Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO LOST EVERYTHING
The police searched for Eli throughout the night.
Lena refused to leave the station.
Daniel sat beside her.
Emily stood across the room.
Margaret was brought to the station in a wheelchair.
For the first time, the Whitmore family sat together without wealth separating them.
They were simply terrified.
At dawn, a phone rang.
It was Margaret's.
The caller was Thomas.
“Put me on speaker,” Lena said.
Margaret hesitated.
Then answered.
Thomas's voice filled the room.
“You should have listened to me.”
Lena stepped forward.
“Where is my son?”
“You have caused this.”
“Where is Eli?”
“You were supposed to leave the past alone.”
“Where is my son?”
Thomas laughed.
“You sound like your mother.”
Lena froze.
“You knew my mother?”
“I knew everything about her.”
“Where is Eli?”
“Bring me the original trust documents.”
“We don't have them.”
“Then find them.”
“What happens if we don't?”
Thomas was silent.
Then:
“Your son disappears forever.”
The call ended.
Lena turned toward Andrew Miller.
“The original documents.”
He shook his head.
“They were destroyed.”
“No.”
“What?”
“My father kept everything.”
They returned to Claire's house.
The search continued for hours.
Finally, Emily found a hidden compartment beneath the fireplace.
Inside was a metal case.
The original trust documents were inside.
And so was a recording.
Lena pressed play.
Robert Hart's voice filled the room.
“If you are hearing this, Thomas has found out.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“I could not save Claire.”
Emily began to cry.
“I could not tell Lena the truth.”
Robert continued.
“But I saved the child.”
A photograph appeared.
A baby.
Emily.
Then his voice continued.
“Margaret knows the truth.”
Lena stared.
“Why did you protect her?”
Robert answered as if he could hear her.
“Because she is not the monster you think she is.”
Lena shook her head.
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“She abandoned my mother.”
“Yes.”
“She let my sister disappear.”
“Yes.”
“But she was also trapped.”
The recording continued.
“Thomas threatened to kill Daniel.”
Daniel looked down.
“He was only a child.”
Robert's voice broke.
“So I made a deal.”
Lena whispered:
“What deal?”
“I gave Thomas control of the company.”
“But the trust?”
“I hid it.”
The recording ended.
Lena stared at the documents.
The truth was finally complete.
Robert had hidden the inheritance.
Thomas had believed he controlled everything.
But the original documents proved Emily was the true heir.
Lena looked at the others.
“We can use this.”
Andrew nodded.
“If we locate Thomas, we can force him to surrender.”
“Then find him.”
Before anyone could respond, a message arrived.
A photograph.
Eli sitting in a dark room.
His face was frightened.
But he was alive.
The message beneath it read:
COME ALONE, LENA.
Margaret grabbed Lena's arm.
“No.”
Lena looked at her.
“He has my son.”
“Then take the police.”
“He'll hurt him.”
Margaret stared at Lena.
For the first time, tears filled her eyes.
“I know.”
Lena froze.
Margaret whispered:
“I know exactly what it feels like to lose a child.”
Lena stared at her.
“You never lost Daniel.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Emily.
“I lost her.”
Emily looked away.
Margaret continued:
“And I lost the right to call myself her mother.”
Lena's expression hardened.
“Then help me bring my son home.”
May you like
Margaret nodded.
“I will.”
