Chapter 12 - The First EvaThe woman’s face was not identical to Evelyn’s.
It was similar enough to cause doubt.
Same eyes.
Same chin.
Different bone structure around the nose.
Miriam searched sealed adoption archives under the name Eva Weiss.
A girl with that identity entered New York in 1984.
She was six years old.
Gabriel Mercer became her temporary guardian.
Three years later, the child disappeared from public records.
Evelyn was born afterward and received a variation of the same identity.
Gabriel had already attempted to construct a Weiss heir before adopting her.
The first Eva was not biologically related to Evelyn.
She was selected from a European orphanage because records suggested she might descend from the Weiss family.
When testing disproved the claim, Gabriel did not return her.
He moved her into Vale’s network.
She grew up believing another child had replaced her.
“Gabriel did replace her,” Evelyn said.
“Legally,” Miriam replied. “Not as a human being.”
“But she may not know the difference.”
Mateo recognized the woman.
Her real name was Rebecca Sloan.
She became a Vale courier, moving paintings through false family estates. She blamed Gabriel for taking her childhood and later giving the desired identity to Evelyn.
Celeste may have recruited her.
The plane’s hidden signal returned over the Atlantic.
Rebecca called Evelyn directly.
“Gabriel says you survived the fire because you’re stronger than I was.”
“He compared us?”
“He compared every girl.”
“What do you want?”
“My name.”
“You can have your real name.”
“I want the one that made you rich.”
“The name made me a target.”
“It made you Gabriel’s daughter.”
Evelyn heard the child behind Rebecca.
“Where is Clara?”
“Safe until someone decides which heir matters.”
Evelyn forced her voice steady.
“Neither child is an heir before she is a child.”
Rebecca laughed.
“That is something winners say after the papers already chose them.”
She demanded the physical child list and Evelyn’s public renunciation of the Weiss claim.
In exchange, she would release Clara and reveal where Gabriel stored the original painting.
Evelyn refused to decide under threat.
Rebecca ended the call.
Ruiz traced the signal to a private airfield in Iceland.
International authorities found the aircraft abandoned.
Blood marked one seat.
Gabriel, Celeste, Rebecca, and Clara were gone.
A customs camera showed them leaving in two vehicles.
Gabriel and Clara entered the first.
Celeste and Rebecca entered the second.
The alliance had split.
Which vehicle carried the painting remained unknown.
Then Isabel received a package at the Roosevelt Island hotel.
Inside was Gabriel’s cane.
The hollow shaft contained a strip of microfilm.
It showed the first five names from the original archive.
One was Rebecca Sloan.
Another was Evelyn.
The third was Celeste.
The fourth was Elise.
The fifth was Clara.
All five were classified beneath one project title:
THE FIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOURNING GIRL.
Gabriel had built the operation around generations of women connected by blood, records, or manufactured identity.
The final note inside the cane read:
Only one daughter can legally inherit the original claim. The others were created to protect her.
Evelyn looked toward Elise.
Every girl had been taught that another girl’s existence threatened her own.
The structure guaranteed rivalry.
She tore the note in half.
“We are not completing his competition.”
Mateo examined the microfilm edge.
A sixth entry had been cut away.
Gabriel claimed there were five daughters.
The archive contained at least six.
Ruiz recovered the missing frame through digital enhancement.
The final name was:
ISABEL MERCER.
Evelyn turned toward the woman she had called mother.
Isabel looked at the screen in horror.
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Her own identity had been part of the Weiss project before Evelyn was born.
👉 Isabel was not merely Gabriel’s wife—she had been one of the original girls selected to carry the stolen family claim.
