Chapter 13 - Rachel Finally Chose a Side
Laura stared at Elaine's image.
"She lied to me."
Margaret gave a bitter laugh.
"Welcome to the family."
I turned on her.
"You're still not the victim here."
Her expression hardened.
Good.
I wasn't allowing one new villain to erase what she'd done to Sophie.
Rachel enlarged the image.
Elaine held a red folder.
The same kind Daniel had taken.
"What was Elaine's role?" I asked.
Laura shook her head.
"She said she worked records."
Margaret answered.
"She handled confidential transfers."
We all looked at her.
"You knew her?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say that?"
"Because until tonight, I thought she was dead."
There it was again.
People in Margaret's world never moved away.
They died.
Or supposedly did.
Rachel asked, "When?"
"Five years ago."
Laura stared.
"Elaine contacted me three weeks ago."
Margaret looked genuinely alarmed.
"Then it wasn't Elaine."
Laura shook her head.
"I spoke to her."
"Phone?"
"Yes."
"You saw her?"
"No."
Margaret's voice dropped.
"Then you don't know who contacted you."
My skin prickled.
A staged disclosure.
Someone wanted Laura to find me now.
Wanted the DNA released now.
Wanted the board meeting triggered now.
This whole night could be another plan.
"Who benefits if Margaret loses control?" I asked.
Rachel looked at me.
"You."
"Too obvious."
Margaret watched me.
I hated that we were thinking the same way.
"If I receive voting authority tonight, who can challenge me?"
Rachel checked the trust.
"Peter, as trustee."
"Exactly."
Laura whispered, "If he can prove you're unfit."
I looked toward the chain.
The guardianship petition.
My forged signature.
The accusation that I was unstable.
Peter had been building an alternate narrative.
Margaret may have supplied the cruelty.
But Peter had prepared to use it.
My stomach turned.
"He wanted Margaret to abuse Sophie."
Rachel looked horrified.
Margaret snapped, "No one made me—"
She stopped.
For once she heard herself.
No one made her chain an eight-year-old.
Exactly.
"You did that yourself," I said.
Her face tightened.
"But Peter knew how you'd react if Sophie threatened your control."
Silence.
"He gave you the guardianship paperwork."
Margaret looked away.
"He suggested Sophie needed structure."
Rachel whispered, "Jesus."
"He told you Emily was coming back tomorrow," I continued.
Margaret's eyes flickered.
"But I came back early."
The timing had failed.
That was why the house wasn't prepared.
Why the chain was still visible.
Why the papers remained beneath the stairs.
Peter expected Margaret to remove evidence before I returned.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Emily Parker?"
A woman's voice.
"Yes."
"This is Elaine Morris."
Every person in the room froze.
Laura whispered, "That's the voice."
Elaine continued.
"I know you found the drive."
"Where is Daniel?"
"With Peter."
"Are you with him?"
"No."
"Then why should I believe anything you say?"
"You shouldn't."
That answer surprised me.
"What do you want?"
"To keep Sophie alive."
My blood went cold.
Rachel stood.
"What did you say?"
Elaine heard her.
"Rachel is there?"
"Yes."
A long pause.
"Then Rachel needs to tell Emily what Peter promised her."
I looked at my sister.
Rachel went pale.
"What is she talking about?"
Elaine continued.
"Eight years ago, Rachel signed a private agreement."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
"What agreement?"
Rachel started crying.
"Emily..."
My stomach dropped.
Not again.
"What did you sign?"
"I thought it was a confidentiality form."
"Who gave it to you?"
"Peter."
Of course.
"What did it say?"
"I never read the whole thing."
Margaret laughed viciously.
"You signed away your child without reading?"
Rachel turned.
"You were standing beside me."
That shut her up.
Elaine said, "The agreement gave Peter authority to manage any trust interest activated by Sophie's biological identity."
I stared at Rachel.
"You gave him control?"
"I didn't know."
"Stop saying that."
Her face crumpled.
"I was afraid Michael would find out."
"And every time you were afraid, somebody else paid for it."
She nodded.
"I know."
Elaine interrupted.
"Peter cannot exercise that authority unless Rachel confirms Sophie's maternity."
I looked at the DNA report.
"The lab already did."
"Not legally."
"Then what does he need?"
"A sworn acknowledgment."
Rachel whispered, "He asked me for one yesterday."
Silence.
I turned.
"You didn't mention that."
"I refused."
Margaret looked surprised.
"So that's why he filed the guardianship papers."
Elaine said, "He needs Sophie under a cooperative adult's control before the board confirms the DNA."
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"Why?"
"Because once Emily takes voting authority, she can remove Peter as trustee."
Finally.
Motive.
Peter stood to lose everything.
His fees.
His control.
Maybe access to company assets.
"Where is Daniel?"
Elaine gave me an address.
Parker Development headquarters.
Conference Room B.
"He's alive?"
"Last time I saw him."
"When?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
"What does Peter want?"
"The original DNA report and Laura's drive."
"Why does he care about paper when copies exist?"
Elaine went silent.
Then:
"Because the original report contains something your digital copy doesn't."
I looked at page seven.
The handwritten LP notation.
"What?"
"A specimen seal."
I flipped the pages.
At the back was a small tamper-evident label.
Code.
"That seal connects Sophie's sample to a second test."
"What second test?"
Elaine inhaled.
"One Peter ordered without Emily's consent."
My skin prickled.
"When?"
"Three years ago."
I looked at Sophie.
Five years old.
Someone had taken her DNA years before I knew any of this.
"Who collected it?"
Elaine answered quietly.
"Rachel."
I stared at my sister.
She recoiled.
"No."
Elaine continued.
"Check Chloe's old medical file."
Rachel's face went blank.
Then horrified.
She whispered, "The cheek swab."
"What?"
"Peter told me Chloe needed family screening after her anemia workup."
My heartbeat accelerated.
"You swabbed all three girls."
Rachel covered her mouth.
"Chloe, Madison... and Sophie."
Margaret closed her eyes.
Peter had known Sophie's parentage for three years.
He hadn't been waiting for my test.
He had been waiting for the right moment to let me discover it.
Rachel stood.
"I'll sign the acknowledgment."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"I'll go to the board."
Margaret snapped, "Rachel."
She ignored her.
"I'll tell Michael. I'll tell everyone."
Tears ran down her face.
"I'm Sophie's biological mother. Emily is her mother. Both things are true."
Sophie was standing in the doorway.
She had heard every word.
Rachel looked at her.
"I am so sorry."
Sophie didn't answer.
Rachel's face broke.
Then Chloe's phone buzzed.
She looked at it.
"Mom?"
Rachel wiped her eyes.
"What?"
"It's Dad."
Michael.
Rachel stared at the screen.
A video message.
She pressed play.
Michael appeared in a hotel room.
His face was pale.
"Rachel, Peter Lawson just called me."
Rachel stopped breathing.
Michael continued.
"He says Sophie is yours."
Rachel began crying.
Then Michael held up a document.
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"And he says you signed something eight years ago giving away more than the baby."
📖 Read what Rachel unknowingly signed after Sophie’s birth—and why Michael’s discovery gave Peter leverage over all three Parker girls in CHAPTER 14. 👇
