Chapter 17 - The Woman With My Face
There are sentences that split reality.
“She looked exactly like Claire” was one of them.
I stared at Mom.
“You were recovering from a stroke.”
“I know what I saw.”
“Could it have been a photograph? A resemblance?”
“She called me Mom.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“What did she say?”
Mom pressed her fingers to her temples.
“She said, ‘Mom, we have to fix what Dad did.’”
My mouth went dry.
“What happened next?”
“I remember the parking garage. Then pain behind my eyes. Then the hospital.”
Ortiz asked, “Did she touch you?”
“She hugged me.”
“Could she have injected you?”
“I don’t know.”
The sedatives. The stroke. The forged signatures.
Someone impersonating me could have accessed more than bank records.
Evan looked at me strangely.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“When Marissa and I started the house paperwork, Sloane told us you had approved Mom’s estate plan.”
“I never spoke to Sloane.”
“He showed us an email.”
“From my address?”
“Looked like it.”
Marissa nodded.
“And a video.”
The room froze.
“What video?”
“You were sitting in an office. You said you thought Mom should sell before medical bills ate the equity.”
I felt nauseated.
Daniel asked, “Do you still have it?”
Marissa shook her head. “Sloane showed us on his laptop.”
Deepfake, impersonator, edited footage—there were explanations.
But Mom had physically seen the woman.
Gregor Vale watched me carefully.
“What?” I snapped.
He looked at Mom.
“You never told Frank?”
“About what?”
“The girl.”
Mom went white.
I felt the floor disappear.
“What girl?”
Gregor’s expression changed from suspicion to realization.
“Oh.”
Mom stood too quickly.
“I need air.”
I blocked her path.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No more secrets.”
She began crying.
“Please.”
“What girl?”
Mom looked at Evan.
Then at me.
“You had a twin.”
The room vanished around me.
I heard Daniel say my name, but it came from far away.
“A twin?”
“Identical,” Mom whispered.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you not know?”
“She died.”
Gregor said, “Apparently not.”
I turned on him.
“You knew?”
“Graham did.”
Mom sank into a chair.
She told us the story in pieces.
Two infants.
Claire and Caroline.
Caroline was born with breathing complications and transferred to another hospital. A day later, Mom was told she died.
“No body?” Ortiz asked.
“Your father handled everything.”
“Funeral?”
“Private cremation.”
“Did you see remains?”
Mom shook her head.
My hands were numb.
“Dad lied?”
“I don’t know.”
Gregor spoke quietly.
“Graham once told me Frank had two daughters but only raised one.”
“Why would he know?”
“Because the hospital administrator was an Iron Gate member.”
Daniel looked sick.
“Could Caroline have been used as leverage?”
Sam whispered, “Or hidden for protection.”
I laughed.
“A newborn hidden from her mother for protection?”
No one answered.
Thomas had gone completely still.
I looked at him.
“You know something.”
He shook his head.
“Thomas.”
“When I found Frank years ago, before he died, he asked me whether I knew anyone named Caroline.”
“And?”
“I thought he meant a witness.”
“Did you investigate?”
“Yes.”
“What did you find?”
“A sealed adoption record.”
Mom gasped.
“Where?”
“Different state.”
“Name?”
“Caroline Mercer, changed after adoption.”
“Adopted by whom?”
Thomas looked at Sam.
Sam’s face had gone gray.
I followed his gaze.
“No.”
Sam closed his eyes.
“My sister.”
The room erupted.
“You knew?” I shouted.
“Not then.”
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“You found my twin five years ago and said nothing?”
“She didn’t know who she was.”
“So you decided she didn’t deserve to?”
“Frank told me never to contact her unless Orchard was exposed.”
“Dad was dead!”
“Yes.”
“That made his instructions less holy, Sam.”
He absorbed the blow.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Last known location.”
“Seattle.”
“Name.”
“Cara Keene.”
My heart hammered.
The woman with my face had a name.
Daniel asked, “Did she know about Evelyn?”
“Not from me.”
“Did she know about Claire?”
Sam hesitated.
“Yes.”
I stepped toward him.
“How?”
“She found a photograph.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“And you still didn’t contact me?”
“She told me she wanted nothing to do with the Mercer family.”
“Why?”
Sam looked at Mom.
“Because she believed Evelyn chose which twin to keep.”
Mom made a broken sound.
“That’s not true.”
“I know.”
“Did Cara know it wasn’t true?”
“I tried to tell her.”
“Did she believe you?”
“No.”
Ortiz asked, “Could Cara be working with Harrow?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could she access Orchard?”
“Potentially.”
“How?”
“Frank created biometric contingencies.”
Daniel stared.
“You’re telling me the account can be accessed by either identical twin?”
“Old biometric systems might not distinguish them reliably, especially with supporting credentials.”
The analyst nodded cautiously.
“Possible depending on the controls.”
My phone buzzed.
A video call.
Unknown number.
Ortiz signaled everyone quiet.
I answered.
My own face appeared on the screen.
Not exactly mine.
Her hair was shorter. A thin scar crossed her left eyebrow. Her expression held none of my hesitation.
“Hello, Claire.”
I could not breathe.
“Cara?”
She smiled.
“So Sam finally told you.”
Mom lunged toward the phone.
“Caroline!”
Cara’s face hardened.
“Don’t call me that.”
Mom began sobbing.
“I thought you were dead.”
“You were supposed to.”
“Who told you I chose Claire?”
“Your husband.”
Silence.
“Dad?”
“Frank visited me when I was nineteen.”
My stomach turned.
“He knew where you were.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he bring you home?”
“Because he said bringing me home would put Claire in danger.”
I whispered, “Me?”
Cara looked at me.
“You were his favorite variable.”
“What does that mean?”
“He built Orchard around your identity. Then he discovered identical twins gave him redundancy.”
Daniel stepped into frame.
“Cara, where are you?”
She laughed.
“Still doing your hero voice, Daniel.”
“You know me?”
“I know all of you.”
“What do you want?”
Her eyes returned to mine.
“The twelve million.”
“It isn’t mine.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I’m going to return it to the people your father stole it from.”
Sam shouted, “That money came from thieves!”
Cara’s expression sharpened.
“And went through more thieves.”
“Where is Mom?” I asked.
Cara tilted her head.
“Safe now.”
“You were in the car.”
“Yes.”
“With Gregor and Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Did Thomas take her?”
“He thought he did.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your family still believes every scene is what it looks like.”
The call glitched.
“Cara, wait.”
She leaned closer.
“Claire, ask Daniel what he found in Frank’s garage after the coffee cup disappeared.”
Daniel went rigid.
I turned.
“What did you find?”
He closed his eyes.
“A second wedding ring.”
Mom stared.
Cara smiled sadly.
May you like
“Now ask whose.”
The call ended.
