CHAPTER 6 – THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
CHAPTER 6 – THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
The old nurse closed the archive room door behind her.
She couldn't have been taller than five feet.
Silver hair.
Kind eyes.
Hands marked by decades of caring for other people.
Yet somehow...
every guard in Cross Manor had allowed her inside.
Damon appeared only seconds later.
Instead of ordering her removed...
he bowed his head slightly.
"Mrs. Margaret Ellis."
I stared.
"You know her?"
"I've been looking for her for ten years."
The nurse smiled wearily.
"I stayed hidden because I promised your mother I would."
My pulse quickened.
"You knew my mother?"
"I loved her."
She reached into her worn handbag and removed a sealed envelope.
"Ruth told me to give you this only if your life was ever in danger."
My fingers trembled.
The paper had yellowed with age.
Across the front, in handwriting I recognized instantly, were the words:
For my daughter, Emma.
My knees nearly gave out.
It was my mother's handwriting.
I hadn't seen it since the day we buried her.
Inside the envelope was a letter.
The first lines blurred beneath my tears.
My sweetest Emma,
If you're reading this, then the secret I spent my life protecting has finally found you.
Before you believe anything anyone tells you...
Believe this first.
I have never lied about loving you.
I struggled to continue.
But I did lie about where you came from.
The room disappeared around me.
You were not born a Harper.
I looked up in shock.
Margaret quietly nodded.
"No..."
I whispered.
"My mother..."
"She is your mother," Margaret said firmly.
"She raised you."
"She chose you."
"But she did not give birth to you."
The words hit like a physical blow.
Damon carefully steadied me before I fell.
Margaret continued.
"Twenty-six years ago, two babies were born in the same private hospital."
"One belonged to Ruth Harper."
"The other..."
She looked directly at me.
"...belonged to Eleanor Kane."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
"What are you saying?"
"There was a fire."
"The maternity ward lost power."
"Someone took advantage of the chaos."
"One newborn disappeared."
"The other remained."
I stared at her.
"You think..."
She nodded.
"You were switched."
Lucas inhaled sharply.
"You mean Emma..."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Emma Harper..."
"is actually Eleanor and Victor Kane's biological daughter."
The world stopped turning.
Before I could process the revelation, another voice echoed from the hallway.
"She's right."
Everyone turned.
A man stepped into the room wearing a dark suit stained with rain.
He looked exhausted.
Unshaven.
His left arm was in a sling.
Lucas instantly drew his pistol.
"Don't move!"
The stranger slowly raised both hands.
"I'm not here to fight."
Damon's face hardened.
"Victor Kane."
The older man looked directly at me.
His eyes filled with emotion I couldn't understand.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he whispered the words that changed everything.
"I've spent twenty-six years searching for my daughter."
He swallowed hard.
"And I finally found her."
Before anyone could react—
A gunshot exploded through the window.
Glass shattered across the archive room.
Victor Kane lurched forward.
A dark stain spread rapidly across his white shirt.
He collapsed at my feet.
With his last strength, he grabbed my wrist—touching the restored silver bracelet my mother had treasured.
His lips trembled.
"They're coming..."
He coughed blood.
"They're not after me anymore..."
His terrified eyes locked onto mine.
"They're after..."
Before he could finish the sentence—
The lights throughout Cross Manor went black.
Then, from somewhere deep inside the mansion...
came the unmistakable cry of a newborn baby.
Every person in the room froze.
I clutched my stomach in horror.
There shouldn't have been any baby in the house.
Yet the cry echoed again...
followed by the emergency generator failing to start.
Someone had cut all the power.
May you like
And someone else...
was already inside the manor.
