Chapter 8 - VANESSA'S REAL NAME
Vanessa refused to speak at first.
When I showed her the photograph, she went completely still.
"Where did you get that?"
"My father."
She sat down.
"I never knew him."
"That's not true."
Vanessa stared at the photograph.
Then she whispered:
"Not the man in the picture."
I frowned.
"Who is he?"
"My father."
I felt my stomach drop.
"Your father is Leonard Coleman?"
"No."
She looked at me.
"Your father."
Silence.
I couldn't understand.
"What?"
Vanessa's voice broke.
"My biological father was your father."
I stepped backward.
"No."
"Your father had another daughter."
Rachel immediately stood.
"Are you saying you and Penelope are sisters?"
Vanessa nodded.
"I found out six months ago."
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Michael already knew."
"What?"
"He told me if I told you, I'd disappear."
I felt sick.
Vanessa explained everything.
Her mother had been a secretary who worked for my father.
They had an affair.
When Vanessa was born, my father secretly supported them.
But Leonard discovered the relationship.
He used it against my father.
Then Vanessa's mother disappeared.
Vanessa grew up believing her mother had abandoned her.
Until Michael found her.
"Why?"
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
"Because Leonard wanted something."
"The ledger."
She nodded.
"He believed my father left it with me."
I stared at her.
"But you didn't have it."
"No."
"Then why marry Michael?"
"I didn't know who he was."
She looked at me.
"Not at first."
"When did you find out?"
"When I found the files."
"What files?"
She opened her phone.
A photograph appeared.
It showed a document.
My father's handwriting was at the bottom.
The ledger is not in Montana.
I read the next line.
It is inside the family.
My heart pounded.
"Inside the family?"
Vanessa nodded.
"He didn't hide it somewhere."
"He hid it in someone."
Rachel looked at us.
"That's impossible."
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
She turned to me.
"Your father trusted one person."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Your mother."
My mother had been standing silently near the door.
Her face went white.
"Donna?"
She looked at me.
Then she began to cry.
"I was going to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out another envelope.
And handed it to me.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
My mother.
And a baby.
The baby had been wrapped in a hospital blanket.
A small handwritten note was attached.
Penelope — daughter of Daniel Bennett.
I looked at Vanessa.
Then at my mother.
"There were two babies?"
My mother nodded.
May you like
"You and Vanessa were twins."
Everything went black.
