Chapter 5 - The Sister I Never Knew Existed
I didn't sleep that night.
I sat beside my father's hospital bed.
Noah stood by the window.
My mother sat in silence.
The photograph remained on the table.
The girl looked like me.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
Same small scar under the left eyebrow.
“Her name is Elise,” my mother said.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because Gabriel believed she was dead.”
“And she wasn't.”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
My mother looked at Noah.
“We don't know.”
Noah stared at the photograph.
“My brother has been looking for her for years.”
“Then he knows she's alive.”
“Maybe.”
We followed the ledger.
It led us to a chain of accounts.
And finally to a private boarding school in Wisconsin.
Elise Bell was enrolled there under another name.
When we arrived, a girl opened the door.
She looked at me.
Then froze.
“Maya?”
I couldn't speak.
She smiled.
“I'm Elise.”
She was my sister.
My twin.
Not just someone who looked like me.
My mirror.
I stepped forward.
She stepped forward.
We stared at each other.
Then she hugged me.
I cried.
She cried.
It was the strangest embrace of my life.
Two women mourning twenty years that should have belonged to them.
“Why didn't Mom tell me?”
“She wanted to.”
“Then why?”
“Because Gabriel had people watching.”
Noah entered.
Elise looked at him.
“You're Noah.”
“Yes.”
“Adrian told me about you.”
Noah froze.
“You know my brother?”
“He came here once.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
She reached into a drawer.
She pulled out a letter.
For Noah.
He opened it.
Adrian had written:
Brother,
I am sorry.
I never betrayed you.
I was trying to save Elise.
Gabriel has her mother.
He has been using all of us.
Do not trust Tessa.
Noah looked up.
“Tessa.”
Elise nodded.
“She works for Gabriel.”
I remembered the moment Tessa appeared at the hospital.
She had asked too many questions.
She had known too much.
We left the school.
On the drive back, Noah was silent.
“You okay?”
“No.”
I put my hand on his arm.
He looked at me.
“I should have seen it.”
“You trusted her.”
“She was family.”
“Family can lie.”
His jaw tightened.
“So can everyone else.”
I looked out the window.
“You asked me if I had a boyfriend.”
He glanced at me.
“You remember that now?”
“Unfortunately.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
I smiled faintly.
“You sounded jealous.”
“I was.”
I stared.
“You hardly knew me.”
“I knew enough.”
My heart skipped.
“Noah.”
He looked at me.
“You were never just a client.”
“What was I?”
“The first person my father told me to protect.”
“And now?”
He held my gaze.
“Now I don't need anyone to tell me.”
The moment was broken by a call.
My father.
We answered.
His voice was weak.
“You found Elise.”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to know the final truth.”
“What?”
“Gabriel isn't after the ledger.”
“Then what?”
“You.”
I looked at Noah.
My father continued.
“He believed the ledger was destroyed. But he knows you inherited the code.”
“Why?”
“Because he created it.”
I felt sick.
“The patterns.”
“Were designed for him.”
“Then why can I read them?”
“Because I altered the system.”
My father coughed.
“And because I gave you the final part before you were born.”
“What final part?”
He hung up.
We rushed back.
He was unconscious.
A doctor stopped us.
“There was an attempt to poison him.”
My chest tightened.
“Who?”
The doctor shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Noah turned to his men.
“Lock down the floor.”
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“We have Adrian.”
Noah's face changed.
“And Elise.”
My blood froze.
“You have 2 choices,” the voice continued.
“Bring Maya.”
“Or?”
“You'll never see either one again.”
The line ended.
I looked at Noah.
“They're using my sister.”
“No.”
“They're using all of us.”
Noah shook his head.
“You are staying here.”
“I am going.”
“No.”
“My sister is in danger.”
“I won't let you walk into a trap.”
“You can't stop me.”
He stared.
“This is not bravery.”
“I know.”
“Then what is it?”
I stepped closer.
“My family.”
Noah's expression softened.
“For the first time,” I said, “I know what that feels like.”
He stared at me.
May you like
Then he nodded.
“We go together.”
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