Chapter 6 - THE SECRET MY MOTHER TOOK TO HER GRAVE
My mother had died fourteen years earlier.
At least, that was what I believed.
Her death certificate said ovarian cancer.
The hospital records looked normal.
But nothing in my life felt normal anymore.
“Why would your father forbid her from contacting Julian?”
I looked at Margaret.
She didn’t answer.
Julian did.
“Because she found something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Luke searched archived correspondence.
Anna Vale had worked directly under Edward Cross.
Julian and Margaret’s father.
She was dismissed after accessing private trust records.
One week later, she left the city.
Three months later, she married David Vale.
I stared at the dates.
“They met because of the Cross family.”
“Yes,” Margaret said.
Another document appeared.
A sealed legal request filed shortly before my mother left.
She had asked for DNA records.
My stomach tightened.
“Whose?”
Luke opened the scanned request.
The name was partially redacted.
But the initials remained.
J.C.
Julian Cross.
I stared at him.
He looked just as confused.
“Why would my mother request Julian’s DNA records?”
Nobody answered.
Then Margaret swore softly.
“What?”
She pulled an old photograph from the family archive.
A charity picnic.
Julian was about seven.
Margaret ten.
Their father stood behind them.
Beside Edward Cross was my mother.
Anna.
She held the hand of a little girl.
Me?
No.
The photograph was older than I was.
“Who is the girl?” I asked.
Margaret’s face had gone white.
“I remember her.”
“Who?”
“Her name was Sofia.”
Julian stared.
“Our father said she was Anna’s niece.”
Margaret shook her head.
“She lived at the estate for almost a year.”
I had never heard of her.
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
Of course she did.
Everyone in the Cross family seemed to disappear.
Luke found no school records.
No birth certificate.
No death certificate.
Nothing.
Then he found one medical document.
Sofia Vale.
Blood type AB negative.
Rare.
Julian looked at me.
“What’s your blood type?”
My mouth went dry.
“AB negative.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“No.”
“What?”
She looked at Julian.
“Yours too.”
I felt the air leave the room.
“No.”
Julian stepped back.
Margaret immediately shook her head.
“Blood type alone proves nothing.”
“Exactly,” I said too quickly.
Luke continued searching.
Then found a photograph of Anna holding Sofia.
On the back was handwriting.
FOR ELENA, WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW HER SISTER.
My knees weakened.
“Sister?”
I had a sister.
A sister my parents never told me about.
Julian stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“I knew her.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
His face filled with something I had never seen before.
Grief.
“When I was seventeen, Sofia disappeared.”
May you like
His voice cracked.
“And everyone told me she was dead.”
