Chapter 3 - THE SECOND HEARTBEAT
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Clara stared at the handwriting.
“Twins?”
Julian looked at her.
“You're pregnant with one baby.”
“That is what the doctor told me.”
Evelyn suddenly whispered:
“Not necessarily.”
Clara's knees weakened.
Julian caught her.
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn looked toward the hallway.
“Your father had another child.”
Julian's expression hardened.
“Who?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Margaret's.”
Clara stared at her.
“My mother had another child?”
“Yes.”
“Where is that child?”
“I don't know.”
Julian stepped toward his mother.
“You expect us to believe this?”
“No.”
Evelyn's voice cracked for the first time.
“I expect you to investigate it.”
She walked toward a locked cabinet at the end of the hallway.
From inside her coat, she produced a key.
Julian watched as she opened it.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Bank statements.
Hospital records.
Old photographs.
Birth certificates.
And one sealed envelope bearing Margaret's handwriting.
Clara recognized it immediately.
“My mother wrote that.”
Evelyn handed it to her.
Clara opened it with trembling fingers.
The letter was dated two months before Margaret disappeared.
Clara,
If you ever read this, it means I failed to protect you.
There are people who believe your father's death was necessary.
They are wrong.
He was trying to tell the truth.
Trust no one who tells you our family needs to remain silent.
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
Your father left something for you.
Julian read it twice.
“What did he leave?”
Evelyn answered.
“Shares.”
Clara looked up.
“What shares?”
“Controlling shares in the Whitmore estate.”
Julian's face changed.
His family had spent decades believing those shares belonged to him.
But apparently, they had never belonged to him.
They belonged to Clara.
That explained everything.
The pressure.
The manipulation.
The medical records.
The attempted murder.
Evelyn hadn't been protecting the family.
She had been protecting control.
Then Julian noticed something else.
A second birth certificate.
He picked it up.
His name was printed on it.
But beneath his name was another name.
Nathaniel Whitmore.
Julian whispered:
“Who is Nathaniel?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“My son.”
Julian stared.
“You have another son?”
“No.”
She looked directly at Clara.
May you like
“He is your mother's son.”
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