CHAPTER 5 — THE NAME CLAIRE BURIED
CHAPTER 5 — THE NAME CLAIRE BURIED
Claire did not answer.
She stood beside Dominic's desk with the photograph trembling between her fingers.
The woman in the picture was unmistakably alive.
Older than Claire.
Dark-haired.
Elegant.
And standing beside Nathan.
But Dominic wasn't looking at the woman anymore.
He was looking at Claire.
"You said she was your mother."
Claire swallowed.
"Yes."
"Then who was Elena?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
Her voice was barely audible.
"I expect you to hate me."
Dominic stepped closer.
"That's not what I asked."
Claire looked at the photograph again.
"I've spent most of my life believing Elena was my mother."
"Believing?"
"That's what I was told."
"By whom?"
Claire closed her eyes.
"By Nathan."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"So Nathan told you who your mother was?"
"Yes."
"And you believed him?"
"I was a child."
"How old?"
"Six."
Dominic stopped.
Six years old.
He remembered the fire.
The reports.
The supposed death of Elena Marlowe and her infant daughter.
But Claire was standing in front of him alive.
That meant every official record surrounding that night had been manufactured.
Dominic picked up the photograph.
"Who is this woman?"
"I don't know her name."
"She's your mother."
"I know."
"Then how can you not know her name?"
Claire looked at him.
"Because Nathan never let me."
The story began twenty-four years earlier.
Claire remembered almost nothing from the first years of her childhood.
Only fragments.
A red curtain.
The smell of smoke.
A woman's hand.
A lullaby.
And a silver bird pendant hanging around her neck.
The pendant Mia had found in the cellar.
She had always been told those memories belonged to Elena.
But now she wasn't sure.
Claire sat on the edge of the desk.
"When I was six, Nathan took me away."
"From where?"
"I don't know."
"Where did he take you?"
"A house in Vermont."
Dominic frowned.
"Who was there?"
"An older woman."
"Your mother?"
"I thought she was."
"What did she call herself?"
Claire stared into space.
"Anna."
Dominic froze.
"Anna?"
Claire nodded.
"She used to tell me I had another name."
"What name?"
Claire looked at him.
"Isabella."
Dominic's expression changed.
The name again.
Isabella Vale.
"Why did Nathan call you Claire?"
"He said it was safer."
"For whom?"
"For me."
Dominic shook his head.
"Nothing about this makes sense."
Claire looked at the photograph.
"That's because Nathan wanted it that way."
At six that evening, Mia asked to speak to Dominic alone.
Claire waited outside the hospital room.
Dominic entered.
Mia looked exhausted.
"Did you find out?"
"Some of it."
Mia sighed.
"Then you know."
"Know what?"
"That Claire isn't who you think."
Dominic sat beside her.
"Tell me about the fire."
Mia looked toward the window.
"I was working for your family."
"How long?"
"Almost ten years."
"You were there that night."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
"Your father knew Nathan had betrayed him."
"Did he confront him?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"Nathan came to the house with men."
Mia's voice shook.
"They shot the guards."
Dominic clenched his fists.
"Where was Elena?"
"Upstairs."
"With the baby?"
Mia hesitated.
"There were two babies."
Dominic went still.
"What?"
"Two."
"Whose?"
Mia looked directly at him.
"Elena had given birth to twins."
Dominic couldn't breathe.
"Twins?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because only a handful of people knew."
"Who was the other child?"
Mia's face became pale.
"Isabella."
Dominic stared.
"Then Claire—"
"I don't know."
Mia shook her head.
"That's what scares me."
Dominic returned to the mansion before midnight.
Claire was waiting in the library.
She stood beside the fireplace.
"You spoke to Mia."
"Yes."
"She told you."
"About the twins."
Claire's face lost its color.
"You know."
"I know there were two babies."
Claire slowly sat down.
"Then I should tell you everything."
Dominic remained standing.
"Start at the beginning."
Claire took a deep breath.
"Elena had twins."
"Yes."
"One was Isabella."
"And the other?"
Claire looked down.
"Nobody knew her name."
Dominic frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Elena had been hiding her pregnancy from everyone."
"Why would she hide her own child?"
"Because Nathan was looking for her."
Dominic understood.
"The second baby was supposed to be hidden."
"Yes."
"From Nathan?"
"From everyone."
Claire's voice trembled.
"Elena believed one of the twins would be used as leverage."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"By whom?"
"By my father."
"Vincent."
Claire nodded.
"Vincent wanted the Vale inheritance."
"And the baby could inherit it."
"Exactly."
Dominic walked toward the window.
"So one child was Isabella."
"Yes."
"And the other?"
Claire whispered:
"Claire."
Dominic turned.
"Your name was Claire?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"My childhood name was Clara."
Dominic stared.
"Clara."
"Yes."
"Then where did Claire come from?"
"Nathan changed it."
"Why?"
"Because Clara Vale was officially declared dead."
Dominic's face hardened.
"What?"
Claire nodded.
"The world believed both babies died."
"But you survived."
"Yes."
"Where was Isabella?"
Claire looked away.
"I don't know."
The following morning, Dominic reopened the old Vale records.
He searched every document connected to Elena.
Birth certificates.
Hospital files.
Estate records.
Insurance claims.
Nothing.
Then he found one handwritten note hidden inside an old family Bible.
It was Elena's handwriting.
Only three lines.
If the children survive, never let them be raised together.
One must remain a Vale.
The other must disappear.
Dominic read it twice.
Then a third time.
Claire stood beside him.
"Why would she do that?"
"To protect them."
"From Nathan?"
"From Vincent."
Claire shook her head.
"No."
She pointed to the last line.
"Look at the handwriting."
Dominic frowned.
"What?"
"That's not the whole sentence."
He looked closer.
The ink beneath the final line had been scratched away.
Claire took a magnifying glass from the desk.
Underneath the damaged paper, faint words remained.
Dominic slowly read them.
The other must disappear...
Then:
...until Nathan believes she is dead.
Claire stepped backward.
"She knew."
"Knew what?"
"She knew Nathan would come."
Dominic looked at her.
"Then she must have known who Nathan really was."
Claire's face went pale.
"Maybe."
That afternoon, Dominic found the old house in Vermont.
It had been abandoned for years.
The front windows were broken.
The garden had disappeared beneath weeds.
Inside, the wallpaper was peeling.
Claire walked through the hallway slowly.
"I remember this place."
Dominic looked at her.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"There was a bedroom upstairs."
They climbed the stairs.
The door was locked.
Dominic broke it open.
Inside was a child's room.
Two beds.
Two wooden dressers.
Two faded names painted above them.
CLARA
ISABELLA
Claire touched the first name.
"I slept here."
Dominic looked at the second bed.
"Who slept there?"
Claire shook her head.
"I don't remember."
On the wall were dozens of childish drawings.
A house.
A woman.
Two little girls holding hands.
And one black figure standing behind them.
Claire stared.
"I drew this."
Dominic looked at the figure.
"Who is that?"
Claire whispered:
"Nathan."
A floorboard creaked.
Both turned.
A hidden compartment had opened beneath the bed.
Inside was a small metal box.
Dominic lifted it.
There was a key.
A cassette.
And an envelope.
The envelope was addressed to:
CLARA.
Claire's hands shook as she opened it.
The handwriting belonged to Elena.
She read aloud:
"My little girl, if you ever find this, it means the man I feared has failed to erase you."
Claire stopped.
Tears filled her eyes.
Dominic took the letter.
"Your sister is alive."
Claire gasped.
Dominic continued reading.
"But you must never search for her until you know who Nathan truly is."
Claire covered her mouth.
There was one final sentence.
"Because the man calling himself Nathan Cross is not the man who betrayed us."
Dominic froze.
He looked at Claire.
"What?"
The rest of the letter had been torn away.
The cassette contained only twenty seconds of audio.
Static.
Then Elena's voice.
"Clara, if you're hearing this..."
A pause.
"...trust no one named Nathan Cross."
The recording ended.
Dominic stared at the cassette.
"That's it?"
Claire nodded.
"There must be another."
They searched the room.
Nothing.
Then Dominic noticed a loose board behind the second bed.
He removed it.
Another compartment.
Inside was a photograph.
Two newborn girls.
One wore a silver bracelet.
The other wore a gold bracelet.
On the back:
CLARA — GOLD.
ISABELLA — SILVER.
Claire stared at the photograph.
"I was Clara."
Dominic nodded.
"Then Isabella is still alive."
Claire whispered:
"Where?"
A voice answered from the doorway.
"Closer than you think."
Dominic spun around.
Nathan stood there.
Blood stained his shirt.
He was holding a gun.
Claire stepped backward.
"Nathan."
He smiled.
"Hello, Clara."
Dominic raised his weapon.
"You've been lying about your name too."
Nathan laughed.
"Of course."
"Who are you?"
Nathan's smile disappeared.
"You keep asking the wrong question."
Dominic's finger tightened around the trigger.
"Then give me the right one."
Nathan looked at Claire.
"The question isn't who I am."
He pointed toward the photograph.
"It's who your sister became."
Claire stared at him.
Nathan continued:
"Because Isabella Vale isn't dead."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Where is she?"
Nathan smiled.
"You're looking at her."
Claire froze.
"No."
Nathan lowered the gun slightly.
"You've spent years believing you were Clara."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"But Clara died in that fire."
Dominic's face changed.
Nathan whispered:
"You are Isabella."
Silence.
Claire shook her head.
"You're lying."
Nathan smiled.
"Am I?"
He reached into his pocket and threw something onto the floor.
A silver bird pendant.
The same pendant Dominic had found in the cellar.
Claire stared at it.
Then at Nathan.
And suddenly—
a memory returned.
A woman's voice.
A burning room.
Two babies crying.
A man carrying one child away.
And another woman screaming:
"Take Isabella! Leave Clara!"
Claire staggered backward.
Dominic caught her.
She looked up at him, terrified.
"I remember."
"What?"
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"I wasn't Clara."
She looked at Nathan.
"I was Isabella."
Nathan smiled.
"Now you're finally remembering."
But Dominic saw something Nathan hadn't expected.
Claire wasn't frightened anymore.
She was furious.
And for the first time, Dominic understood that Nathan had made one fatal mistake.
May you like
He had spent seventeen years teaching Claire how to survive.
Now she remembered exactly why she had needed to.
