THE WAITRESS WHO STOPPED A MILLIONAIRE FROM SLAPPING AN OLD LADY

CHAPTER 4: THE SECOND BABY
Emma did not sit up.
She stood in the middle of the room, staring at Isabella as if the old lady had suddenly become a complete stranger.
“My sister?”
Isabella nodded.
“Yes.”
Emma’s voice trembled.
“What are you talking about?”
Isabella looked at the necklace adorned with a small blue bird.
“Your mother gave birth to twin girls.”
Emma held her breath.
For several seconds, she heard nothing but the rain hitting the windows.
“Binoculars?”
“Two little girls.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Isabella began to cry.
“Emma, please… “
Lily has a twin sister?” The
old lady nodded.
Emma felt her legs give way.
She collapsed on the bed.
“Where is she?”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Emma stared at her.
“What do you mean,

you don’t know?”
“One of the babies disappeared from the clinic where Grace was being held.”
Emma tried to understand.
“Which clinic?”
Isabella took a deep breath.
“Eighteen years ago, Grace was locked up in a private medical facility on the outskirts of Chicago.”
“Against his will?”
“Yes.”
“Who was holding her back?”
“Men who worked for Jonathan Sterling.”
Emma clutched the necklace between her fingers.
Isabella continued.
“Grace was pregnant when she disappeared.”
“Lily and another baby?”
“Yes.”
Emma looked out the window.
His whole childhood seemed to be reorganized before his eyes.
Daniel had never told her that Lily was Grace’s daughter.
He had never told her about the second baby.
He had never even hinted that Grace could still be alive.
“Why did Daddy lie to us?”
Isabella’s voice trembled.

“Because Jonathan had threatened to kill all three of you.”
Emma turned her head abruptly.
“All three?”
“You, Lily and the missing baby.”
Emma put a hand to her mouth.
Isabella continued.
“After the birth, they took one of the little girls out of the room.”
“Who?”
“A doctor named Leonard Price.”
Emma froze.
“The hospital administrator?”
Isabella nodded.
This was the same doctor whose credentials had been used to get Daniel out of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“What happened to the baby?”
Isabella looked down.
“Leonard claimed she was dead.”
Emma stared at her.
“Did you see his body?”
“No.”
“So how do you know she’s dead?”
Isabella looked up.
“I don’t know.”
Emma rose.
“Where is she?”
“I’ve been looking for it for years.”
“Where did you look?”
“Private detectives,

hospital archives, adoption agencies.”
Emma shook her head.
“You have known for eighteen years that I had another sister.”
Isabella burst into tears.
“Yes.”
“And you never told us anything.”
“No.”
Emma felt anger rise in her.
“You saw my family suffer.”
Isabella lowered her head.
“Yes.”
“You saw my father get sick.”
“I know.”
“And you have remained silent.”
The old lady sobbed.
Emma turned away.
She remembered that Lily was about to celebrate her eighteenth birthday.
The young girl was eager to get into university.
She wanted to study architecture.
She loved old buildings, handwritten letters, and photographs.
Somewhere in the world, another young girl was born on the exact same day.
A girl who may have had the same smile.
The same laugh.
The same eyes.
Emma turned back to Isabella.

“Do you have any proof?”
Isabella nodded.
She slipped a hand into her cardigan.
In his palm lay a discolored hospital bracelet.
BABY CARTER B.
Emma took it.
Below the name was a date.
OCTOBER 14.
Tomorrow.
Lily’s birthday.
Emma stared at the bracelet.
Then a memory came back to him.
Victoria Sterling attended the gala with her daughter.
Olivia Sterling.
A beautiful young girl with dark hair and brown eyes.
Olivia was a social media personality, well-known in Chicago’s wealthy circles.
Emma remembered seeing her by the champagne fountain.
She remembered how Olivia watched her mother threaten Isabella.
And she remembered this strange resemblance.
Emma took her phone.
She researched Olivia Sterling’s date of birth.
October 14.
His hands began to tremble.
She opened a photograph.
Olivia was smiling next to a white sports car.
Emma enlarges the image.
Under Olivia’s left eyebrow was a tiny birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon.
Emma touched her own face.
It had exactly the same brand.
Lily too.
Slowly, she turned her phone to Isabella.
The old lady looked at the photograph.
Then she began to cry even harder.
“Isabella… The
woman covered her mouth.
Emma’s voice was only a whisper.
“Olivia Sterling is my sister?”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“I’ve suspected it for years.”
Emma looked at her, horrified.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me anything?”
“Because I had no proof.”
Emma felt the anger rising again.
“Then we’re going to get them.”
Isabella looked up.
Emma straightened up.
“And this time, no one will decide for us that the truth is too dangerous to be revealed.”