The twenty-ninth week, they found Katerina.
Not where they expected.
Not where anyone expected.
And the truth she told them changed everything.
---
She was hiding in plain sight.
Working at a coffee shop on the other side of the city. The kind of place where no one looked too closely. The kind of place where a girl could disappear into the crowd.
Marco had walked past her a hundred times.
He had bought coffee from her.
He had thanked her.
He had never recognized his own daughter.
---
"I changed my appearance," Katerina said. "Hair. Makeup. Clothes. Everything."
Marco stared at her.
"You've been here the whole time?"
"I've been here the whole time."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I couldn't."
"You could have."
"No." She shook her head. "They were watching. They were always watching. If I had gone to you, they would have killed me."
"Who?"
"The people who took me. The people who made me take the photograph. The people who are trying to destroy Damien and Christabel."
"Who are they?"
She looked at Marco.
Then at Damien.
Then at Christabel.
"They're family."
---
The room went silent.
"Family?" Christabel said.
"Your family."
"My family is dead."
"No." Katerina shook her head. "Your mother is alive."
---
Christabel's blood went cold.
"My mother died when I was eighteen."
"No. She faked her death. She's been hiding. Waiting. Planning."
"Planning what?"
"Revenge."
"Against who?"
"Against you."
---
Damien stepped forward.
"Why would your mother want revenge against you?"
Katerina looked at Christabel.
"Because you abandoned her."
"I didn't abandon her. She died."
"She didn't die. She left. Because you chose your father over her. Because you chose the company over her. Because you chose yourself over her."
"That's not true."
"It's what she believes."
---
Christabel sat down.
Her hands were shaking.
Her heart was pounding.
"My mother is alive."
"Yes."
"She's been hiding for years."
"Yes."
"She's the one who's been threatening my family."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Katerina knelt in front of her.
"Because she wants what you have. The company. The empire. The power. And she's willing to destroy you to get it."
---
The next few hours were a blur.
Katerina told them everything.
About the organization her mother had built. About the people she had recruited. About the plans she had made.
"She's been watching you for years," Katerina said. "She knows everything about you. Your schedule. Your security. Your weaknesses."
"What are her weaknesses?"
Katerina was quiet for a moment.
"Me."
---
"You?"
"She loves me. In her own way. She took me because she wanted to hurt Marco. But she kept me because she needed someone to love."
"Then you can help us."
"How?"
"By letting us use you."
"Use me how?"
"To get to her."
---
Katerina looked at Marco.
He nodded.
"I'll do it," she said.
"Are you sure?"
"She destroyed my family. She took me from my father. She tried to turn me into someone I'm not."
She looked at Christabel.
"I want to stop her."
---
That night, Christabel put Lena to bed.
Not Damien. Her.
She read her daughter a story. Not a baby book. A real story. One of her favorites.
"There was a woman who was afraid of her mother," she read. "Until she realized that her mother was just a woman. And women could be defeated."
Lena stared at her.
"Bah," she said.
"That's right," Christabel said. "Bah."
---
Damien was in the doorway.
"She said it again."
"She said it to me."
"She said it to both of us."
She closed the book.
Set it on the nightstand.
"She's going to be brave."
"She's going to be just like you."
"God help the world."
"God help anyone who tries to break her."
---
They stood over the crib together.
Lena was asleep. Her tiny chest rose and fell.
"Your mother," Damien said.
"She's not my mother. Not anymore."
"She's still your mother."
"She's a stranger who shares my blood."
"What are you going to do?"
She looked at him.
"I'm going to stop her."
---
The next morning, Christabel called Sarah.
"I need you to come over."
"What's wrong?"
"I'll tell you when you get here."
---
Sarah arrived an hour later.
Christabel was waiting in the living room.
"My mother is alive," Christabel said.
Sarah stared at her.
"What?"
"My mother is alive. She's been hiding. Waiting. Planning."
"Planning what?"
"To destroy me."
---
Sarah sat down.
Her face was pale.
"I don't understand."
"She faked her death. Years ago. Because she was angry. Because I chose Dad over her. Because I chose the company over her."
"That's not true."
"It's what she believes."
"And now she's trying to take everything from you."
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
Christabel told her about Katerina. About the organization. About the plans.
"We're going to stop her," Christabel said.
"How?"
"Together."