Chapter 7 - THE GIRL JULIAN NEVER FORGOT
Julian had loved Sofia.
Not romantically.
She was six years younger.
But he had treated her like a little sister.
“She followed me everywhere,” he said.
We sat in his study long after midnight.
The mansion felt different now.
Less like a fortress.
More like a building full of ghosts.
“She used to hide in the library when my father had meetings. I’d sneak her chocolate.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Why did nobody tell me?”
“Maybe your parents thought she was dead.”
“What happened to her?”
Julian looked at Margaret.
She took over.
“One night, there was a security breach at the estate.”
“Meaning?”
“Someone entered the property.”
“Sofia disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“No ransom?”
“Nothing.”
“And my mother?”
“She quit the next morning.”
Everything connected.
My mother accessed DNA records.
Sofia disappeared.
Anna left the Cross family.
Then married my father.
Years later, they had me.
“What did Anna find?” I whispered.
Luke searched the trust records again.
Then stopped.
“There is a sealed adoption account.”
My heart hammered.
“Whose?”
“Sofia’s.”
Margaret leaned closer.
“Open it.”
The document required family authorization.
Julian provided it.
The screen populated.
CHILD: SOFIA ANNA CROSS.
I stopped breathing.
Cross.
Not Vale.
Julian looked stunned.
“Who were her parents?”
Luke scrolled.
Mother:
Anna Vale.
Father:
Edward Cross.
Silence crushed the room.
My mother had a child with Julian’s father.
Sofia was Julian’s half-sister.
And my half-sister.
That made Julian and me unrelated.
But connected through her.
A strange, painful bridge between our families.
“My mother had an affair with your father.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“We don’t know the circumstances.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
His answer was immediate.
“We do not assume consent where we don’t know it.”
That stopped me.
Power isn’t permission.
Even Julian understood that now.
Margaret looked sick.
“Our father hid the child.”
Then another file opened.
Custody agreement.
Edward paid Anna to remain silent.
Sofia was raised publicly as Anna’s niece.
When she turned eleven, she began spending more time at the Cross estate.
Then, at twelve, she disappeared.
“Who took her?” I asked.
Luke found one name connected to security that night.
Gabriel Cross.
My chest tightened.
“He kidnapped her?”
Julian’s expression changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“Gabriel hated our father.”
“So?”
“If he took Sofia, maybe he wasn’t the danger.”
Margaret looked at him.
“You think he rescued her.”
“Maybe.”
Then Luke found one more record.
A medical appointment registered under another name.
Sofia Vale had undergone emergency treatment three weeks after her disappearance.
Location:
Boston.
Guardian signature:
Gabriel Cross.
She had been alive.
Gabriel had taken her away.
And apparently protected her.
Then a newer record appeared.
Same blood type.
Same birth date.
Different name.
SOPHIA VANCE.
Current address:
Philadelphia.
May you like
Alive.
My sister was alive.
