CHAPTER 8 : The Woman in the Photograph
Claire studied the photograph for hours.
The woman beside Daniel had the same dark hair.
The same eyes.
Even the small scar beneath her left eyebrow matched Claire’s.
But Claire had never owned the red coat the woman wore.
On the back of the picture was a date.
Two days after Noah’s birth.
At that time, Claire had still been recovering in the hospital.
Adrian suggested the woman could be a relative.
Claire rejected the idea. She had grown up as an only child after losing both parents in a highway accident when she was nine.
Samuel examined the photograph and recognized the background as an Ashford property called Briar House.
The estate had been closed for fifteen years.
They arrived the next morning.
Briar House stood behind rusted gates, surrounded by dead gardens and tall trees.
Inside, dust covered everything except a narrow path leading upstairs.
Someone had visited recently.
Claire found a bedroom filled with women’s clothing in her exact size.
A dressing table held photographs of her from childhood.
Some were images she had never seen.
One showed Claire at age six standing beside another little girl who looked exactly like her.
On the wall, a handwritten calendar recorded Claire’s life:
CLAIRE STARTS UNIVERSITY.
CLAIRE MEETS DANIEL.
CLAIRE’S WEDDING.
NOAH’S BIRTH.
The final entry had been written one week earlier.
CLAIRE RETURNS TO BRIAR HOUSE.
Adrian searched the desk and discovered adoption documents.
Claire’s parents had adopted her at nine months old.
No one had ever told her.
A second child was listed on the original birth record.
Female Twin B.
The name had been removed.
Claire looked again at the unknown woman in the photograph.
“She is my sister.”
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Claire opened the bedroom door and saw a woman running down the stairs.
They chased her through the house.
The woman escaped through the kitchen, but she dropped a pendant.
Inside were two childhood photographs.
One of Claire.
One of the twin.
A small note had been folded behind them.
Your sister’s name is Celeste. Daniel found her before he found the truth about Noah.
Claire’s phone rang.
Noah appeared on a video call.
He was sitting in a brightly lit room.
“Mom?”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. The lady gave me pancakes.”
“What lady?”
Noah turned the camera.
The woman in the red coat stepped into view.
She looked exactly like Claire.
“Hello, sister,” Celeste said.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“Daniel told me you would come looking for me.”
