Chapter 23: The Empty Hospital
The psychiatric hospital had closed twelve years earlier.
Its windows were boarded, and ivy covered the brick walls.
Grace’s phone signal had originated from inside the west wing.
Leah, Adrian, Daniel, and Nina entered through a broken service door.
They found fresh tire tracks outside.
Someone had arrived before them.
The hospital corridors smelled of moisture and decaying plaster.
Old patient numbers remained painted beside the doors.
Room 314 was unlocked.
Inside, the bed had been made recently.
A cup of tea remained warm on the windowsill.
Grace’s scarf rested across the chair.
Leah searched the bathroom.
Empty.
Daniel found several prescription bottles in a drawer.
The patient name was Helen Archer.
The birth date belonged to Evelyn Archer.
“Evelyn was here,” he said.
Adrian opened the closet.
Women’s clothing hung inside, along with a black coat and a pair of gloves.
On the shelf sat a gold ring with a black stone.
The same ring Grace had seen on the woman who attacked her.
Nina examined the room.
“Maybe Evelyn is leading the Stewardship Council.”
“Or someone wants us to believe she is,” Leah replied.
A television stood in the corner.
It switched on by itself.
Julian Ashford appeared on the screen.
“This recording will play when the west entrance opens,” he said. “That means Adrian ignored my instructions again.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
Julian continued.
“The documents beneath the ballroom are authentic, but incomplete. Evelyn Archer gave birth to twins. One was Leah Caldwell. The other was never officially named.”
Leah stepped closer.
“Which one am I?”
As if answering her, Julian said, “The woman calling herself Leah Bennett is neither child.”
Everyone froze.
“The real Leah Bennett died before the fire,” Julian continued. “Celia replaced her with a third child whose existence threatened every member of the council.”
The screen displayed a photograph of an infant.
The hospital label read BABY A.
No family name.
“Baby A was born to a woman who held no official position,” Julian said. “But her child carried the strongest legal claim to Ashford Holdings.”
The image changed.
A young Eleanor appeared, holding the infant.
Adrian looked toward Leah.
Julian’s voice continued.
“Eleanor did not give birth to Baby A. But she risked everything to hide her.”
A loud bang came from the floor above them.
Daniel ran toward the staircase.
They found Grace inside an old treatment room.
She was alive.
Celia Bennett sat beside her.
Celia was older now, with gray hair and burn scars across one arm.
Leah stopped in the doorway.
Celia looked at her and began to cry.
“You grew up.”
Leah could barely speak.
“Who am I?”
Celia looked past her toward Adrian.
“We don’t have time.”
“Who am I?”
Celia stood.
“Julian is coming.”
A gunshot echoed from the lower floor.
Nina drew the weapon she had taken from Adrian’s security vehicle.
Footsteps moved up the staircase.
Celia grabbed Leah’s arm.
“You are not Evelyn’s daughter.”
“Then whose daughter am I?”
May you like
Celia opened a hidden door behind the treatment cabinet.
“Eleanor’s sister.”
