Chapter 3: There Were Three Women in My House
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I stared at the woman beside Lily.
She had Elena's dark hair, Elena's delicate nose, and the small crescent-shaped scar beneath her left eyebrow.
The same scar my wife had received when she fell off her bicycle at twelve.
But Elena was behind the steel door.
I could hear her pounding against it.
“Daniel! Get Lily away from her!””
The woman upstairs gently placed a hand on my daughter's shoulder.
“Sweetheart, everything is going to be okay.””
Lily looked confused.
“Mommy?””
My entire body went cold.
There were now two women with Elena's face.
And one of them was holding my daughter.
“Lily, come to Daddy!”” I shouted.
The woman tightened her grip.
“Don't frighten her, Daniel.””
I looked at Richard.
“What is happening?””
He adjusted his glasses as if we were discussing a minor legal inconvenience.
“Your wife has a twin. You already know that. But apparently, there are certain family matters you haven't been told.””
The woman at the top of the stairs smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.””
Her voice was identical to Elena's.
I couldn't move.
“Who are you?””
She tilted her head.
“You used to call me Ellie.””
Behind the steel door, Elena screamed.
“THAT ISN'T ME!””
The woman upstairs sighed.
“She's confused. They've been keeping her heavily medicated.””
I turned toward Richard.
“Open the door. Now.””
Richard reached into his jacket.
I stepped back.
“Don't.””
He withdrew a small remote control.
“Daniel, I strongly recommend that you remain calm.””
He pressed a button.
A red light flashed above the steel door.
Inside, Elena screamed as a mechanical buzzing sound filled the room.
“STOP!”” I shouted.
Richard released the button.
The buzzing stopped.
My hands curled into fists.
“What did you do to her?””
“Medication delivery system,” he answered.
“Elena has been difficult.””
I wanted to hit him.
I wanted to destroy every piece of equipment in that corridor.
But Lily was upstairs, and I had no idea who was holding her.
The woman at the top of the stairs started descending.
“Lily wanted to see her mother,” she said.
“I promised I would bring her.””
I stared at her.
“You're not her mother.””
She smiled.
“Neither are you, if you keep letting people tell you what to believe.””
Lily began crying.
“Daddy, I want Mommy.””
I reached out.
“Come here, sweetheart.””
The woman pulled Lily behind her.
Then she crouched and whispered something into my daughter's ear.
Lily immediately stopped crying.
I watched her face change.
Confusion turned into terror.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “she said you gave Mommy away.””
I felt as if someone had punched me in the chest.
“That's not true, baby.””
The woman stood.
“Actually, Daniel, you signed the documents.””
Richard nodded.
“Legally, you authorized the medical transfer.””
I looked at him.
“I signed documents saying she was dead!””
“You signed what was presented to you.””
“YOU TOLD ME SHE DIED!””
Richard's expression remained cold.
“Your signature was genuine.””
Behind the door, Elena began pounding again.
“Daniel! Listen to me! The accident wasn't an accident!””
I turned toward her.
“What?””
Elena pressed both hands against the narrow window.
“Richard arranged the boat. Vanessa arranged the emergency call. They wanted everyone to believe I drowned.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“She's lying.””
Elena laughed bitterly.
“You told me you would take care of Lily.””
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
“I did take care of her.””
“You took my husband.””
“I gave him a life!””
“You stole my face!””
The two women stared at each other.
For the first time, I noticed something I hadn't noticed before.
The woman calling herself Vanessa had a tiny scar near her chin.
The woman holding Lily did not.
I looked at Richard.
“How many people are involved in this?””
He closed his briefcase.
“More than you can afford to confront.””
I stepped toward him.
“Try me.””
Richard looked at his watch.
“Daniel, I have a meeting in twenty minutes. Let's finish this.””
He turned toward the woman holding Lily.
“Bring the child downstairs.””
My heart stopped.
“Why?””
She looked at him.
Then she smiled.
“Because Elena needs to understand the consequences of refusing to cooperate.””
“No!”” I shouted.
I lunged toward the staircase.
Richard grabbed my jacket.
Vanessa seized my arm.
For a moment, all three of us struggled in the narrow corridor.
Then the woman holding Lily spoke.
“Stop.””
Her voice was quiet.
But everyone obeyed.
She looked down at my daughter.
“Lily, tell Daddy what Mommy told you last night.””
Lily trembled.
“She said there's a bad lady who wants to take me away.””
The woman smiled.
“And what else?””
Lily swallowed.
“She said... if Daddy finds the room, I should ask him about the little girl in the photograph.””
Richard's face changed.
For the first time since he arrived, he looked genuinely frightened.
“Where did she see that photograph?”” he demanded.
The woman ignored him.
Instead, she reached into her coat and pulled out a small photograph.
She held it up.
It showed a little girl of about five standing between two identical women.
One was Elena.
The other was Vanessa.
But the child wasn't Lily.
I stared at the picture.
The little girl had the same dark eyes as my daughter.
The same small dimple on her left cheek.
And around her neck was a silver necklace I recognized immediately.
It had belonged to Elena's mother.
“Who is that child?”” I whispered.
The woman looked directly at me.
“Your daughter.””
I shook my head.
“That's impossible.””
She turned the photograph over.
Three words had been written on the back in Elena's handwriting.
*LILY WAS REPLACED.*
My legs nearly gave way.
I looked toward the steel door.
Elena was crying now.
“Daniel,” she whispered.
“I tried to tell you.””
I looked at Lily.
My little girl.
The child I had raised since the day she was born.
The child whose first steps I had filmed, whose hair I had braided, whose nightmares I had soothed.
I couldn't understand what I was looking at.
Richard slowly backed toward the staircase.
“Daniel, you need to listen carefully. Whatever Elena told you, it isn't the complete truth.””
I turned toward him.
“Where did that photograph come from?””
He didn't answer.
The woman holding Lily finally spoke.
“Would you like to know what happened to the real Lily?””
My chest tightened.
“What do you mean?””
She looked at Vanessa.
Then at Richard.
And finally at the woman trapped behind the steel door.
“Because the little girl you've been raising isn't Elena's biological daughter.””
I felt the world disappear beneath my feet.
Then the woman leaned down and whispered something to Lily.
My daughter looked up at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Daddy,” she said, “she told me I'm not allowed to call you that anymore.””
I took one step toward her.
“Why, sweetheart?””
Lily pointed at the woman holding her hand.
“Because she says you're only my pretend daddy.””
The woman smiled.
Then she opened her coat and revealed a small silver key.
Richard lunged toward her.
“DON'T YOU DARE!””
But she had already turned toward the staircase.
May you like
And as she began walking away with my daughter, she said five words that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
“It's time to bring back the real one.””
