The Girl in Connecticut
Chapter 03 - The Girl in Connecticut
Emma lived in a small town near New Haven with a woman named Helen Parker.
Adrian had found her through a genealogy database.
Months earlier, his cousin convinced him to submit DNA for a family-history project. A close-parent match appeared.
Emma Parker.
At first, Adrian assumed the result was an error.
Then Emma sent him a message.
She wrote that she had been adopted privately as an infant. Her mother, Helen, always promised to help search for her birth parents when she turned eighteen, but Emma became curious earlier.
Adrian saw her photograph and knew.
He contacted Helen carefully.
She was cautious, then frightened.
When Adrian mentioned Sophia Bennett, Helen stopped answering.
“That is when I knew the adoption was not clean,” he told Sophia.
They left the party through a service entrance.
Sophia still wore her evening dress. Adrian removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders while they sat in his car across from the mansion.
Vanessa remained inside with Richard.
Sophia stared at Emma’s photograph.
“Does she know about me?”
“She knows your name.”
“Does she hate me?”
“She thinks you signed the adoption papers.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Of course she did.
Another lie Richard had built between people who might have loved one another.
Adrian showed her a copy of the adoption consent.
Sophia Bennett.
The signature looked almost perfect.
But Sophia noticed the final letter of her surname leaned backward.
She never wrote it that way.
“My father forged this.”
Adrian nodded.
“I believe so.”
“Why didn’t you contact me before tonight?”
“I tried.”
Sophia looked at him sharply.
He showed her three emails sent to addresses controlled by Bennett Development. None received replies.
He called her office twice. Her assistant said she refused to speak with him.
Sophia’s assistant worked for Richard before Sophia joined the company.
The pattern had never ended.
“Why come to the party?”
“Emma was supposed to be there.”
Sophia stared at him.
“What?”
“She contacted Richard directly. She told him she wanted answers.”
Adrian gripped the steering wheel.
“He invited her tonight.”
“Why?”
“I think he planned to convince her the DNA test was wrong and pay her to stay silent.”
Sophia looked toward the glowing mansion.
“Where is she now?”
Adrian’s phone rang.
May you like
A text from Emma appeared.
I’m at the train station. Mr. Bennett said my mother changed her mind.
