Chapter 2 — The Ghost of the Archive
The gray-haired man at the entrance was Julian Vance, the retired chief archivist of the Sterling Global Trust. His coat was damp from the rain outside, and the sealed envelope in his hands bore the heavy, crimson wax seal of the Supreme Court of New York, dated two decades ago.
Edward Sterling’s hand remained on the little girl’s shoulder, but his head snapped toward the door. "Julian? What is the meaning of this? You retired to Europe ten years ago."
Julian walked down the center aisle of the stunned ballroom, the guests parting for him like the Red Sea. He didn't look at Victoria, who was now clutching a marble pillar to keep from collapsing. He stopped five feet from Edward and the little girl.
"I couldn't die with this on my conscience, Edward," Julian said, his voice raspy but clear. He held up the envelope.
"Twenty years ago, when Victoria paid the maternity nurse to smuggle this child out of the hospital, she didn't just target one cradle. Your daughter, Elena, didn't give birth to a single child that night. She gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl."
A deafening murmur rippled through the five hundred black-tie guests. The little girl—whose true name was Lily—looked up at Edward, her large blue eyes wide with a mixture of terror and hope. "A... a brother?"
Edward’s face turned completely white. "Twins? Elena’s medical reports only listed one infant state certificate."
"Because Victoria intercepted the secondary registry before it reached the archive," Julian countered, tearing open the wax seal of the envelope with trembling fingers. He pulled out two identical, yellowed hospital documents.
"She split them up. She sold the girl to an illegal adoption ring in Boston to ensure she was buried in poverty. But the boy... the boy was placed with a prominent political family in Washington who needed an heir to secure their own lineage. Victoria took a ten-million-dollar kickback from them to finance her fashion house."
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Edward turned his gaze to Victoria, his eyes blazing with a fury so absolute it seemed to radiate heat. "Where is he, Victoria? Where is my grandson?"
Victoria didn't answer. She fell to her knees, her designer gown pooling around her on the polished floor, sobbing hysterically into her hands. The pristine facade of the Sterling family was completely shattered, exposed as a den of thieves.
