Chapter 6 - THE SISTER WHO DISAPPEARED
I spent the next morning staring at the birth certificate.
The name belonged to a child born seventeen years before me.
Evelyn Carter.
My sister.
Except everyone had told me I was my mother's only child.
Nathan sat across from me.
“She was declared dead.”
“Was she?”
“No.”
My mother looked exhausted.
“I thought she was.”
“You thought?”
Diane wiped her eyes.
“She was taken.”
“By who?”
She didn't answer.
Raymond did.
“Daniel.”
My grandmother's brother.
Apparently, Evelyn had been born with a rare genetic condition.
Daniel believed the family would spend millions caring for her.
So he arranged for her to disappear.
My grandmother discovered the truth years later.
She found Evelyn alive.
But by then, the child had been placed under another identity.
“She grew up believing she had no family,” Nathan explained.
“Why didn't Grandma bring her home?”
“Because Victor threatened to kill her.”
I couldn't process it.
All those years.
I had grown up believing I was alone.
Meanwhile, my sister had been somewhere in the world.
Alive.
And someone had deliberately erased her.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
YOU WANT TO MEET HER?
My heart stopped.
Another message followed.
COME ALONE.
Nathan immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“I have to know.”
“It could be a trap.”
“Then we bring the police.”
The message contained an address.
An old community center forty minutes away.
We went with officers.
When I entered the building, I saw a woman standing beside the window.
She was about my age.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
And the same small scar near her eyebrow that I had.
She turned.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
“Nora?”
I could barely breathe.
“Evelyn?”
She smiled through tears.
“I've been waiting for you.”
We embraced.
For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to recognize someone without knowing them.
Then Evelyn pulled away.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
She looked toward the door.
“Victor didn't take me because of the trust.”
“Then why?”
“Because I saw something.”
“What?”
Her voice dropped.
“I saw who killed Grandpa.”
I froze.
Everyone had believed my grandfather died of a heart attack.
Evelyn shook her head.
“He was murdered.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“Your mother was there.”
My heart shattered.
But Evelyn quickly added:
“She didn't kill him.”
“Then who did?”
Evelyn's face went pale.
“Daniel.”
A noise came from outside.
The officers rushed toward the entrance.
A car sped away.
Evelyn grabbed my wrist.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Daniel is dead.”
I stared at her.
“Then who has been sending us these messages?”
Evelyn looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
Then she whispered:
May you like
“But someone has been pretending to be him for years.”
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