Chapter 4: The Quiet Examination
The second-floor guest suite was warm, filled with the gentle hum of a hidden radiator and the soft amber glow of bedside lamps. Chloe sat wrapped in a plush white bathrobe that swallowed her small frame, sipping warm chamomile tea from a delicate porcelain cup. I sat on the edge of the velvet armchair opposite her, while Dr. Elizabeth Vance—my trusted cousin and family physician—neatly packed her stethoscope back into her leather medical bag.
Elizabeth stood up, wiping her hands with a sanitizer wipe, her expression grave as she looked down at me. "Physically, she’s severely malnourished, Margaret. She’s eight years old, but she has the body weight of a six-year-old. There are old bruises on her arms and legs—definitely not recent, but indicative of prolonged neglect. Whoever was watching her—or rather, not watching her—has been failing her for years."
My stomach churned with a dark, suffocating fury. "And her identity?"
"Dental records and DNA will tell us for certain, but the physical markers—especially the congenital slight curve of her left collarbone and the exact shape of her earlobes—match your family tree with terrifying precision," Elizabeth said quietly, casting a cautious glance toward the doorway where Arthur stood leaning against the frame.
May you like
Arthur pushed off the doorframe, walking into the warm light of the room. He looked down at Chloe, who stared back at him with big, unblinking eyes, devoid of fear but filled with an ancient caution. "I've contacted our private investigator, Marcus," Arthur said, his voice devoid of its earlier skepticism, replaced now by a cold, lethal determination. "If someone hid her away, and if she truly belongs to the lineage we think she does, someone in our inner circle engineered it."
"Do it quietly, Arthur," I warned, reaching out to gently stroke a lock of matted blonde hair from Chloe's forehead. The little girl leaned into my touch ever so slightly, a microscopic softening of her rigid posture that nearly brought me to tears all over again. "No public statements. No police reports yet until we have absolute proof. I want to know who let her suffer."
