CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN HE THOUGHT HE COULD REPLACE
CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN HE THOUGHT HE COULD REPLACE
The voice on the phone had lasted less than twenty seconds.
It had taken me less than twenty seconds to realize that my entire life had just changed.
"Your sister."
Those two words kept repeating inside my head.
My sister was alive.
Somewhere.
After twenty-nine years of believing there were only two of us, there was another woman carrying the same blood.
And somehow, she knew me.
But before I could process that truth, the woman who had spent the last year trying to replace me walked into the room.
Sophia.
She stood in the doorway of my grandmother's study.
Still wearing the emerald necklace.
Still carrying herself like she belonged there.
She looked at the three boxes on the table.
Then at Robert.
Then at me.
Her expression changed.
"You found it."
I stared at her.
"You knew."
Sophia didn't answer.
My father stepped forward.
"Get out."
She ignored him.
"I wasn't supposed to tell her."
Robert's eyes narrowed.
"Who told you to come here?"
She looked at him.
"Julian."
My stomach tightened.
"Where is he?"
"At the Meridian."
"Why?"
"Because he has nowhere else to go."
I almost laughed.
"That's not my problem."
Sophia looked at me.
"No."
She slowly touched the emerald around her neck.
"But what happened to him is going to become your problem."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
She reached inside her handbag.
Then placed a small black flash drive on the table.
"This."
Victor picked it up.
"What is it?"
"Everything Julian was supposed to do."
I stared at her.
"Supposed to?"
Sophia nodded.
"He wasn't supposed to divorce you."
My heart stopped.
"He was supposed to destroy you."
The room went silent.
I looked at Sophia.
"Explain."
She took a breath.
"Julian's original instructions were simple."
Robert interrupted.
"Careful."
Sophia looked at him.
"I've already decided."
Robert's expression hardened.
"Decided what?"
"That I'm done protecting you."
She turned toward me.
"Julian was supposed to make you sign over enough assets to activate the second layer of the trust."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Robert needed control."
My father stepped forward.
"How much?"
Sophia looked at Victor.
"Almost everything."
Victor inserted the flash drive into his laptop.
The screen filled with documents.
Bank transfers.
Emails.
Private contracts.
Meeting schedules.
Photographs.
And then—
my own name.
Again.
And again.
And again.
I stared at the screen.
"How long?"
Sophia answered:
"Since before your wedding."
My stomach dropped.
"He knew me before we met."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Robert introduced you."
I shook my head.
"No."
Sophia nodded.
"He watched you for six months."
I remembered Julian telling me our first meeting was accidental.
A hotel conference.
A spilled glass of wine.
A laugh.
A conversation that lasted three hours.
He had told me later that he had known immediately.
That I was different.
That he had fallen in love with me that night.
It had all been a lie.
I looked at the screen.
There was a file.
SUBJECT: ELENA LAURENT
Beneath it were photographs.
Me at twenty.
Me at university.
Me leaving work.
Me entering restaurants.
Me standing outside my father's house.
Someone had been watching me.
For months.
Maybe years.
I felt sick.
Sophia whispered:
"He knew everything about you before he ever touched your hand."
I looked at her.
"And you?"
Sophia lowered her eyes.
"I was part of it."
The words were almost inaudible.
"What did you do?"
"I got close to Julian."
"You were his mistress."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was supposed to keep him focused."
"Focused on what?"
"Destroying your marriage."
I laughed bitterly.
"So you were his handler?"
Sophia shook her head.
"No."
She looked at Robert.
"He was mine."
Robert's face hardened.
"What?"
Sophia turned toward him.
"You thought I was working for you."
"You were."
"No."
She smiled.
"I was working for someone else."
Robert's expression changed.
"Who?"
Sophia didn't answer.
Instead, she removed the emerald necklace.
She placed it on the table.
"This belonged to your grandmother."
I looked at it.
"Where did you get it?"
"Your sister gave it to me."
My blood went cold.
"What sister?"
Sophia looked directly at me.
"The one you just spoke to."
I couldn't breathe.
"You've met her."
Sophia nodded.
"Several times."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then how?"
Sophia looked at the necklace.
"She found me."
"When?"
"Six months ago."
"Why?"
"Because she was trying to find out who had stolen her identity."
I frowned.
"What identity?"
Sophia hesitated.
"Yours."
The room seemed to shrink.
My sister had been living under another identity.
She had spent twenty-nine years without knowing who she was.
Then somehow she discovered the Laurent family.
And instead of coming to me—
she had gone to Sophia.
"Why?"
Sophia looked at me.
"Because she didn't trust your family."
I couldn't blame her.
I barely trusted them myself.
"She thought you were part of the people hiding her."
"She was right."
Sophia nodded.
"She believed everyone connected to the Laurent name was dangerous."
"And you?"
"I agreed."
I stared at her.
"You were helping her?"
"Yes."
"While sleeping with my husband?"
Sophia looked ashamed.
"Yes."
That answer made me angrier than anything else.
"You destroyed my marriage."
"I know."
"You humiliated me."
"I know."
"You stood beside Julian while he threw me out."
Sophia's eyes filled with tears.
"I know."
"Then why should I believe you now?"
She looked at me.
"Because I have nothing left to lose."
Victor stopped the recording.
"There is something else."
He opened another file.
A video.
Julian appeared on the screen.
He was sitting in a dark room.
His face looked exhausted.
He stared directly at the camera.
"If you're watching this, Sophia has told Elena."
He paused.
"I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to say this to you myself."
His voice broke.
"Elena, I lied to you."
I closed my eyes.
Julian continued.
"I lied about how we met."
"I lied about the business."
"I lied about Sophia."
"I lied about why I married you."
My chest tightened.
"But there is one thing I never lied about."
He looked down.
"I loved you."
I opened my eyes.
"Not at first."
His honesty hurt more than another lie would have.
"At first, you were a job."
He swallowed.
"Then you became my wife."
"And then..."
He looked into the camera.
"...you became the only thing in my life I couldn't control."
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
I stared at the black screen.
Sophia whispered:
"He was supposed to replace you."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Not just as his wife."
She pointed toward the screen.
"As the person who controlled the empire."
Victor pulled up another document.
It showed Julian's planned restructuring.
My name would have disappeared from every board.
Every company.
Every trust.
Every property.
Sophia's name would have been placed beside his.
I stared.
"He was going to make her my replacement."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Sophia answered:
"Because Robert believed you were too loyal to your family."
I looked at her.
"And he thought you weren't?"
She smiled sadly.
"He was wrong."
The next morning, Julian came to the estate.
He arrived alone.
No lawyers.
No security.
No expensive suit.
Just a black shirt and exhausted eyes.
When I saw him standing across from me, I felt nothing.
That frightened me more than anger.
He looked at me.
"Can we talk?"
"No."
"Please."
"No."
He nodded.
"I understand."
He turned to leave.
I stopped him.
"Why did you do it?"
He closed his eyes.
"I was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of Robert."
I laughed.
"You had nine years to tell me."
"I know."
"You could have warned me."
"I know."
"You could have walked away."
"I know."
"Instead, you cheated on me."
He looked at me.
"I thought if I made you hate me, you'd leave."
My anger returned.
"You wanted me to hate you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Robert had started planning something worse."
I stared at him.
"What?"
Julian looked toward Victor.
Then at Sophia.
Then back at me.
"He wanted you dead."
Silence.
My father's face changed.
Robert wasn't in the room.
But everyone suddenly felt his presence.
Julian continued.
"I didn't know at first."
"When did you find out?"
"Three months ago."
"And what did you do?"
"I tried to get you out."
I stared at him.
"By sleeping with Sophia?"
"Yes."
I almost laughed.
"You have a strange definition of protection."
He looked broken.
"I didn't know how else to make you hate me."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the people watching you were watching me too."
"Who?"
Julian looked at the floor.
"Robert."
I stared at him.
"Only Robert?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
"Who else?"
He looked at Sophia.
"Your sister."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Julian whispered:
"She was the one who warned me."
I looked at Sophia.
She nodded.
"I didn't trust her at first."
"Why?"
"Because she knew too much."
Julian continued.
"She told me Robert was planning to take control of the trust."
"How did she know?"
"Because she had been working inside his organization."
I looked at Sophia.
"Why?"
"Because I was looking for my biological family."
She took a breath.
"I didn't know I was your sister."
"Then what did you know?"
"That Robert was hiding a child."
My pulse raced.
"You knew about the third child."
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Two years."
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know who the child was."
"Until?"
"Until she found me."
"And that's when you discovered she was my sister?"
Sophia nodded.
"Yes."
I looked at her.
"Then why didn't she come to me?"
Sophia's voice softened.
"Because she was afraid."
"Of me?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"Of what would happen if she trusted the wrong person again."
Julian stepped closer.
"Elena."
I looked at him.
"There is something else."
"What?"
He reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small envelope.
No name.
No address.
Only a Laurent crest.
He handed it to me.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Three women.
My mother.
My grandmother.
And a young woman who looked almost exactly like me.
But that wasn't what frightened me.
The young woman was holding a baby.
The baby had the same crescent-shaped birthmark as me.
I turned the photograph over.
Six words were written on the back.
SHE WAS NEVER THE THIRD CHILD.
My hands went cold.
I looked at Julian.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
Sophia did.
"Because there were four."
My heart stopped.
"Four what?"
"Four babies."
Silence.
My father sat down.
Victor's face went white.
I stared at the photograph.
Four.
Four children.
Not three.
Not two.
Four.
And suddenly I understood why my grandmother had created three unknown succession boxes.
She hadn't been protecting three heirs.
She had been hiding something much bigger.
Julian looked at me.
"The trust wasn't created for three children."
I whispered:
"Then why?"
He answered:
"Because your grandmother knew there were four."
That night, the Laurent estate went into lockdown.
No one entered.
No one left.
Victor opened the second hidden box.
Inside was a single document.
The original hospital admission record.
The one that had supposedly been destroyed.
It listed four fetal heartbeats.
Four births.
Four names.
Three had been blacked out.
One remained.
ELENA LAURENT.
Below it was a handwritten note.
THE FIRST WILL BE THE KEY.
I stared at the words.
"First?"
Victor nodded.
"You weren't the first child."
I looked at him.
"Then who was?"
He slowly turned the page.
A second name appeared.
MARIA.
Then another.
EMMA.
Then a fourth.
The ink had been scratched away so violently that the paper was almost torn.
I whispered:
"Who is the fourth?"
No one knew.
Until my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
"You're looking for the wrong sister."
I froze.
"Who are you?"
The woman laughed softly.
Then she said:
"The woman Julian thought he could replace you with..."
A pause.
"...was never Sophia."
My heart stopped.
"Then who?"
The voice answered:
"Me."
The call ended.
I stared at the screen.
Sophia looked at me.
"What happened?"
I couldn't answer.
Because I finally understood.
Sophia had never been the real replacement.
Julian had been preparing to replace me with someone else.
Someone who had been hiding in plain sight.
Someone who knew the Laurent family better than any of us.
Someone who knew my name.
Someone who had been waiting twenty-nine years to take my place.
And as I looked at the four names on the old hospital record, one terrifying thought entered my mind:
What if the woman calling herself my sister...
wasn't my sister at all?
What if she was the person who had stolen her identity?
And what if the real fourth child had been waiting somewhere else—
May you like
all this time—
for someone to finally find her?
