Chapter 21 The Sister No One Remembered
The man standing beside the wrecked vehicle did not look surprised to see them alive.
He stood in the rain with one hand inside his coat.
Ethan moved Audrey behind him.
“Who is Lydia?”
The man smiled.
“You really don't remember.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Answer me.”
The man looked at Audrey.
“She remembers.”
Audrey stared at him.
“I have never met Lydia.”
“You have.”
The man's smile disappeared.
“You were six years old.”
A cold feeling moved through Audrey.
The memories from the hospital had already begun returning in fragments.
A white ceiling.
Her mother's voice.
A clock.
2:17.
A boy standing near a curtain.
And now something else.
A little girl.
Dark curls.
A yellow ribbon.
A small hand holding hers.
Audrey's breath caught.
“I remember the ribbon.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What ribbon?”
“A yellow one.”
The stranger's expression changed.
“You do remember.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
The memory sharpened.
She was standing in a hallway.
Someone was crying.
The little girl was holding her hand.
A woman's voice had said:
Take Audrey outside.
Then the lights went out.
Audrey opened her eyes.
“She was with me.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The stranger's gaze shifted toward Ethan.
“At the old estate.”
Ethan's face tightened.
“What happened to her?”
The man pulled a folded paper from his coat.
“She was taken.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“That isn't possible.”
“It happened.”
“Why would Richard take his own daughter?”
The man gave a bitter laugh.
“Because she knew something she wasn't supposed to know.”
Audrey looked at Ethan.
“What did she know?”
The stranger looked at her.
“The truth about your mother.”
Ethan grabbed his arm.
“Stop playing games.”
The man pulled away.
“You want answers?”
“Yes.”
“Then come with me.”
“No.”
The man glanced toward the wrecked car.
“You have no transportation.”
Ethan looked toward the road.
A second vehicle was approaching.
He reached for his phone.
No signal.
The stranger smiled.
“Your phones stopped working five minutes ago.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“You planned this.”
“Of course.”
Audrey looked at the stranger.
“What is your name?”
“Graham.”
“Graham what?”
“Graham Vale.”
The name meant nothing to her.
But Ethan reacted.
“You worked for Richard.”
Graham nodded.
“Years ago.”
“You were one of his security men.”
“Yes.”
“And Lydia?”
“I was assigned to protect her.”
Audrey stared at him.
“Then why did she disappear?”
Graham looked toward the dark road.
“Because I failed.”
A second vehicle stopped.
Two people stepped out.
Graham raised a hand.
“Stay back.”
Ethan shifted closer to Audrey.
Graham looked at them.
“If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have brought you here.”
“Where are you taking us?”
“The old estate.”
Audrey glanced at Ethan.
“That's where Richard wants us.”
“I know.”
“Then it's a trap.”
Graham nodded.
“Yes.”
Audrey frowned.
“Why are you taking us there?”
“Because Lydia is there.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“She's alive?”
Graham looked at him.
“Yes.”
For the first time, Ethan seemed unable to speak.
Audrey touched his arm.
“We need to know.”
He looked at her.
Then he nodded.
They climbed into Graham's vehicle.
The old estate stood beyond the city, hidden behind tall trees and a rusted iron gate.
Audrey had never seen it before.
Yet something about it felt familiar.
The house was enormous.
Three stories.
Dark stone.
Tall windows.
A narrow tower on the eastern side.
Ethan stared through the windshield.
“I remember this place.”
Audrey looked at him.
“You've been here?”
“When I was a child.”
Graham parked.
“You were brought here after Nathan disappeared.”
Ethan turned.
“Why?”
“Richard wanted to teach you something.”
“What?”
“That obedience kept people alive.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
Audrey looked at the house.
“Where is Lydia?”
“Inside.”
“Is Richard here?”
“Yes.”
Ethan reached for the door.
Graham stopped him.
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard isn't the most dangerous person in that house.”
Graham looked toward the upper windows.
“Lydia is.”
Audrey frowned.
“She wouldn't hurt us.”
“You don't know what she's become.”
Ethan stepped out.
“She is my sister.”
Graham followed.
“That doesn't mean you know her.”
They walked toward the house.
The front door opened before they reached it.
A woman stood inside.
Audrey stopped.
Dark curls fell over her shoulders.
She was slender and tall, wearing a simple gray coat.
Her face was pale.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
Ethan's eyes.
Audrey stared.
“Lydia?”
The woman looked at Ethan.
For a moment, her expression softened.
Then it disappeared.
“Hello, brother.”
Ethan froze.
“You're alive.”
“So are you.”
He moved toward her.
Lydia stepped backward.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“Why?”
“Because I don't know what you'll do.”
“I won't hurt you.”
“You said that when we were children.”
Ethan looked confused.
“I don't remember.”
“I know.”
Her voice carried no anger.
That made it more painful.
“They made sure you didn't.”
Audrey stepped forward.
Lydia looked at her.
“You.”
Audrey swallowed.
“Me.”
“You don't remember me.”
“I remember the yellow ribbon.”
Lydia's expression changed.
“You remember.”
“Not everything.”
“You held my hand.”
Audrey nodded.
“You were crying.”
“I was terrified.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother was dying.”
Audrey's breath caught.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Lydia looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
She turned.
“Follow me.”
Ethan remained still.
Audrey looked back at him.
“Come on.”
He followed.
They entered a long corridor.
Old portraits lined the walls.
Lydia stopped before one.
It showed the Calloway family.
Richard.
Evelyn.
James.
Several children.
Audrey looked closely.
There was Ethan.
Nathan.
Lydia.
And another figure.
A young girl standing beside Audrey.
Audrey stared.
“That isn't me.”
Lydia nodded.
“No.”
“Who is she?”
Lydia looked at her.
“Your mother had another daughter.”
Audrey's heart stopped.
“What?”
Ethan looked equally stunned.
“That's impossible.”
Lydia pointed at the photograph.
“Her name was Sophie.”
Audrey stared.
“Why don't I remember her?”
“Because she died before you were born.”
Audrey shook her head.
“Then why is she in this photograph?”
Lydia's expression became grim.
“Because the photograph was taken after she died.”
Silence filled the corridor.
Ethan stepped closer.
“What are you saying?”
Lydia looked at him.
“Sophie wasn't Claire's daughter.”
Audrey's confusion deepened.
“Then who was she?”
Lydia answered quietly.
“She was mine.”
Ethan stared.
“You had a daughter?”
“No.”
Lydia looked at Audrey.
“She was a child they created to replace me.”
Audrey felt a chill.
“What does that mean?”
Lydia's eyes moved toward the stairs.
“Richard needed everyone to believe I was dead.”
“So he created another identity?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He found another child who looked enough like me to convince the people who needed convincing.”
Audrey stared.
“Why?”
“Because he needed my disappearance to become permanent.”
Ethan's voice hardened.
“Who was the child?”
Lydia looked at Audrey.
“Your mother found her.”
Audrey's heart began to race.
“Claire knew?”
“She knew everything.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she never had the chance.”
Lydia walked toward a locked door.
She removed a key from her pocket.
“Your mother left something for you.”
The door opened.
Inside was a small room.
A piano stood against one wall.
Dust covered its surface.
Audrey stopped breathing.
She knew that piano.
It had belonged to Claire.
“How did this get here?”
Lydia looked at her.
“Richard took it.”
Audrey walked toward it.
On the piano sat a small wooden box.
She opened it.
Inside were letters.
Dozens of them.
All addressed to Audrey.
She picked up the first.
My darling girl,
Her hands began to shake.
Ethan stood beside her.
“Read it.”
Audrey unfolded the paper.
Claire's handwriting filled the page.
If they tell you that I died because of the accident, don't believe them.
Audrey stopped.
Her pulse quickened.
She read the next line.
The night I died, I discovered that Richard was not the person controlling the trust.
Audrey looked at Lydia.
“Who was?”
Lydia's face became pale.
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
The door slammed shut.
A voice came through the speaker.
“Enough.”
Richard.
Ethan rushed toward the door.
Locked.
Audrey clutched the letter.
Richard's voice continued.
“You wanted the truth.”
A pause.
“Now you can have all of it.”
The wall behind the piano opened.
A screen appeared.
An old video began playing.
Claire stood in a dark room.
But this time she wasn't alone.
Someone stood beside her.
Audrey stared.
The figure turned toward the camera.
Her heart stopped.
It was Evelyn.
But the woman beside Claire wasn't Audrey's grandmother.
It was someone Audrey had never seen before.
A woman who looked almost exactly like her.
Claire spoke.
“If anything happens to me, protect Audrey from her.”
The woman beside her looked directly into the camera.
Audrey could barely breathe.
Because the woman's face was hers.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Same features.
Lydia whispered,
“That is your biological mother.”
Audrey turned toward her.
“But Claire was my mother.”
Lydia shook her head.
“Claire raised you.”
She looked at the screen.
“But she wasn't the woman who gave birth to you.”
The recording suddenly stopped.
Richard's voice returned.
“And now you finally understand why your marriage was necessary.”
Ethan turned toward the speaker.
“What does Audrey's birth have to do with me?”
Richard answered:
“Everything.”
A hidden door opened beneath the floor.
Graham shouted from outside.
“Get out!”
The floor shifted.
Audrey grabbed Ethan's hand.
“What is happening?”
Lydia pulled her toward the doorway.
“Richard is destroying the house.”
Another explosion shook the estate.
And from somewhere beneath them came a child's voice.
“Mom?”
Audrey froze.
It was her own voice.
But it was coming from a recording made when she was six.
Then the recording whispered:
“Don't let them take me again.”
Audrey looked at Lydia.
“Who recorded that?”
Lydia's face had gone white.
“I did.”
Then she added:
“Twenty years ago.”