Chapter 2 - The Black Box
The heavy steel door of the vault at First National Bank clicked shut behind Elena, leaving her in the cold, silent privacy room. On the polished mahogany table sat a long, black metal lockbox—Box 408.
Elena’s hands trembled as she inserted the heavy brass key she had found exactly where Margaret said it would be: hidden beneath the false velvet bottom of the old cedar chest in their attic.
She turned the key. The latch popped with a sharp clack.
Taking a deep breath, Elena opened the lid. Inside, there was no jewelry, no stacks of hidden money, no sentimental photographs of her childhood. There was only a thick, manila envelope and a small, tarnished silver rattle engraved with the initials C.V.B.
Elena opened the envelope and tipped its contents onto the table. A stack of yellowed newspaper clippings slid out, alongside a certified birth certificate that did not bear the name Elena.
She picked up the most prominent newspaper clipping. It was dated October 14, 1994. The bold, black headline made the blood drain from her face:
INFANT HEIR TO VAN DER BEEK FORTUNE KIDNAPPED FROM HAMPTONS ESTATE. NO RANSOM DEMANDED.
Below the headline was a black-and-white photo of a wealthy, distraught couple standing outside a massive mansion. Beside them was a picture of a baby girl. A baby with a distinct, star-shaped birthmark on her left collarbone.
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Elena instinctively reached up, her fingers brushing the collar of her sweater, touching the identical star-shaped mark on her own skin.
She wasn't Elena. She was Chloe Van Der Beek. And the woman she had just buried, the woman who had kissed her scraped knees and packed her school lunches, was the monster who had stolen her in the dead of night.
