Chapter 2 - THE SISTER ERASED FROM THE FAMILY PHOTO.
Ethan insisted Grace had never mentioned a sister.
Maya removed her bracelet. Inside the heart were two initials: G.M.
“We were separated in foster care after our mother died. Grace was adopted by the Coles. I aged out with a trash bag and two hundred dollars.”
Ethan stared at the waitress uniform, then at the photograph of Grace in a designer coat.
“My family told me she had no living relatives.”
“Your family meant no relatives they considered presentable.”
Maya had found Grace years later while working nights at Cole Memorial Hospital. Grace was recovering after the twins’ birth and terrified that Victoria planned to declare her unstable.
Maya secretly fed, rocked and comforted Leo and Ella when Grace was heavily medicated. The children remembered her lullaby and the bear she repaired.
Ethan asked why Maya never contacted him.
“I tried.”
She produced six returned envelopes addressed to his home. Each had been stamped by Cole family security.
The final envelope was unopened but stained dark from rain.
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Inside was Grace’s handwritten warning:
IF I DISAPPEAR, ETHAN SIGNED THE PAPER THAT ALLOWED IT.
