Chapter 36 - The Fifth Child
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Lucas stared at the photograph.
Daniel was crying.
Diane looked from one boy to the other.
“Which one?”
I didn't understand.
“What?”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Which boy is in this picture?”
Samuel stared at it.
“I don't know.”
Anna took it from him.
Her hands began shaking.
“This was never supposed to exist.”
“What?”
She flipped it over.
A second line had been written beneath the first.
FIFTH HEIR — UNDISCLOSED.
Arthur moved toward her.
“Give me that.”
Anna pulled it back.
“No.”
For the first time, Arthur looked angry.
“Anna.”
“You've hidden enough.”
He stopped.
I looked at the picture.
The fifth child couldn't have been older than four.
Lucas and Daniel had been infants when the photograph was taken.
So who was he?
Evan noticed something.
“Wait.”
He pointed to the boy.
“That isn't Lucas.”
The boy in the picture had lighter eyes.
Different ears.
Different jaw.
And the scar over his eyebrow was on the opposite side.
I looked at Lucas.
His scar was over the left eyebrow.
The photograph's boy had a scar over the right.
Daniel frowned.
“So who is he?”
Arthur said nothing.
Anna whispered:
“Benjamin.”
I turned.
“Who is Benjamin?”
Anna looked at Arthur.
“Your brother.”
The investigator stared.
“Another child?”
Arthur's expression was grim.
“Not exactly.”
I felt a chill.
“What does that mean?”
Benjamin, she explained, wasn't born into the family.
“He was created through a surrogate agreement.”
Evan looked confused.
“Created?”
“A child intentionally born to satisfy a succession clause.”
I stared at her.
“You're saying they manufactured another heir.”
“Yes.”
Lucas backed away.
“This never ends.”
Rachel wrapped an arm around him.
“We'll make it end.”
Victor laughed.
“You can't.”
The investigator grabbed his collar.
“Where is Benjamin?”
Victor's smile faded.
“Dead.”
Anna looked at him.
“You're lying.”
Victor sighed.
“I wish I were.”
“How did he die?”
“Because he wasn't supposed to exist.”
The investigator stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Victor looked at me.
“Jonathan ordered the boy removed.”
My stomach twisted.
“Removed?”
Arthur said quietly.
“Killed.”
I shut my eyes.
When I opened them, Arthur was crying.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let it happen.”
“I couldn't stop him.”
I almost laughed.
That sentence again.
The sentence everyone used when they wanted to survive their own guilt.
“What happened to Benjamin?”
Arthur pointed to a wall of records.
“His file is there.”
We found it in less than a minute.
The file was thin.
Too thin.
Date of birth.
Hospital.
Surrogate mother.
Medical complications.
Cause of death:
NEONATAL FAILURE.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Did he die?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
The investigator turned.
“Then why is this file here?”
“Because someone needed him to disappear.”
I opened the folder.
At the bottom was a photograph.
A toddler.
Alive.
Standing beside a woman.
Evelyn.
My hands began shaking.
“When was this taken?”
Rebecca checked the back.
“Twelve years ago.”
Diane sat down.
“That was the year Lucas disappeared.”
Rachel stared.
“You're saying Benjamin was alive when Victor took Lucas?”
“Yes.”
Lucas looked at me.
“Then where did he go?”
Rebecca looked at Arthur.
Arthur didn't answer.
I did.
“He's in the archive.”
Everyone stared at me.
The logic suddenly clicked.
“The fifth heir had to be hidden too.”
The investigator frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if the original trust requires four primary heirs and one undisclosed fifth, then someone planned for all four of us to fail.”
Evan looked at me.
“You're saying we're replaceable.”
“Yes.”
Anna whispered:
“All of us.”
A phone buzzed.
Samuel's.
He looked down.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
OPEN THE EAST CABINET.
He showed us.
The investigator said, “Nobody touches it.”
Then another message arrived.
YOUR SISTER IS INSIDE.
Samuel looked at Anna.
She shook her head.
“I haven't moved.”
A third message.
SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHICH ONE SHE IS.
The investigator looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I stared at Anna.
She was pale.
“Anna,” I said slowly, “do you know who your biological parents are?”
She swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
Arthur looked away.
Anna turned toward him.
“What have you done?”
Arthur didn't answer.
She walked to the east cabinet and pulled it open.
Inside was a stack of sealed envelopes.
One had her name.
ANNA — PARENTAGE.
She ripped it open.
Her face changed after one sentence.
“What?”
Evan took a step.
“What does it say?”
Anna couldn't speak.
She handed me the paper.
Biological Mother: Evelyn Brooks.
Biological Father: Unknown.
I stared.
“That can't be.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“It can.”
“But if Evelyn is Natalie's mother…”
“She can be Anna's too.”
Anna looked at her.
“What?”
Rebecca's eyes filled.
“Evelyn had two pregnancies.”
I frowned.
“Two?”
“The first produced Anna.”
The room went silent.
“The second produced Natalie.”
Anna backed away.
“Then why was I called her sister?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Because you are.”
“But I thought we were cousins.”
I looked at Arthur.
He nodded.
“That's what we wanted you to believe.”
Anna started crying.
“All my life…”
She pressed a hand to her chest.
“All my life I thought I was protecting my cousin.”
She looked at me.
“I was protecting my sister.”
I moved toward her.
She stepped back.
“I don't know what to do with that.”
I stopped.
Neither did I.
A loud metallic bang came from the archive entrance.
The investigator drew his weapon.
“Everyone behind me.”
Three shots tore through the metal door.
Officers returned fire.
The door began to buckle.
Arthur shouted:
“They're coming for the ledger!”
The investigator shouted back:
“Then we're leaving!”
Arthur shook his head.
“Not without the fifth file.”
I grabbed it.
“Then come with us.”
We ran.
The archive door burst open behind us.
A masked man entered.
Then another.
The first shouted:
“Get Natalie!”
I grabbed Evan's hand.
We ran through the upper hallway.
Rachel pulled Lucas and Daniel.
Diane and Anna followed.
Arthur was behind us.
Then I heard a gunshot.
I turned.
Arthur staggered.
Blood spread across his side.
“Arthur!”
“Keep going!”
We reached the main staircase.
Rebecca shoved open a side door.
“Through here!”
We spilled into the courtyard.
Sirens screamed outside.
The investigator's remaining officers had surrounded the property.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
A text arrived instead.
CONGRATULATIONS.
YOU FOUND THE FIFTH.
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
May you like
Then another text appeared.
NOW FIND THE SIXTH.
