Chapter Nine : The Daughter They Stole
1942 Words
Elena
Elena couldn't move.
Her mother stood only a few feet away.
Alive.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakably her.
For seventeen years, Elena had imagined this moment in a thousand different ways.
She had imagined running into Isabella's arms.
She had imagined screaming at her.
She had imagined demanding to know why she had abandoned her.
She had imagined asking why she had never come back.
She had never imagined standing in a cemetery in the middle of the night while rain fell around them, with Lucien Voss beside her and a dead man's letter in his hand.
"Mom?"
The word came out broken.
Seraphina's eyes filled with tears.
"Elena."
Elena took one step forward.
Then stopped.
"What did you call me?"
Seraphina swallowed.
"Elena."
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"You called yourself Seraphina."
The woman nodded.
"Because that's who I am."
"My mother was Isabella Vale."
"I was."
"Then why did you change your name?"
Seraphina looked at Lucien.
"Because if they found me, they would find you."
Elena's chest tightened.
"Who?"
Seraphina's expression darkened.
"The Voss family."
Lucien stepped forward.
"You knew I'd find her."
Seraphina looked at him.
"I knew eventually you would."
"Why didn't you contact me?"
"I couldn't."
"You could have."
"No."
Her voice became sharp.
"You don't understand what they did."
Lucien's jaw tightened.
"Then explain."
Seraphina looked at Elena.
"Not here."
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"Where?"
"My house."
"You have a house?"
"I've had many."
Elena stared at her.
"Where were you all these years?"
Seraphina looked at her daughter.
"Running."
"From my entire life?"
"From the people who wanted you dead."
Elena's eyes burned.
"You left me."
"I left you alive."
The words struck harder than Elena expected.
She stepped backward.
"You don't get to say that."
"I know."
"You disappeared."
"I know."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I know."
"Do you have any idea what that did to me?"
Seraphina's face crumpled.
"I thought about you every day."
"Then why didn't you come back?"
"Because every time I tried, someone was watching."
Elena shook her head.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Everyone lies to me."
She looked at Lucien.
"Your family lies."
Then back at Seraphina.
"You lie."
Seraphina's eyes moved to the pendant around Elena's neck.
"No."
Her voice softened.
"I lied to keep you alive."
---
Lucien
Lucien couldn't take his eyes off Seraphina.
He remembered her.
Not clearly.
But enough.
A young woman standing beside his father.
Crying.
Holding a newborn.
And now she was standing before him seventeen years later.
Alive.
"Where is my father?"
Seraphina's expression changed.
"He is dead."
"You just told me the Voss family lied about everything."
"I said they lied about you."
"What about him?"
She looked away.
"Alexander died."
"When?"
"Not when they told you."
Lucien's heart stopped.
"When?"
Seraphina hesitated.
"March 13."
Lucien stared at her.
"The day before the official date."
"Yes."
"How?"
"He was murdered."
Lucien's fists tightened.
"By whom?"
Seraphina looked at him.
"Your grandfather."
Silence.
Lucien's entire body went still.
"My grandfather killed his own son?"
"Alexander tried to expose him."
"Expose what?"
Seraphina looked at Elena.
"The truth about the children."
Lucien's gaze followed hers.
"Children?"
Seraphina nodded.
"Not one."
"How many?"
"Two."
Elena's face went pale.
"Two?"
Seraphina stepped closer.
"Yes."
Lucien looked at Elena.
"Who was the other?"
Seraphina's eyes filled with tears.
"You."
Elena stopped breathing.
---
Elena
"No."
Seraphina reached for her.
Elena stepped away.
"Don't."
"Elena—"
"No."
She shook her head.
"You said the baby wasn't me."
"I said the story about the baby wasn't what you believed."
"Then explain."
Seraphina looked toward the cemetery.
"Seventeen years ago, I gave birth to twins."
The world seemed to tilt.
"Twins?"
"Yes."
Lucien stared at her.
"Who was the other child?"
Seraphina's lips trembled.
"A boy."
Elena stared.
"You had a son?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
Seraphina didn't answer.
"Mom."
"He was taken."
"By whom?"
Seraphina looked at Lucien.
"Your grandfather."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Why?"
"Because Augustus wanted an heir he could control."
Elena felt sick.
"So he took my brother?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I spent seventeen years trying to find him."
Elena's voice broke.
"And me?"
Seraphina reached into her coat.
She pulled out an old photograph.
It showed two newborn babies lying beside each other.
One had a tiny silver pendant.
The other wore a black bracelet.
On the back:
Twin One — Elena.
Twin Two — Elias.
Elena stared.
Her hands began shaking.
"Elias."
She whispered the name.
Something about it felt familiar.
Lucien looked at the photograph.
"Where was he taken?"
Seraphina shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Who took him?"
"I told you."
"Your grandfather?"
"Yes."
"He's dead."
"I know."
"Then who has Elias now?"
Seraphina looked at him.
"That's what you need to find out."
---
Lucien
A terrible realization formed.
"If Augustus took Elias, why did he leave Elena?"
"He didn't."
Lucien looked at Seraphina.
"What?"
"He didn't leave her."
She looked at Elena.
"Someone else took her."
"Who?"
Seraphina's expression became haunted.
"Alexander."
Lucien's blood ran cold.
"My father?"
"He was trying to save her."
"From Augustus?"
"Yes."
"Then why did he die?"
"Because Augustus found out."
Lucien stared at the ground.
The pieces were finally beginning to connect.
His father hadn't been Elena's enemy.
He had been trying to protect her.
The old photograph.
The hospital.
The pendant.
The missing birth records.
The altered death certificate.
It had all been part of one enormous cover-up.
"Why did my father bring me to the hospital?"
Seraphina's eyes softened.
"Because he wanted you to see your sister."
Lucien froze.
"My sister?"
"You were seven. You had just lost your mother."
"My mother?"
Seraphina shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward Elena.
"Your mother."
Lucien's heart pounded.
"What are you saying?"
"You were not there because you were Alexander's son."
She paused.
"You were there because Alexander wanted you to protect Elena."
Lucien stared at her.
"But why me?"
Seraphina's expression became sad.
"Because you were the only person he trusted."
---
Elena
Elena looked at Lucien.
Everything suddenly felt different.
He wasn't just the cold billionaire CEO she had met weeks ago.
He had been there before she could remember.
At her birth.
At the hospital.
During the beginning of the nightmare that had shaped her entire life.
"You knew me."
Lucien looked at her.
"Not consciously."
"But you were there."
"Yes."
"You held me."
He nodded.
"You were supposed to protect me."
"I didn't know."
"You don't remember?"
"I remember fragments."
Elena stared at him.
"And now?"
"I remember enough."
She looked down.
"Why do I feel like I know you?"
Lucien's expression changed.
"I don't know."
Seraphina watched them.
Then whispered:
"Because you do."
Elena looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
"Your memories were altered."
Silence.
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"How?"
"Medication. Trauma. Isolation."
Seraphina looked at Elena.
"When I found you again, you were seven."
"You found me?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"In a hospital."
Elena's breath caught.
"Which hospital?"
Seraphina looked at Lucien.
"The Voss Memorial."
Lucien's eyes widened.
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"The night Alexander died."
Lucien stepped closer.
"Then you saw him."
"I did."
"Who killed him?"
Seraphina's eyes filled with tears.
"I did not see the killer."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Then how do you know Augustus did it?"
"Because Alexander told me who was coming."
"Who?"
Seraphina hesitated.
"Adrian."
Lucien froze.
"Adrian?"
"Your uncle."
"But he was supposedly dead."
"He wasn't."
"I know that now."
Seraphina shook her head.
"No."
She looked terrified.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"Adrian wasn't working for Augustus."
Lucien's expression changed.
"Then who was he working for?"
Seraphina whispered:
"Alexander."
---
Lucien
The world went silent.
"My father?"
"Alexander and Adrian were working together."
"Against Augustus?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Adrian disappear?"
"Because Alexander died."
Lucien's mind raced.
Everything he'd believed about his uncle was wrong.
Adrian wasn't the monster.
He had been part of a secret alliance with Alexander.
Which meant the man hunting them might not be Adrian.
"Then who is?"
Seraphina looked at him.
"I don't know."
Lucien stepped closer.
"You know more than you're saying."
"I do."
"Tell me."
Seraphina's eyes moved toward Elena.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because there is someone inside Voss International."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"We already know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"Someone inside your company has been protecting Elena for years."
Lucien frowned.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
"Because that's how Elena survived."
Elena stared at her.
"Someone protected me?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
Seraphina shook her head.
"I never found out."
Lucien's phone suddenly rang.
Adrian.
He answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
Adrian's voice was urgent.
"Get Elena away from the cemetery."
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because they found you."
"Who?"
A pause.
Then:
"Everyone."
The line went dead.
Lucien looked around.
The cemetery had become strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
Then headlights appeared beyond the trees.
One car.
Then another.
Then three more.
Lucien grabbed Elena's hand.
"Run."
Seraphina shouted:
"Take the east path!"
Lucien pulled Elena toward the trees.
Gunshots exploded behind them.
Elena screamed.
Lucien pushed her down.
"Stay low."
Another bullet struck the tree above them.
He looked toward Seraphina.
She was running in the opposite direction.
"Mom!"
Elena tried to get up.
Lucien grabbed her.
"She knows what she's doing."
"Let me go!"
"You'll get killed."
"My mother!"
"Elena!"
She looked at him.
His face was inches from hers.
"Trust me."
The words were almost a whisper.
For one second, she hesitated.
Then she nodded.
They ran.
---
Elena
They reached the car.
Lucien opened the passenger door.
"Get in."
She climbed inside.
He started the engine.
Before he could pull away, Elena looked back.
Seraphina was gone.
So was the black car.
Only rain remained.
"She's gone."
Lucien looked at her.
"She'll find us."
"How do you know?"
"Because she survived seventeen years."
He drove.
Neither spoke.
After several minutes, Elena finally asked:
"What happens now?"
Lucien's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Now we find your brother."
"And my father?"
Lucien looked ahead.
"We find out who killed mine."
"And Adrian?"
"We find him."
Elena looked out the window.
"And if all of this is connected?"
Lucien glanced at her.
"It is."
She looked back at him.
"Then who am I?"
Lucien didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
But he knew one thing.
She wasn't simply Elena Vale.
She was a Voss.
A secret.
A survivor.
And possibly the key to destroying everything his family had built.
---
Adrian
Three hours later, in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Veyra, Adrian Voss watched a security monitor.
The screen showed Lucien's car disappearing into the rain.
A man stood behind him.
"Did they escape?"
"Yes."
"Seraphina?"
"Alive."
"And Elena?"
Adrian smiled.
"Alive."
The man stepped closer.
"Then the plan failed."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
He looked at the screen.
"The plan worked perfectly."
He pressed a button.
Another monitor came alive.
A photograph appeared.
A teenage boy.
Dark hair.
Cold eyes.
A silver scar above his eyebrow.
Beneath the photograph was a name.
ELIAS VOSS.
Adrian stared at the image.
"After seventeen years..."
He smiled.
"...the twins are finally going to meet."
The man beside him looked uneasy.
"What happens then?"
Adrian's smile disappeared.
"Then Lucien learns the final truth."
"What truth?"
Adrian looked toward the darkness.
"Elena wasn't stolen from the Voss family."
He paused.
"She was stolen from Lucien."
And somewhere across the city, an unknown man opened a photograph of Elena.
He touched her face.
Then whispered:
"Little sister."
A smile appeared.
"Welcome home."
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