The doorknob stopped turning.
Nobody breathed.
Then a photograph slid across the floor beneath the door.
Thomas's voice came from outside.
“Look at it.”
Anna kept one arm around Noah.
Daniel moved toward the photograph.
“Don't,” Claire whispered.
He ignored her.
He picked it up.
It showed a hospital nursery.
Two newborn babies lay in neighboring bassinets.
Anna stepped closer.
Her hands began to shake.
“Those are us.”
Daniel nodded.
On the back was a date.
Anna's birth date.
Beneath it were two names.
Anna.
And Elise.
She stared at the second name.
“Elise was my sister.”
Claire nodded.
Anna looked at Daniel.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because we didn't know where she was.”
“You said she was alive.”
“I said we believed she was.”
Thomas knocked again.
“Let me in.”
Anna looked at Daniel.
“Who is he?”
“Your brother.”
“You keep saying that like I should remember.”
“You were separated when you were very young.”
Anna's mind filled with fragments.
A woman's perfume.
A red blanket.
A lullaby.
A boy's hand holding hers.
Then nothing.
She pressed her fingers against her temple.
Thomas spoke again.
“Anna, your husband is lying about why he married you.”
Daniel flinched.
Anna looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Don't listen to him,” Daniel said.
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“You deserve the truth.”
Anna opened the door.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“No.”
She pulled away.
“If he knows something about my family, I want to hear it.”
She opened the door only a few inches.
Thomas stood on the porch.
He was older than Anna expected. His dark hair was streaked with gray, and a scar ran along his jaw. He held both hands where she could see them.
His eyes went immediately to Noah.
“That is him.”
Anna tightened her grip.
“Who are you?”
Thomas looked hurt.
“Your brother.”
“Prove it.”
He pulled a folded photograph from his jacket.
It showed three children.
A little girl.
A baby.
And a boy of about six.
Anna stared at the boy.
She recognized the face.
Not from memory.
From family photographs.
Her father's old album.
“You.”
Thomas nodded.
“You were two when they took you.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
“They told everyone you died.”
“Why?”
“Because Elise disappeared.”
Anna's voice trembled.
“What happened to her?”
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“Ask him.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Thomas, leave.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“I spent twenty years trying to find her.”
Anna stared at him.
“You don't know where she is?”
“I know who took her.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Reed.”
Anna felt a chill.
“The doctor?”
Thomas nodded.
“He was running an illegal adoption network through the clinic.”
Claire whispered, “That's what the records were about.”
Thomas looked at her.
“You knew.”
Claire began to cry.
“I knew pieces.”
Thomas returned his attention to Anna.
“Your father discovered the operation.”
“What did he do?”
“He tried to expose it.”
“And my sister?”
“Your father hid her.”
Anna stared.
“Then why was she missing?”
“Because hiding her required making her disappear.”
Daniel said quietly, “That's why your records were changed.”
Anna looked at him.
“You knew all this before we got married.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you marry me?”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“Because I promised your father I would protect you.”
Anna stepped backward.
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
“You watched me build a life with you while keeping this secret.”
“I thought the secret would keep you alive.”
Anna shook her head.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“You need to leave this house.”
“Why?”
“Because Reed knows where you are.”
Anna looked toward Noah.
“Because of my baby?”
“No.”
Thomas pointed at the laundry room.
“Because of what's under that sink.”
Anna's eyes narrowed.
“What is it?”
“The original file.”
Daniel went pale.
“You found it?”
Thomas nodded.
“Reed has been looking for it for years.”
Anna turned toward the laundry room.
Claire followed.
The old cabinet stood open.
Anna pulled the cardboard box out again.
Thomas entered behind them.
“There's a false bottom.”
Daniel said, “How do you know?”
“Because I put it there.”
Anna looked at him.
“You?”
“Your father asked me to hide it.”
Thomas removed the envelopes.
Then he pressed the bottom of the box.
A wooden panel lifted.
Underneath was a sealed plastic pouch.
Anna took it.
Inside were three documents.
The first was a hospital discharge record.
The second was a DNA report.
The third was a photograph of Elise as an adult.
Anna stopped breathing.
Her sister was alive.
The photograph had been taken only eight months earlier.
“She lives here,” Thomas said.
Anna stared at him.
“Where?”
He pointed to the address printed beneath the photograph.
Anna knew it.
Her breath caught.
“That can't be.”
Daniel looked over her shoulder.
The address belonged to the house next door.
Claire whispered, “That's impossible.”
Thomas shook his head.
“It isn't.”
Anna's mind raced.
The woman next door had lived there for years.
She had brought cookies when Noah was born.
She had waved at Anna across the fence.
She had never said anything.
Anna stared at the photograph.
The woman in it looked older.
Different hairstyle.
Glasses.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Anna whispered her name.
“Elise.”
Daniel stepped toward her.
“Anna, wait.”
She turned.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did you know she lived next door?”
“No.”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“Then we have another problem.”
“What?”
A car had stopped outside.
Thomas recognized it immediately.
“Reed.”
The headlights went dark.
A figure stepped from the vehicle.
Thomas grabbed the documents.
“Take Noah and go.”
Anna didn't move.
“Where?”
Thomas looked at her.
“To your sister.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: Anna Finally Stood Face to Face With the Sister She Had Lost as a Baby, but Their First Conversation Revealed a Deeper Betrayal
The Water in the Laundry Sink Wasn’t Dirty From Clothes, and One Small Discovery Made Anna Realize Someone Had Been Hiding Something
Part 3 of 8
