Chapter 7 — The Second Mother
Chapter 7 — The Second Mother
The room went silent.
Not the ordinary silence that followed an accusation.
This was different.
It was the silence of people realizing that one sentence had just changed the meaning of everything that came before it.
Margot stared at Priscilla.
Then she looked at her mother.
“Mom?”
Evelyn's lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Margot's hand slowly moved to her stomach.
“Tell me she's lying.”
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Margot…”
“Tell me.”
Priscilla smiled.
“You see?”
She looked at the officers.
“Even now, Evelyn can't tell her the truth.”
Margot turned sharply.
“Shut up.”
Priscilla's smile widened.
“Ask her who carried you.”
Margot froze.
“What?”
Priscilla continued.
“Ask your mother who gave birth to you.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Margot felt the room spin.
“I was told you gave birth to me.”
“I did.”
“No.”
Margot's voice shook.
“You said you did.”
“I said you were my daughter.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Evelyn looked down.
“No.”
Margot's breathing became shallow.
“Who gave birth to me?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Another woman.”
The words seemed impossible.
Margot stared at her mother.
For thirty years, she had believed one simple thing.
She had been born to Evelyn Wren.
Now that certainty was gone.
“Who?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
“Who was she?”
“Her name was Clara.”
Margot frowned.
“Clara who?”
Evelyn looked toward Priscilla.
Priscilla was smiling.
“Clara Vale.”
Margot's face changed.
“Vale.”
The surname struck something inside her.
The identity her mother had used to hide her as a child.
Margot Vale.
She looked at Evelyn.
“That wasn't random.”
“No.”
“You used her name because she was connected to me.”
“Yes.”
“Who was Clara?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“She was your biological mother.”
Margot stepped backward.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're my mother.”
“I am.”
“But she gave birth to me.”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you?”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“The woman who raised you.”
Margot stared at her.
“My second mother.”
Priscilla laughed softly.
“Finally.”
Vance turned toward her.
“Enough.”
Priscilla ignored him.
“Your mother has been hiding that woman for thirty years.”
Margot looked at her.
“Where is Clara?”
Priscilla's smile disappeared.
“Dead.”
Margot's heart sank.
“When?”
“The night you were born.”
Evelyn immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Priscilla looked at her.
“You know I'm telling the truth.”
“You don't know anything.”
“I know exactly what happened.”
Priscilla's eyes sharpened.
“Because Walter told me.”
Margot looked at Evelyn.
“Is she dead?”
Evelyn hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Margot's voice became a whisper.
“Mom.”
Evelyn finally said:
“We don't know.”
Daniel was still in the hospital.
His condition had stabilized.
But the bullet had caused severe internal bleeding, and doctors were preparing him for surgery.
Before they took him away, he had given Vance one instruction.
“Don't let Margot leave.”
Vance hadn't understood why.
Now he did.
The Landrys weren't finished.
Not even close.
Because the inheritance wasn't merely financial.
It was biological.
And the identity of the child's father could determine who controlled it.
Margot looked at Vance.
“Why would Priscilla say Daniel isn't the father?”
Vance hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Evelyn answered.
“Because she wants to destroy your marriage.”
“That's not enough.”
“No.”
Margot's eyes hardened.
“She knows something.”
Evelyn looked away.
“Mom.”
“I know.”
“What happened when I was conceived?”
Evelyn was silent.
“Tell me.”
“You were conceived through a fertility procedure.”
Margot stared.
“What?”
“You couldn't have known that.”
“Why?”
“Because the procedure was arranged in secret.”
“By whom?”
Evelyn's answer came slowly.
“Your grandmother.”
Margot frowned.
“My grandmother wanted me to be born?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew the Landrys were going to attack us.”
Evelyn took a breath.
“She wanted the Wren bloodline to survive.”
Margot looked down at her stomach.
“So my daughter…”
“Is the continuation of that bloodline.”
“And Daniel?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Daniel was chosen.”
Margot's eyes narrowed.
“Chosen?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Your grandmother.”
Margot stepped backward.
“You're telling me my marriage was arranged thirty years before I met him?”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
She walked toward the window.
“Your grandmother knew you would eventually need protection.”
“So she chose Daniel?”
“She chose the Landry family.”
Margot stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if you know the history.”
Evelyn looked back.
“Your grandmother believed the Landrys could be redeemed.”
Margot almost laughed.
“After everything they did?”
“She was wrong.”
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let me marry Daniel?”
“Because I thought he was different.”
Margot's voice became bitter.
“And was he?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
A nurse entered.
“Mrs. Wren?”
Margot turned.
“The doctor needs you.”
“What happened?”
“Your husband woke up.”
Margot froze.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“He's asking for you.”
Margot looked at Evelyn.
Then Vance.
Then the nurse.
Finally, she nodded.
“I'll go.”
Daniel's eyes opened when Margot entered the room.
He looked weak.
Pale.
A bandage covered his chest.
But he was conscious.
“Margot.”
She stood beside the bed.
“You knew.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Knew what?”
“That my mother wasn't my biological mother.”
His eyes opened.
He stared at her.
“No.”
“You knew about Clara.”
Daniel's face changed.
“How?”
“Priscilla.”
He looked away.
“Of course.”
Margot's voice hardened.
“Tell me.”
“I didn't know everything.”
“What did you know?”
“I knew your mother had used another woman's identity.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From whom?”
“Walter.”
Margot leaned closer.
“And the pregnancy?”
Daniel swallowed.
“What about it?”
“Priscilla says you're not the father of my child.”
Daniel stared at her.
Then slowly shook his head.
“She is lying.”
Margot watched him.
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because I saw the medical records.”
Her expression changed.
“You saw them?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I am your daughter's father.”
Margot didn't move.
“I know.”
“No.”
Daniel reached for her hand.
“You need to understand.”
He squeezed her fingers weakly.
“Your mother was carrying a secret.”
“What secret?”
“The fertility procedure wasn't about you.”
Margot frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“It was about your daughter.”
Margot froze.
“She knew about my child before I was pregnant?”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your grandmother created a genetic trust.”
“A genetic trust?”
“A legal structure tied to the Wren bloodline.”
“And?”
Daniel looked at her.
“The child had to be born from a specific genetic line.”
Margot stared.
“Which line?”
“Yours.”
She frowned.
“That doesn't explain anything.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Because you weren't supposed to conceive naturally.”
Margot's eyes widened.
“What?”
“The doctors discovered something in your genetic history.”
“What?”
“Your fertility was considered extremely unlikely.”
Margot remembered the years of medical appointments.
The tests.
The strange warnings.
Her mother's constant insistence that she never take certain medications.
She had always assumed Evelyn was simply overprotective.
Now she understood.
Her entire body had been monitored for reasons she had never known.
Daniel continued.
“Your grandmother arranged for a specialist to preserve your genetic material.”
Margot stared.
“My eggs?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you were eighteen.”
Her mouth went dry.
“And the child?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your daughter was conceived using your preserved genetic material.”
Margot's eyes filled with tears.
“Then who carried her?”
Daniel looked at her.
“You did.”
Margot's expression changed.
She suddenly understood.
“The second mother…”
Daniel nodded.
“Wasn't the woman who carried my child.”
“No.”
“She was the woman who gave birth to me.”
“Yes.”
Margot closed her eyes.
Everything had become tangled.
Her mother.
Her biological mother.
Her grandmother.
The Landrys.
The inheritance.
Her daughter.
And Daniel.
Yet one question remained.
“Why did Priscilla say you aren't the father?”
Daniel's expression became grim.
“Because she has a reason.”
“What reason?”
“She has DNA evidence.”
Margot went still.
“Against you?”
“Against me.”
“Is it real?”
“I don't know.”
Margot looked at him.
“But there's something else.”
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“The sample was taken before we ever met.”
Margot stared.
“How?”
“Your medical records.”
She suddenly understood.
Walter had obtained her medical records.
But if he had access to Daniel's too—
then he could manipulate the evidence.
“Your father could have switched the sample.”
Daniel nodded.
“That's what I think.”
Margot stepped away.
“Then we need a new test.”
“Yes.”
“A test no one in the Landry family can touch.”
Daniel nodded.
“Agreed.”
Margot turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“If the test proves you're not the father…”
He waited.
“I'll never forgive you for hiding it.”
Daniel looked down.
“I know.”
“And if it proves you are…”
He looked up.
“What then?”
Margot's voice was cold.
“It doesn't erase what you did.”
Daniel nodded.
“I know.”
Outside the room, Evelyn was waiting.
Margot walked toward her.
“Mom.”
Evelyn looked up.
“I know about Clara.”
Her mother's face crumbled.
Margot continued.
“I know she gave birth to me.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I know.”
“And I know you don't know if she's dead.”
Evelyn looked away.
“She is alive.”
Margot froze.
“What?”
Evelyn whispered:
“I saw her.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Where?”
“London.”
Margot stared.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she asked me not to.”
“Why?”
Evelyn took a trembling breath.
“Because Clara believes someone is still hunting her.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked directly at Margot.
“Your grandmother.”
Margot couldn't speak.
“My grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“But she's dead.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That is what everyone believes.”
Margot felt another piece of her world collapse.
“How many people in my family are supposedly dead but aren't?”
Evelyn gave a sad smile.
“More than you think.”
That evening, Vance received the DNA results.
He entered Margot's room carrying a sealed envelope.
Daniel was there.
Evelyn stood beside the window.
Margot looked at the envelope.
“Is it him?”
Vance nodded.
“We had two independent laboratories test separate samples.”
“And?”
He placed the results on the table.
“Daniel is the biological father of your daughter.”
Margot closed her eyes.
A strange mixture of relief and anger passed through her.
Daniel whispered:
“I told you.”
Margot looked at him.
“Yes.”
Then Vance added:
“But that's not the important result.”
Margot opened her eyes.
“What?”
Vance placed another report beside the first.
“The maternal DNA.”
Margot stared.
“What about it?”
Vance's expression was grim.
“The DNA from the woman who gave birth to you…”
He paused.
“…doesn't match the DNA on your grandmother's official records.”
Evelyn went completely still.
Margot looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Vance answered:
“It means Clara Vale wasn't the only woman involved in your birth.”
Margot's blood ran cold.
“What?”
Vance opened the final page.
“There were two maternal DNA profiles.”
Evelyn whispered:
“No.”
Margot looked at her.
“Mom?”
Evelyn's face had lost all color.
Vance continued.
“One belongs to Clara.”
“And the other?”
He looked at Margot.
“The second woman is genetically related to the Landry family.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at the report.
Priscilla's words suddenly returned.
The second mother.
Margot looked toward the door.
A shadow moved beneath it.
Someone was standing outside.
Vance immediately reached for his weapon.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
The shadow disappeared.
Vance opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
Only a small envelope lay on the floor.
Margot picked it up.
Her name was written on the front.
Inside was a photograph.
A young Clara.
A young Evelyn.
And between them—
a newborn baby.
On the back, someone had written:
You were never meant to know which mother was yours.
Then another line:
Ask Evelyn why the Landrys have a legal claim to your blood.
Margot looked up.
Her mother was crying.
“Mom.”
Evelyn whispered:
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Then tell me now.”
Evelyn looked at the photograph.
Her voice trembled.
“Your grandmother didn't create the inheritance for you.”
Margot's heart sank.
“Then who?”
Evelyn looked directly at her.
“She created it for the child you are carrying.”
Margot's hand moved to her stomach.
“And why?”
“Because that child has something the Landrys have spent thirty years trying to obtain.”
“What?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with fear.
“Proof that they are not Landrys at all.”
Margot stared.
“What?”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“The family name is a lie.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What are you saying?”
Evelyn answered:
“Walter Landry was born a Wren.”
The room went silent.
And suddenly the inheritance was no longer about stolen money.
It was about stolen identity.
The Landrys had spent generations building an empire from a name that did not belong to them.
And Margot's unborn daughter carried the genetic proof that could take everything back.
But there was one final problem.
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If the proof became public—
every Landry who had survived would have a reason to make sure the baby never saw the light of day.
