Chapter 10 - THE OTHER FAMILY
The Ross family lived in a quiet suburb outside Chicago.
Lena found the address through old adoption records.
For three hours, she sat in her car outside the house.
Daniel sat beside her.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, Lena said:
“What if she doesn't want us?”
Daniel looked at the house.
“Then we leave.”
“What if she hates us?”
“She has every right.”
“What if she is happy?”
“Then we don't destroy that.”
Lena looked at him.
“You're afraid.”
“Yes.”
“So am I.”
They walked to the door.
A woman answered.
She was thirty-six years old.
She had dark brown hair.
A soft face.
And a small birthmark beneath her left ear.
Lena stopped breathing.
The woman looked at them.
“Can I help you?”
Lena could not speak.
Daniel looked at her.
Then at the woman.
“Are you Emily Ross?”
The woman frowned.
“Yes.”
Lena's eyes filled with tears.
Emily looked between them.
“Why?”
Lena held out the old photograph.
Emily stared at it.
Her face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Lena's voice broke.
“From a woman named Margaret Whitmore.”
Emily stepped backward.
“Who?”
Lena swallowed.
“Margaret Whitmore.”
Emily stared.
Then she laughed nervously.
“That doesn't mean anything to me.”
Lena pulled the birth bracelet from her pocket.
Emily saw it.
Her face went pale.
“Where did you get that?”
“It belonged to you.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“Your birth date is October 14, 1989.”
Emily stepped back.
“What is happening?”
Lena looked at her.
“I think you are my sister.”
Emily stared.
The silence was unbearable.
Then she whispered:
“No.”
Lena nodded.
“My name is Lena Carter.”
Emily's eyes widened.
“Carter?”
“My mother's name was Claire Hart.”
Emily's face changed.
She knew the name.
“How do you know my mother?”
Lena felt tears fall.
“She was your mother too.”
Emily covered her mouth.
“No.”
“We have DNA results.”
Emily shook her head.
“My parents told me I was adopted.”
“They didn't know everything.”
“Who are you?”
“Your sister.”
Emily began to cry.
Lena did too.
For thirty-six years, Lena had believed she was alone.
Now she stood in front of the woman who had been missing from every family photograph.
Emily whispered:
“Why did nobody come for me?”
Lena had no answer.
Behind them, Daniel stood silently.
Emily looked at him.
“And who is he?”
Lena turned.
“This is Daniel Whitmore.”
Emily froze.
The name meant something to her.
“Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked at the photograph.
Then at Daniel.
“You know my family?”
Daniel gave a bitter smile.
“Apparently, I am part of it.”
Emily looked confused.
The truth came slowly.
Daniel was not Margaret's biological son.
But he was related to Emily through Rachel Whitmore.
And Lena was his half-sister through Robert Hart.
The family tree had become a maze of secrets.
Emily invited them inside.
For hours, they talked.
Emily told them about her adoptive parents.
They had loved her.
They had never known she was stolen.
Lena told Emily about Claire.
About the kitchen.
About the blackberry cobbler.
About how her mother had always kept one photograph hidden.
Emily cried when she heard.
“She remembered me?”
Lena nodded.
“She never stopped looking.”
That night, Emily found a box in her attic.
Inside was a letter.
The letter had been given to her adoptive parents when she was a baby.
They had never understood its meaning.
Lena read it.
The handwriting was her father's.
Take care of her.
If the Whitmores ever come looking, do not trust them.
The truth will destroy everything.
At the bottom was a name.
Robert Hart.
Emily looked at Lena.
“Your father knew where I was.”
“Yes.”
“And he never told your mother?”
Lena shook her head.
Emily whispered:
“Why?”
Before Lena could answer, her phone rang.
Dr. Reed.
“Lena.”
“What happened?”
“We found another document.”
“What document?”
“A transfer agreement.”
“For what?”
Dr. Reed hesitated.
“An inheritance.”
Lena frowned.
May you like
“What does that have to do with Emily?”
“Everything.”
