Chapter 10 - The Daughter Before EvelynMargaret gave birth to her first daughter at seventeen.
The child was named Grace.
Richard was the father.
Margaret’s parents forced a private adoption through the research hospital where Richard worked.
She was told Grace died from an infection two weeks later.
Three years afterward, Margaret gave birth to Evelyn.
Same father.
This time, Richard’s wife raised the child secretly.
Margaret believed Evelyn was her only surviving daughter with Richard.
Henry’s photograph proved Grace lived into adolescence.
The image had been taken at Whitmore Therapeutics during the twins’ first medical evaluation.
“Why was she there?” Anna asked.
“Richard may have used her in the research program,” Margaret whispered.
Grace’s records had been erased more thoroughly than Rebecca’s.
No birth certificate.
No death certificate.
No formal adoption.
Only laboratory codes.
G-1: Original adrenal-line subject.
Anna’s disorder was hereditary through Margaret.
Grace had been the first child studied.
The treatment later sold by Whitmore Therapeutics originated partly from research conducted on her.
Richard built his fortune through a daughter the family declared dead.
Detective Laura traced the code through clinical archives.
The final record placed Grace at North River Women’s Hospital seven months earlier.
A surveillance photograph showed Jason entering her room with Anna’s medication.
Anna looked toward Rebecca.
“The woman in Laura’s photograph…”
Rebecca shook her head.
“That was me.”
Jason had delivered some bottles to Rebecca.
Other missing medication went to Grace.
The prescription compound was not used merely to treat adrenal insufficiency. It also suppressed abnormal immune markers created by early experimental therapy.
Grace could not survive long without it.
Richard had maintained her dependency for more than thirty years.
“Why did Jason visit her?” Anna asked.
Jason answered through counsel.
“He was looking for Margaret.”
Grace knew their mother remained alive.
Jason believed she held proof capable of stopping Richard.
But Grace refused to help unless Jason brought medication.
He stole Anna’s supply because Richard monitored every official prescription.
“You left me to die to keep Grace alive,” Anna said.
“I thought Paige would call.”
“Stop saying that.”
Jason’s voice broke.
“I could not get another supply without Dad knowing.”
“You always found a reason another woman’s survival required risking mine.”
Jason lowered his eyes.
Grace vanished from North River before Laura’s investigators arrived. The hospital claimed a family guardian moved her.
The guardian signature belonged to Evelyn.
Anna confronted her older half-sister.
“Where is Grace?”
Evelyn looked genuinely frightened.
“I never met her.”
“Your signature removed her.”
“Richard used my legal token.”
“Then help us find her.”
Evelyn finally surrendered a private trust ledger.
It listed medication shipments to an isolated property in Maryland called Stonegate Farm.
Police entered Stonegate that night.
They found an empty medical room, recent blood samples, and a wall of photographs documenting Anna, Rebecca, Evelyn, Margaret, and Paige.
One image showed Grace standing beside a younger woman.
The younger woman was Paige.
The photograph was taken four years earlier.
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Paige had claimed she learned about the hidden sisters only one year ago.
👉 Paige had known Grace long before Jason’s plan began—and had lied about when she first discovered the family secret.
