Chapter 4 - The Secret Elena Died Trying to ProtectDaniel spent the night reading Elena's old journals.
Most pages were harmless.
Recipes.
Appointments.
Notes about Noah.
Things she wanted to buy for the twins.
But one section had been ripped out.
Only three pages remained.
One sentence appeared on the final page.
If Daniel learns the truth too soon, they will kill our children.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Maya sat beside him.
“Who are they?”
“I don't know.”
“You have to.”
“I know.”
They investigated Elena's medical records.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Dr. Michael Grant.
He had been present the night the twins were born.
He had also signed Elena's death certificate.
Daniel found him at his private clinic.
“You knew my wife.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was in danger.”
Michael looked away.
“She told me not to tell you.”
“Why?”
“She believed you were being watched.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
Daniel grabbed the desk.
“My father is dead.”
Michael stared at him.
“I thought so too.”
He opened a safe.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Rose.
And another woman.
Sabrina.
Daniel stared.
“When was this?”
“Two weeks before the twins were born.”
“What was Sabrina doing there?”
Michael took a breath.
“She wasn't your mistress then.”
Daniel looked at him.
“She was Elena's investigator.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Elena knew someone was targeting your family.”
Daniel couldn't speak.
Sabrina had been working for Elena.
She had entered Daniel's life deliberately.
But why?
Michael explained.
Rose had discovered that someone within the Hayes organization was selling family information.
Medical records.
Addresses.
Travel plans.
Financial data.
Elena feared the twins would become targets.
She hired Sabrina to find the leak.
But before Sabrina could identify everyone, Elena died.
Or so they thought.
Michael had suspected foul play.
He had hidden one thing.
Elena's death certificate was altered.
Her official cause of death was listed as complications from childbirth.
But Michael had found evidence of poisoning.
Daniel's hands shook.
“My wife was murdered.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
“Where is the evidence?”
Michael looked toward Maya.
“With Rose.”
They found Rose's storage unit.
Empty.
But a security camera showed someone entering two hours before they arrived.
Daniel recognized the person.
Patricia Vale.
Sabrina's mother.
Patricia had been one of the wealthiest women in the city.
She had also been Elena's friend.
Daniel knew her.
Too well.
They followed her to a private estate.
There, Patricia admitted everything.
She had been part of a larger network.
The Hayes family was worth hundreds of millions.
But the twins had legal rights to assets and trusts Daniel himself couldn't access.
Someone wanted the children controlled.
Or dead.
Patricia had helped conceal information.
But she insisted she hadn't killed Elena.
“Who did?”
Patricia looked at Daniel.
“Your father.”
Daniel felt the room spin.
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Under another name.”
“What name?”
Patricia shook her head.
“He'll kill you.”
“He already tried.”
“No.”
She looked at Maya.
“He didn't try to kill you.”
Daniel frowned.
“He tried to make you think he did.”
“What does that mean?”
Patricia's voice dropped.
“The men who attacked your house were sent by someone else.”
“Who?”
She looked at Maya.
“Your sister.”
Maya froze.
“What?”
Patricia continued.
“Rose Bennett is not your mother.”
Daniel stared.
Maya stared.
Patricia whispered:
“Your mother was Elena.”
The room went silent.
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at Patricia.
“That's impossible.”
“You were born six years before the twins.”
Maya's face turned white.
Patricia kept going.
“Rose raised you after Elena gave birth to you.”
Daniel couldn't breathe.
“Elena had another child?”
“Yes.”
Maya stepped backward.
“No.”
Patricia looked at her.
“Elena was seventeen when you were born.”
Daniel felt the truth land.
That meant Maya wasn't Rose's daughter.
She was Elena's.
Which meant Noah's mother had a daughter no one knew about.
Maya looked at Daniel.
“Did Elena know I existed?”
Patricia nodded.
“She never stopped looking for you.”
Maya began crying.
“What happened?”
Patricia answered.
“Your father.”
Daniel's head snapped toward her.
“What?”
“Daniel's father took you.”
The name hit him like a gunshot.
“Why?”
“Because Elena refused to obey him.”
Maya shook.
“So Rose raised me?”
“Yes.”
“Why did she call herself my mother?”
“Because it kept you alive.”
Daniel stared at Maya.
The woman he'd brought into his house.
The woman who had found Noah.
The woman who had looked at Elena's portrait and said she knew her.
She was Elena's daughter.
His wife's daughter.
Which meant—
“She’s my sister?”
Maya looked at him.
“Yes.”
Daniel felt tears burn his eyes.
“No.”
He had spent two years mourning Elena.
He had thought her story was finished.
Now a piece of her had walked into his life.
And Noah had found her.
Before anyone could speak, gunfire erupted outside.
Patricia collapsed.
Maya screamed.
Daniel pulled her down.
A bullet shattered the window.
Then another.
The attackers weren't trying to kill Daniel.
They were trying to kill Maya.
Daniel looked at her.
“They know.”
She shook.
May you like
“They know what?”
“That you're alive.”
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