Chapter 6: The Girl Who Knew the Secret
“Ruby!””
Damian struck the wall with both hands.
“Ruby, sweetheart! Can you hear me?””
A small voice answered.
“Mr. Damian?””
“I'm here. Are you hurt?””
“No.””
“Where are you?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel was already searching the office.
He pulled open filing cabinets, examined the walls, and finally found a narrow maintenance panel hidden behind a bookshelf.
“Help me move this.””
Damian rushed over.
Together, they dragged the bookshelf aside.
Behind it was a steel door with a keypad.
Daniel examined the lock.
“It's electronically controlled.””
“Can you open it?””
“Maybe.””
He removed a small metal tool from his pocket.
Damian stared at him.
“You carry that around?””
“Long story.””
“Make it a short one.””
Daniel worked on the panel.
After several seconds, a red light turned green.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a narrow corridor leading to another room.
Ruby stood at the far end.
Her lavender dress was wrinkled, and her curls were messy, but she appeared unharmed.
The moment she saw Damian, she ran toward him.
He dropped to one knee and caught her.
“Are you okay?””
Ruby nodded.
“Where's Mommy?””
Damian's throat tightened.
“We're going to find her.””
Ruby pulled away slightly.
“Mommy said you would come.””
Damian stared at her.
“She did?””
Ruby nodded.
“She told me that if I ever saw a man who looked like Daddy, I should ask him about the bird.””
Damian glanced at the silver pendant around her neck.
“What bird?””
Ruby touched the necklace.
“Mommy said it was the sign.””
Daniel approached.
“What sign?””
Ruby looked at him.
Then she frowned.
“You look like Mr. Damian.””
Daniel crouched.
“I'm his brother.””
Ruby considered that.
“Like Ava and me?””
Daniel and Damian exchanged a look.
Damian gently brushed a curl away from Ruby's face.
“Ruby, do you know who your daddy is?””
The girl nodded.
“He's in the pictures.””
“Which pictures?””
“The ones Mommy keeps under her bed.””
Damian's heart began beating faster.
“What's his name?””
Ruby looked down.
“Mommy said I shouldn't tell strangers.””
“I'm not a stranger, sweetheart.””
She studied his face.
Then she whispered:
“Daniel.””
The room went silent.
Damian slowly turned toward his brother.
Daniel looked as though someone had struck him.
“What?””
Ruby nodded.
“Mommy said my daddy's name is Daniel.””
Daniel's face lost all color.
He took a step backward.
“No.””
Damian looked at him.
“Daniel?””
The man shook his head.
“That's impossible.””
Ruby touched her necklace.
“Mommy said you were supposed to come home.””
Daniel lowered himself onto a nearby chair.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he looked at Damian.
“She's my daughter?””
Damian didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Ruby had just confirmed it.
The girl who looked exactly like Ava was the daughter of the man who looked exactly like him.
Two identical men.
Two seven-year-old girls.
Two silver bird necklaces.
And one woman who had somehow connected them all.
Daniel covered his face.
“I didn't know.””
Damian's voice was quiet.
“How could you not know you had a child?””
“I was told Olivia was pregnant, but I never saw her again.””
“Why?””
“Because Marcus told me she had died.””
Daniel looked up.
“He showed me a death certificate.””
Damian stared.
“Who was she pregnant with?””
Daniel's eyes filled.
“Your brother's daughter.””
The words hung between them.
Ruby looked confused.
“Are you sad?””
Daniel turned toward her.
He tried to smile, but his lips trembled.
“No, sweetheart.””
He held out a hand.
“I'm just sorry I wasn't there.””
Ruby approached cautiously.
Then she placed her small hand in his.
Daniel closed his eyes.
For a moment, the two men looked less like enemies and more like two brothers who had lost the same family in different ways.
But Damian couldn't forget Olivia.
He looked at Ruby.
“Did Mommy tell you anything else?””
Ruby nodded.
“She said Mr. Marcus was bad.””
Daniel stood immediately.
“Did she tell you where Marcus was?””
Ruby pointed toward the ceiling.
“He talks on the little speaker.””
Damian looked up.
The speaker crackled.
Marcus's voice returned.
“How touching.””
Daniel stepped in front of Ruby.
“Show yourself!””
“Daniel, you always were emotional.””
“Where is Olivia?””
Marcus ignored him.
“Damian, I want you to listen carefully. You have something that belongs to me.””
Damian looked at the flash drive in his hand.
“This?””
“That's one piece.””
“What else do you want?””
“The girls.””
Daniel moved toward the speaker.
“You'll never get them.””
Marcus laughed.
“Daniel, I already have.””
A monitor flickered on.
It showed a live camera feed of Damian's house.
Ava was standing in the living room.
Nora was beside her.
Two armed men had entered through the front door.
Damian felt his heart stop.
“Ava!””
He rushed toward the screen.
The camera angle changed.
One of the men grabbed Nora's arm.
Ava screamed.
“Daddy!””
Damian slammed his fist against the desk.
“Get away from her!””
Marcus's voice remained calm.
“You see, Damian? This is why I never wanted you raising children without supervision.””
Daniel grabbed the speaker.
“Marcus, if you touch them—”
“Your daughter is already part of the family business.””
Daniel froze.
“What did you say?””
Marcus continued.
“Ruby was born for a purpose. Ava was born for the same purpose. Olivia discovered why, and now both girls must come home.””
Damian turned toward Daniel.
“What purpose?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Marcus laughed softly.
“Your mother never told you about the program?””
The screen changed.
A document appeared.
At the top were two names.
*PROJECT MIRROR.*
Beneath them were photographs of two newborn girls.
One was Ava.
The other was Ruby.
Damian leaned closer.
A date appeared beneath the photographs.
Both girls had been entered into the same private medical program before they were born.
His eyes moved down the page.
There was a column marked PARENTAL AUTHORIZATION.
The first signature belonged to Marcus Brooks.
The second belonged to Olivia.
Damian stared.
“No.””
Daniel stepped beside him.
“That's impossible.””
The speaker crackled again.
“Olivia signed because she understood the importance of the project.””
Damian shook his head.
“My wife would never sign something like this.””
Marcus's voice hardened.
“Then perhaps you should ask her.””
The screen changed once more.
A video began playing.
Olivia was sitting in the white room.
This time, she was speaking.
“Damian, if you can see this, please don't trust—”
The image suddenly distorted.
A man's hand reached into the frame.
The video stopped.
Damian stepped back.
“Play it again!””
The monitor went black.
Then a final message appeared.
Your wife has ten minutes.
Daniel grabbed Damian's shoulder.
“We need to get out of here.””
Damian looked at him.
“What about Olivia?””
“We can't help her if we're trapped.””
Ruby tugged at Damian's sleeve.
“Mr. Damian?””
He looked down.
The little girl was holding something in her hand.
A small folded piece of paper.
“Mommy put this in my shoe.””
Damian unfolded it.
There was a handwritten address.
Beneath it were five words.
The first place we met.
Damian recognized the location immediately.
The old St. Agnes hospital.
The hospital where Olivia had given birth to Ava.
But something else was written beneath the address.
A second line.
Ask the nurse who delivered them.
Damian looked at Daniel.
“What nurse?””
Daniel's face changed.
He stared at the paper.
Then he whispered:
“Evelyn Carter.””
Damian knew that name.
Evelyn had been the nurse who delivered Ava.
She had retired shortly afterward.
But there was something he had never questioned.
She had also been present when Olivia disappeared.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
A new message had arrived.
No sender.
Just a photograph.
It showed an older Black woman standing outside St. Agnes hospital.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten note.
She knows which baby was switched.
Damian stared at the image.
Then Ruby spoke.
“That's the lady Mommy said not to let Grandpa find.””
Damian looked at her.
“Grandpa?””
Ruby nodded.
“The man in the picture.””
She pointed toward the monitor.
Marcus Brooks.
“He told Mommy he was my grandpa.””
Damian's stomach tightened.
“Ruby, did he ever tell you anything about Ava?””
The little girl nodded slowly.
“He said Ava wasn't supposed to be Daddy's daughter.””
Damian felt the world stop.
Daniel looked at him.
Neither brother spoke.
May you like
Because suddenly the question wasn't just why their father had separated them.
It was whether Ava had ever been Damian's daughter at all.
