CHAPTER 10 — THE WOMAN WHO STOLE HER FRIEND'S CHILD
CHAPTER 10 — THE WOMAN WHO STOLE HER FRIEND'S CHILD
I stared at the photograph.
A newborn baby.
A woman beside an incubator.
Vivian Cross.
And beneath the photograph:
SUBJECT 02 — FEMALE.
My hands went numb.
I looked at Julian.
"You said Sienna raised her."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know Sienna raised her?"
"Because I saw her."
"When?"
"Sixteen years ago."
My heart stopped.
"You saw Sienna sixteen years ago?"
"Yes."
"But she was my best friend."
"Exactly."
I shook my head.
"No."
Julian stepped closer.
"Clara, listen to me."
"No."
I pushed the photograph away.
"You're telling me Sienna knew about Maya."
"Yes."
"She knew about Daniel."
"Yes."
"And now you're saying she raised another child."
"Yes."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
He took a breath.
"Because Sienna wasn't supposed to be your enemy."
I stared at him.
"Then what was she supposed to be?"
"The mother."
My stomach turned.
"She was supposed to raise the second child."
"Why?"
"Because the foundation needed someone who could hide her."
"Why Sienna?"
"Because she had already become close to you."
I shook my head.
"You mean Marianne chose her."
"Yes."
"And Sienna agreed."
"At first."
I laughed bitterly.
"She always had a choice."
Julian looked down.
"Maybe."
I picked up the photograph again.
The baby's face was tiny.
Almost impossible to recognize.
But there was something familiar.
A small crescent-shaped mark above the eyebrow.
I had seen it before.
On my own baby pictures.
I whispered:
"She's mine."
Julian nodded.
"Yes."
I looked at him.
"Then why didn't anyone tell me?"
He hesitated.
"Because the second embryo wasn't meant to survive."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
"The embryo was damaged during storage."
"But the pregnancy happened."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Someone repaired it."
"Who?"
Julian looked toward the door.
"Your best friend."
The next morning, Sienna was brought into the interrogation room.
She looked exhausted.
Her hair was disheveled.
Her expensive clothes were gone.
She wore a plain gray sweater.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked ordinary.
Human.
She looked at me.
"Clara."
I sat across from her.
"Where is my daughter?"
Sienna's eyes filled with tears.
"I knew you would ask that."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
I slammed my hand against the table.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
"You raised her."
"I did."
"Then where is she?"
Sienna looked down.
"She's gone."
"Who took her?"
"I don't know."
"Who had her last?"
Sienna didn't answer.
I leaned forward.
"You stole my child."
"I know."
"You pretended to be my friend."
"I know."
"You watched me suffer."
"I know."
"You watched me believe I couldn't have children."
Tears rolled down her face.
"I know."
"And you never told me."
"I was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of losing her."
I stared at her.
"You already lost her."
Sienna shook her head.
"No."
She looked at me.
"I gave her back."
My breath caught.
"What?"
"I gave her back to your mother."
"When?"
"Two years ago."
"Why?"
"Because I realized what they were going to do."
"Who?"
"The foundation."
Sienna wiped her tears.
"They wanted to take her."
"So I hid her."
"Where?"
She looked at me.
"With your mother."
I froze.
"But my mother said she only had Maya."
"She lied."
I stood.
"Where is my daughter?"
Sienna whispered:
"Her name is Amelia."
The room went silent.
"Amelia."
Sienna nodded.
"Amelia Hart."
My heart broke at the sound of it.
My daughter had a name.
A name I had never chosen.
A name I had never whispered.
A name another woman had given her.
"How old is she?"
"Sixteen."
"Where does she live?"
Sienna looked away.
"I don't know."
I grabbed the edge of the table.
"You're lying."
"No."
"Then tell me what you do know."
Sienna closed her eyes.
"The last time I saw Amelia, she was sixteen."
"Where?"
"At the old Hart estate."
My heart stopped.
"My father's house?"
"Yes."
"But my father said he never knew about her."
Sienna shook her head.
"He lied."
I felt sick.
"Everyone lies."
"Yes."
"Everyone."
Sienna whispered:
"That's why I finally stopped."
She told me the story.
Sixteen years ago, after my first child was born, the foundation discovered that two embryos existed.
Maya had been born naturally.
The second embryo had been frozen.
The doctors believed it was unstable.
They wanted to destroy it.
But Sienna was working at the clinic.
She saw the file.
She saw my name.
She saw the embryo.
And something inside her changed.
She stole it.
Not because she wanted to save me.
Not at first.
She wanted a child.
A child that nobody could take from her.
She arranged an illegal transfer.
The pregnancy succeeded.
But because she couldn't explain how she had become pregnant, she told everyone the child was hers.
The foundation believed her.
Marianne believed her.
Even Julian believed the baby was unrelated.
Until the genetic testing revealed the truth.
Sienna had given birth to my daughter.
Amelia.
And instead of destroying the child—
they decided to use her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
Sienna looked at me.
"Because I loved her."
"You loved my daughter."
"Yes."
"But you weren't her mother."
"I know."
"Then what were you?"
Sienna cried.
"I was the woman who raised her."
I stared at her.
"That isn't the same."
"No."
She looked at me.
"But for sixteen years, it was all she knew."
I hated hearing that.
Because part of me understood.
And that made it worse.
"Does she know I'm her mother?"
Sienna hesitated.
"Yes."
My heart stopped.
"Since when?"
"Since she was fourteen."
"How?"
"I told her."
"Why?"
"Because she asked."
"What did she ask?"
Sienna's voice broke.
"She asked why she didn't look like me."
I closed my eyes.
"And you told her?"
"I showed her your photograph."
My throat tightened.
"What did she say?"
Sienna smiled through tears.
"She said she had your eyes."
I couldn't speak.
"Did she hate me?"
"No."
"Did she hate you?"
Sienna looked away.
"Sometimes."
"Why?"
"Because she knew I had taken her from you."
I whispered:
"She knew."
"Yes."
"And she stayed."
"She didn't know where else to go."
I looked at Sienna.
"Where is she now?"
"I told you."
"You said you don't know."
"I don't."
"Then who does?"
Sienna stared at the table.
"Your father."
I found Richard in federal custody that afternoon.
He was sitting behind glass.
For the first time, he looked old.
Not powerful.
Not frightening.
Just old.
I sat opposite him.
"Where is Amelia?"
He smiled sadly.
"You're finally asking the right question."
"Where?"
"Safe."
"That isn't an answer."
"She's alive."
"Where?"
He leaned forward.
"Your daughter is the one person Elias could never find."
"Why?"
"Because I hid her."
"You hid my daughter?"
"Yes."
"After everything?"
"I knew what Elias wanted."
"What?"
"Her genetic profile."
"And Maya's."
"And Daniel's."
"All three."
Richard nodded.
"But Amelia was different."
"How?"
"She inherited both genetic markers."
I stared at him.
"Both?"
"Yours."
"And Sienna's."
I frowned.
"That shouldn't be possible."
"That's what makes her unique."
I felt sick.
"She's the result of the two genetic lines they were trying to combine."
Richard's voice became quiet.
"She is the one they wanted."
"Then why hide her?"
"Because I realized what I had created."
"You didn't create her."
"No."
He looked down.
"That was the lie I told myself."
I stared at him.
"Where is she?"
Richard hesitated.
"Clara..."
"Where?"
He finally answered.
"At the place where you grew up."
My blood froze.
"My childhood home?"
"Yes."
"But that's been abandoned."
"Not anymore."
"Who lives there?"
Richard looked at me.
"Amelia."
I arrived at the house just before sunset.
Julian came with me.
Maya refused to stay behind.
Daniel was asleep in a carrier against my chest.
The house looked exactly as I remembered.
The old stone steps.
The cracked fountain.
The oak tree beside the front porch.
My childhood.
My nightmare.
My beginning.
The front door was unlocked.
I pushed it open.
"Hello?"
No answer.
We walked inside.
Everything was clean.
Too clean.
Fresh flowers.
New furniture.
Family photographs.
Then I saw one.
A teenage girl.
Standing beside Sienna.
Amelia.
I touched the photograph.
My hands trembled.
"She's beautiful."
Maya stood beside me.
"She looks like you."
I nodded.
"Yes."
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Julian reached for his weapon.
I held up my hand.
"Wait."
Another step.
Then another.
A girl appeared at the top of the stairs.
Sixteen years old.
Dark brown hair.
My eyes.
My mother's smile.
She stared at me.
I couldn't breathe.
Amelia looked at Daniel.
Then Maya.
Then me.
She whispered:
"Mom?"
The word broke something inside me.
I stepped forward.
"Amelia."
She began crying.
I walked toward her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As though she might disappear.
She came down the stairs.
We stood face to face.
For sixteen years, I had imagined what my child might look like.
I had imagined her smile.
Her voice.
Her hands.
None of my dreams prepared me for this moment.
She reached up.
Touched my cheek.
"You really have my eyes."
I laughed through tears.
"Or you have mine."
She smiled.
Then she hugged me.
I wrapped my arms around her.
For the first time—
I held my daughter.
Not a photograph.
Not a memory.
Not a secret.
My daughter.
Alive.
Warm.
Real.
I whispered:
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head.
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
"They made sure you didn't."
I pulled away.
"Who?"
Amelia looked toward the hallway.
"Sienna."
I froze.
"What did she do?"
Amelia wiped her tears.
"She told me the truth."
"Everything?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Amelia's face changed.
"She told me who my real father is."
I looked at Julian.
He was staring at Amelia.
Confused.
"Who?"
Amelia looked at me.
Then whispered:
"Not Julian."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"He's not my biological father."
I stared at her.
"But the embryo came from me."
"Yes."
"Then who?"
Amelia looked toward the window.
"My father."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Your father."
Richard.
I couldn't breathe.
"That's impossible."
Amelia shook her head.
"Grandpa said it was the only way to make the experiment work."
My stomach turned.
"You're saying Richard is your biological father?"
She nodded.
I felt the room spin.
"No."
Julian stepped forward.
"Clara..."
"No."
I looked at Amelia.
"Who told you this?"
"Sienna."
"She lied."
Amelia shook her head.
"She showed me the records."
"What records?"
"Embryology records."
"DNA results."
"Birth records."
"Everything."
I looked at Julian.
He was pale.
Then I noticed something.
Amelia's eyes.
The same gray-green color as Richard's.
I stepped backward.
No.
It couldn't be.
My father had used my genetic material.
And his.
He had created an embryo.
My daughter.
Not through Julian.
Through himself.
I felt sick.
"Amelia..."
She grabbed my hand.
"Mom."
I looked at her.
"I don't understand."
She whispered:
"Neither do I."
Then the lights went out.
A man's voice came from downstairs.
"Neither of you were supposed to find her."
Julian drew his gun.
Maya pulled me backward.
Amelia froze.
I knew that voice.
Elias.
He stepped into the room.
And behind him stood Sienna.
But Sienna wasn't crying anymore.
She wasn't afraid.
She was smiling.
I stared at her.
"You."
She looked at Amelia.
"I'm sorry."
Amelia stepped backward.
"You promised."
Sienna's eyes filled with tears.
"I had no choice."
I realized the truth too late.
Sienna hadn't brought me here to save Amelia.
She had brought me here because she knew I would lead them directly to her.
I turned toward her.
"You used me."
Sienna shook her head.
"No."
She looked at Elias.
"They used me."
Elias smiled.
"Enough."
He stepped forward.
"Give us Amelia."
I stood in front of my daughter.
"No."
He raised his weapon.
Then Julian stepped beside me.
Maya stood on my other side.
Sienna began crying.
"Please."
I looked at her.
"You stole my child."
She whispered:
"Yes."
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You raised her."
"Yes."
"And now you're giving her back to them."
Sienna closed her eyes.
"No."
She suddenly turned toward Elias.
And shouted:
"Run!"
Elias looked stunned.
Sienna grabbed a metal lamp and smashed it against his arm.
The gun fell.
Julian lunged.
Chaos exploded.
I grabbed Amelia.
Maya grabbed my hand.
We ran.
Behind us, Sienna screamed.
"GET OUT!"
I turned once.
She was standing between us and Elias.
For the first time in sixteen years—
Sienna was protecting my child.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Sienna fell.
I screamed her name.
But Julian dragged me away.
"Clara, go!"
We ran through the back door.
Outside, the night was cold.
Amelia was crying.
Maya held her hand.
Daniel slept against my chest.
For a moment, all three of my children were with me.
Then another gunshot echoed from inside the house.
I stopped.
Sienna.
The woman who had stolen my child.
The woman who had betrayed me.
The woman who had lied to me.
Was still inside.
I wanted to hate her.
But I couldn't.
Because in the final moment—
she had chosen my daughter over herself.
And as the house disappeared behind us, I realized something terrifying.
Sienna had been the woman who stole my child.
But she might also be the only person who knew how to save her.
May you like
And if she died tonight—
the final secret about Amelia's birth might die with her.
