Chapter 5:The Hidden Name
634 Words
“Something buried with her?”
Alexander nodded.
“We’re going to the cemetery.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
They arrived to find police vehicles near the gates.
A security officer approached Alexander.
“Mr. Sterling, the area is secured.”
“Did you find anything?”
“Not yet.”
Elena walked toward her mother’s grave.
The ground had been disturbed.
Alexander crouched near the edge.
“Look.”
He pointed to a small piece of metal.
Elena picked it up.
Another key.
She turned it over.
“L. Marlowe.”
Alexander stared at it.
“There’s a number too.”
“Seventeen.”
“What does seventeen mean?”
“I don’t know.”
A voice came from behind them.
“I do.”
Elena turned.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
The older woman held an envelope.
“I needed to give you this.”
“You followed us?”
“No. I came because I knew you would find the key"
Elena took the envelope.
Her name was written across it.
She opened it.
A letter.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Elena began reading.
“If you’re reading this, someone has finally told you about the Sterlings.”
She stopped.
Alexander watched her.
“What?”
“It says I was never supposed to know the name Lucien Marlowe.”
Mrs. Whitmore closed her eyes.
“Elena…”
“Who is Lucien?”
The older woman took a breath.
“Your father.”
Elena went silent.
“My father?”
Alexander stared at Mrs. Whitmore.
“You told me Lucien died twenty-one years ago.”
“He did.”
“How can he be her father?”
“He died before Elena was born.”
Elena shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
“Your birth records were changed.”
“Why?”
“Your mother wanted to protect you.”
“From the Sterlings?”
Mrs. Whitmore nodded.
“She discovered that Lucien had been murdered.”
Elena’s voice cracked.
"Murdered?"
Alexander stepped forward.
“Who killed him?”
Mrs. Whitmore looked directly at him.
“That is what your father spent years hiding.”
“My father?”
“He knew what happened.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“What else did he hide?”
“Your mother believed someone inside the Sterling family was responsible.”
Elena looked down at the letter.
Another sentence was written beneath the first.
“Do not trust the Sterling who offers you protection.”
She slowly looked at Alexander.
“Then why did you ask me to marry you?”
He took a breath.
“Because I believe someone in my family is responsible.”
“And you think marrying me will help you find them?”
“Yes.”
Elena looked at the key.
A small crown was engraved beside the number.
Alexander noticed it.
“That symbol belonged to my grandfather
"Why is it on my key?”
“I don’t know.”
A car suddenly sped past the cemetery gate.
Someone threw an envelope onto the ground.
Alexander picked it up.
Inside was a photograph of Elena as a baby.
On the back were words.
“The real heir is alive.”
Elena stared at the sentence.
“Alexander…”
He looked at her.
“I think they mean you.”
“Then what exactly am I heir to?”
Alexander didn’t answer.
Elena looked back at the grave.
Someone had dug up her mother’s grave for a key.
Someone had sent her a warning.
And now someone was calling her an heir.
A final line was written beneath the photograph.
“Ask him what happened to Isabelle.”
Elena looked sharply at Alexander.
“Who is Isabelle?”
His face changed.
“Someone we should have found twenty-one years ago
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD