Chapter 16 - RACHEL’S VERSION
Adrian saw Rachel’s fear.
He stopped moving.
“Elena.”
Daniel held her back.
“Wait.”
Elena turned on him.
“That is my sister.”
“I know.”
“Open the door.”
Marcus checked the handle.
Locked.
Claire laughed.
“You’ll need the code.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Give it.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped forward.
Rachel moved farther from the glass.
Daniel saw it.
“Stop.”
Adrian froze.
Daniel looked at him.
“She is afraid of you.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“I never hurt her.”
Rachel shook her head violently behind the glass.
Elena stared.
“Rachel?”
Rachel pointed at Adrian.
Then at Charles.
Then crossed both arms over her chest.
No.
Adrian whispered.
“She thinks I betrayed her.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Claire spoke from the floor.
“He did.”
Adrian turned.
“Shut up.”
Claire laughed.
“There he is.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“What happened?”
Claire looked at Elena.
“Rachel found Adrian after Sophie was born.”
“We know.”
“No.”
“You know what he told you.”
Claire nodded toward Adrian.
“He was not helping her expose the clinic.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
Daniel stared.
“What were you doing?”
Adrian said nothing.
That was enough.
“Adrian.”
He looked away.
“I wanted Victor.”
“For revenge?”
“Yes.”
“And Rachel had evidence.”
“Yes.”
“You used her.”
Adrian’s voice rose.
“I was trying to destroy the people who did this to me.”
Elena stared.
“My sister was one of the people they did it to.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I know.”
“Did you?”
Silence.
Claire continued.
“Rachel arranged the Lake Arden meeting because Adrian told her Charles had agreed to confess.”
Daniel turned.
“Did Charles?”
Charles looked confused.
“No.”
Claire smiled.
“Exactly.”
Daniel stared at Adrian.
“You lied to her.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“Yes.”
Elena stepped backward.
“You sent her to that lake.”
“I thought Charles would come.”
“He did.”
“I thought Victor would follow.”
“He did.”
“You used Rachel as bait.”
Adrian said nothing.
Elena slapped him.
Hard.
Adrian accepted it.
“You used my sister.”
“Yes.”
“While she was protecting my child.”
“Yes.”
Elena’s voice broke.
“You are no better than them.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“No.”
“I wasn’t.”
Marcus found a maintenance panel.
He forced it open.
The lock disengaged.
Elena ran into the room.
Rachel barely had time to move before Elena wrapped her arms around her.
Both women collapsed.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Rachel cried into Elena’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I should have come back.”
Elena held her tighter.
“You’re alive.”
That was all that mattered for those seconds.
Eventually Rachel looked up.
She saw Daniel.
Her expression softened.
“You look older.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“You’ve seen me before?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“At the hospital.”
Daniel stared.
“The night Noah was born?”
Rachel nodded.
“You were outside.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“I thought you were part of it.”
Daniel had no defense.
It was reasonable.
Rachel looked at Elena.
“I tried to get Sophie back.”
Elena held her hand.
“She remembers you.”
Rachel’s face broke.
“She’s alive?”
Elena nodded.
Rachel sobbed.
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Noah?”
“Alive.”
Rachel covered her face.
Elena continued.
“There was another boy.”
Rachel looked up.
“I know.”
Elena froze.
“You knew?”
Rachel nodded.
“Eli.”
Daniel stared.
“How do you know his name?”
Rachel looked at Marcus.
“Anna sent me pictures.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
“My wife?”
Rachel nodded.
“She regretted everything.”
Marcus looked sick.
“Did she kill Samuel?”
Rachel’s expression filled with pain.
“Yes.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“She told me afterward.”
“Why?”
“Victor had threatened Eli.”
Marcus looked up.
Rachel continued.
“She thought if Reed died, Victor would leave the boy alone.”
“He didn’t.”
“No.”
Marcus whispered.
“He killed her anyway.”
Rachel nodded.
Marcus turned away.
Daniel gave him silence.
Then he looked at Rachel.
“Who took you after the lake?”
“Claire.”
Claire looked away.
Rachel continued.
“I fell into the water.”
“I woke on the bank.”
“Claire had followed Victor.”
“She pulled me out.”
Adrian stared.
“I found a body.”
Rachel nodded.
“A woman from a nearby town had drowned the same night.”
“Victor’s people switched the identification.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Daniel felt the cruel irony.
Everyone believed Rachel dead because someone else’s tragedy had been used to bury her.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
Elena asked.
Rachel’s face tightened.
“Because Victor still had access to you.”
“And Sophie.”
“And Noah.”
“I believed if I appeared, he would kill all of you.”
Elena began crying again.
Rachel held her.
“Then Victor died.”
Daniel said.
“Nineteen months ago.”
Rachel nodded.
“I was going to come back.”
“What stopped you?”
Rachel looked at Adrian.
“He found Claire.”
Adrian frowned.
“I didn’t know Rachel was alive.”
Rachel stared at him.
“But Claire didn’t know that.”
Adrian understood.
His search had frightened them deeper underground.
Rachel looked at Daniel.
“I needed proof before I came back.”
“The memory card.”
“Yes.”
Elena touched her shoe.
Rachel smiled faintly.
“You found it.”
Elena nodded.
“Is it enough?”
Rachel looked at Charles.
“To destroy everything he built.”
Charles closed his eyes.
Daniel asked the most important question.
“Does it prove the children were taken?”
“Yes.”
“Does it prove Vivienne’s role?”
“Yes.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Charles?”
Rachel looked at him.
Charles looked at her.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Charles nodded.
He did not argue.
Rachel continued.
“But there is one more person.”
Everyone went still.
Daniel had learned to hate those words.
“Who?”
Rachel looked toward Marcus.
“A judge.”
Marcus frowned.
“Name?”
“Eleanor Voss.”
Daniel knew her.
Chief Judge of the state family court.
A Whitmore Foundation board member.
A woman who had attended the gala.
Daniel remembered her standing near the front.
Watching Noah run to Elena.
Watching the slap.
Watching everything unravel.
“She helped seal adoption records.”
Rachel nodded.
“She approved false guardianship orders.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“How many?”
Rachel looked at him.
“More than three.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“The program continued.”
Charles stared.
“No.”
Rachel looked at him.
“You really didn’t know?”
Charles’s face went pale.
“What are you saying?”
“Victor didn’t stop after Sophie, Noah, and Eli.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“How many?”
Rachel swallowed.
“At least fourteen children.”
Silence.
Elena whispered.
“Fourteen?”
Rachel nodded.
“Maybe more.”
Daniel felt horror spread through him.
“This wasn’t about our family.”
Rachel shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
“It became a market.”
Adrian whispered.
“Children.”
Rachel nodded.
“Babies with selected genetic profiles.”
Charles sat down.
For once, the powerful old man looked completely defeated.
Daniel stared at him.
“This is your legacy.”
Charles closed his eyes.
Then alarms began blaring.
Marcus looked at Claire.
“What did you do?”
Claire shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Smoke began filling the corridor.
Rachel panicked.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
Rachel stared at Daniel.
May you like
“Judge Voss.”
And from the far end of the underground clinic, flames began moving toward them.
