Chapter 2: A Childhood Stolen
Chapter 2: A Childhood Stolen
The following morning, the Ashford estate was surrounded by reporters.
News of the hidden twin spread across the city within hours.
Emma refused every interview.
Instead, she sat quietly in the family library, looking through old photo albums that contained only Isabella.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every family vacation.
She wasn't in a single picture.
Isabella entered carrying two cups of tea.
"I don't know what to say."
Emma smiled sadly.
"You don't have to apologize for something you didn't know."
"But I slapped you."
"You slapped a waitress."
She looked into Isabella's eyes.
"You didn't know she was your sister."
The words hurt more than the slap ever had.
For the first time in her privileged life, Isabella saw how differently they had grown up.
She had attended elite schools.
Emma had worked since she was fourteen.
Isabella traveled the world.
Emma struggled to pay rent.
One sister had inherited luxury.
The other had inherited survival.
That evening, Charles finally confessed everything he remembered.
Victoria had told him that one baby had died shortly after birth.
Grief had consumed him.
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He never questioned the death certificate.
Now he realized he had spent twenty-five years mourning a daughter who had been alive all along.
