Chapter 5 - The Sister I Had Never Known
Lily spent the night searching hospitals.
There were no admissions under Lena Carter.
No missing-person reports.
No records.
Nothing.
At sunrise, Anna called.
"She's alive."
Lily nearly dropped the phone.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Roman took the phone.
"Mrs. Carter, we need a description."
"Dark hair. Gray eyes. Small scar on her left eyebrow."
Lily closed her eyes.
She knew.
She had the same scar.
"She's my twin."
Anna's voice softened.
"Yes."
The word changed everything.
For twenty-four years Lily believed she had no family.
Now she had found a mother and a sister in the span of one week.
But someone else was looking for them.
Roman doubled security.
No one entered the house without clearance.
Even Ava was assigned two guards.
Lily hated it.
Ava hated it more.
"Daddy is becoming annoying."
Lily smiled.
"Your father was already annoying."
Ava whispered:
"Don't tell him."
He appeared behind them.
"Too late."
Ava giggled.
Despite the danger, normal moments began appearing.
Breakfast.
Movies.
Snowball fights.
Ava teaching Lily how to decorate a tree.
Roman pretending he didn't care about Christmas ornaments while secretly placing the most expensive ones at the top.
One evening, Lily found him alone in the library.
"You changed."
He looked up.
"How?"
"You smile more."
"That's your daughter's fault."
"My daughter?"
"Our daughter has better manners than you."
He laughed.
The sound surprised them both.
It was the first time Lily realized how lonely Roman had been too.
Not alone.
Lonely.
There was a difference.
Ava had lost her mother.
Roman had lost his wife.
Lily had lost everyone.
Three damaged people had somehow begun fitting together.
Then Lena arrived.
She appeared at the gate just after midnight.
The cameras picked up a woman walking through the snow.
Lily ran outside.
The woman lifted her face.
Their eyes met.
Lily stopped.
It was like looking into a mirror that had lived a completely different life.
"Lena?"
The woman nodded.
"You're Lily."
They embraced.
Neither spoke.
Afterward, Lena sat beside Lily in the kitchen.
"I've known about you for six months."
Lily stared.
"How?"
"Someone sent me pictures."
"Who?"
"I never found out."
"Why didn't you come?"
Lena looked down.
"I was afraid."
"Of me?"
"Of losing you."
Lily's eyes filled.
"Why would you lose me?"
"Because everyone who tries to get close to the DeLucas gets hurt."
Roman entered.
Lena stiffened.
Lily noticed.
"What happened?"
Lena looked at Roman.
"Your family killed my adoptive father."
Roman's expression hardened.
"What?"
"My father was investigating the same people your family was fighting."
"Did you believe he was killed by us?"
"I did."
Roman slowly shook his head.
"We need to find out who ordered it."
Lena looked at him.
"You care?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Roman looked at Lily.
"Because she does."
That answer silenced Lena.
Later, Lily found an old box in Lena's belongings.
Inside were letters.
One carried Roman's father's signature.
Another carried Anna's.
The final one was from someone named Salvatore.
Lily frowned.
"Who is Salvatore?"
Roman looked at the signature.
His face went cold.
"My grandfather's brother."
"What happened to him?"
"He disappeared twenty-five years ago."
Lena opened the letter.
The words were brief.
Anna,
If they come for the girls, give one child to the DeLucas and hide the other.
Never let them grow up together.
Because if the twins stand together, they will find the ledger.
Lily stared.
"What ledger?"
Roman answered quietly.
"The original DeLuca ledger."
"What does it contain?"
"Names."
"Whose names?"
"Everyone who helped build the criminal network."
Lena looked frightened.
"Why would that matter now?"
Roman's answer was simple.
"Because some of those people are still alive."
One name appeared on another page.
Senator Vincent Moretti.
A respected Boston philanthropist.
A man who had attended Roman's mother's funeral.
A man Lily recognized.
"He was at the funeral."
Roman nodded.
"He was."
"Could he be involved?"
"We need proof."
They found it two days later.
A hidden account.
Payments to Moretti.
Payments from the same company that had funded the hospital transfer twenty years earlier.
Anna looked at the documents.
She began shaking.
"That's him."
"Who?"
"The man who came into the hospital the night you were separated."
"Moretti?"
Anna nodded.
"He told me one child was going to die."
Lily stared.
"Why?"
"He needed the ledger."
Roman looked at Arthur.
"Find Moretti."
Arthur nodded.
Before he could move, every light in the house went out.
Ava screamed.
Lily ran.
A gunshot sounded upstairs.
Roman grabbed Ava.
Lena pulled Lily behind a wall.
Security shouted.
The emergency lights came on.
The hallway was empty.
But on the floor lay one object.
A red envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Ava.
On the back:
May you like
One daughter is enough.
The next time we won't miss.
