...everyone believed little Sophie died in the flames."
James interrupted quietly.
"Because that's what Richard wanted the world to believe."
Shock spread across every face.
"What?" Emily gasped.
Eleanor nodded.
"The fire wasn't an accident."
"Someone tried to kidnap Richard's children."
Richard managed to save three of them.
But little Sophie disappeared before firefighters arrived.
No body was ever found.
Yet Richard publicly announced that she had died.
"Why would he lie?" Michael asked.
"To stop the kidnappers from looking for her."
Daniel suddenly remembered the words written on the photograph.
'The real heir was never one of you.'
His heart nearly stopped.
"Sophie..."
"...she's alive."
Before Eleanor could answer...
A black SUV sped through the mansion gates.
Several armed men jumped out.
One of them shouted,
"Take the old woman!"
Gunshots shattered the windows.
The siblings dove to the floor as bodyguards rushed into the hallway.
Eleanor screamed,
May you like
"They've found me!"
"They're coming for Sophie!"
