Later that evening, the dim hallway upstairs was completely silent as shadows stretched across the white painted walls of the hallway.
Clara crept out of her bedroom softly, her quiet footsteps making almost no sound on the smooth wooden floors of the house.
She saw a faint sliver of light coming from the guest room door at the far end of the quiet second floor corridor.
She approached the door slowly and knocked softly with her knuckles, slipping inside before anyone else in the house could notice her.
Caleb turned around quickly, his face illuminated only by the faint orange glow of the moonlight shining through the glass window pane.
Clara: Why are you really here tonight? Tell me the truth right now.
Caleb: I told your parents the truth. My car engine broke down on the road.
Clara: But you knew this house was here, didn't you?
Caleb took a step closer, reaching out to hold her hands tightly in the softly lit darkness of the quiet room.
Caleb: Come with me at dawn. I can't leave without you.
Clara: What are you talking about? I don't even know your real story.
Caleb: Your parents are not who you think they are, Clara. Look at this paper.
He pulled a folded document from his dark jacket pocket and held it out so she could see the official state seal stamped on top.
Clara: An adoption certificate? Whose name is written on this original trust document?
Caleb: That is your name next to mine. We are biological brother and sister, Clara.
Clara gasped softly, pulling her hands back as a wave of sudden shock washed over her entire body in the dark bedroom.
Clara: No, that is impossible. My parents raised me right here in this house my whole life!
Caleb: They took you away after the court trial when our real parents passed away in that terrible mountain highway accident.
Clara: Why would they do something so horrible and keep it hidden from me for twenty years?
Caleb: Because of the family estate trust fund attached to your original last name, Clara. It is worth millions of dollars today.
Tears welled up in Clara's eyes as she stared down at the crisp black ink printed clearly on the official legal page.
Clara: My father... David would never steal from anyone, especially not from me.
Caleb: He used your trustee allowance to pay off his massive mortgage debts and build this entire suburban house years ago.
Clara: This cannot be real. It feels like a terrible bad dream.
Caleb: Check his home office safe downstairs right now if you do not believe me, Clara. The original adoption order is inside.
She looked up into his intense emotional eyes, recognizing the exact same eye shape and freckle pattern reflected in her own face mirror.
Clara: What happens if I go down there and find those original papers in his heavy steel desk safe tonight?
Caleb: Then you pack your bags and leave with me at first light before they wake up to stop us from leaving.
Leave a Comment