The Fake Daughter at Dinner
Chapter 2: The Maid Who Knew Too Much
Natalie slammed her fork onto the plate.
"This is ridiculous. She's a maid."
Clara did not answer.
Margaret's eyes stayed on her. "What do you know?"
Clara took one careful breath.
"Your daughter had a scar behind her left ear from falling near the greenhouse fountain. She hated thunder but pretended she didn't. She called the west garden her secret kingdom."
Margaret's face changed.
Natalie stood abruptly. "Anyone could have learned that from old servants."
Clara turned toward her.
"Then tell her what was buried under the rose arch."
Natalie blinked.
The room waited.
She said nothing.
Clara's voice softened. "A blue porcelain rabbit. She buried it after her father broke its ear and told her not to cry over cheap things."
Margaret grabbed the back of her chair.
No one outside the family knew that.
Not even the servants.
Her missing daughter, Elise, had cried for two days over that broken rabbit. Margaret had secretly buried it with her under the rose arch and promised they would visit it whenever Elise felt lonely.
Natalie's voice shook. "She is lying."
Clara faced her calmly. "No, Natalie. You are."
The name hit the room like glass breaking.
Margaret turned sharply.
"You know her real name?"
Clara nodded.
"Natalie Pierce. She worked for your brother-in-law, Victor Winslow. He paid her to pretend to be Elise."
Natalie lunged toward Clara, but a footman caught her arm.
"Shut up!" Natalie screamed.
Margaret stared at her.
"My brother-in-law found you."
"He created her," Clara said. "The documents, the childhood stories, the scars, even the missing years. But he could not fake the allergy."
Margaret's voice trembled now, not from weakness, but rage.
"Why would Victor do this?"
Clara looked down.
"Because if Elise is declared dead, he inherits the northern estate. If Elise returns, but is controlled by him, he gets everything anyway."
Natalie began to cry, but her fear looked more like anger.
Margaret moved closer to Clara.
"And how do you know all this?"
Clara touched the white maid's cap on her head.
"Because Victor found the wrong girl first."
