The Wrong Daughter

Sixteen years later, primary school teacher Caitlin Arden, now using her fiancé’s surname, Fairview, to avoid recognition, stays late on the last day of term with a student, Natalie, whose mother, Laura, arrives 40 minutes late. When Natalie draws her family with her younger sister, Charlotte, alone on the page, Caitlin tells her that being a big sister is important, inadvertently revealing her own pain. When Natalie tells her mother what her teacher said, Laura recognizes Caitlin as the sister of the missing Arden girl and promises to keep her identity secret. Laura asks if Caitlin still draws, mentioning that Olivia had praised her artistic talent. Caitlin lies that she doesn’t. Laura gives Caitlin her contact information.

After Laura and Natalie leave, Caitlin deletes Laura’s contact information. She texts her mother, Clara Arden, concealing her plan to meet Florence for drinks. Alone in her classroom, she logs into her secret online art business, Wanderlust Illustrations, which has more than 41,000 followers. Only her fiancé, Oscar Fairview, knows about this endeavor. Caitlin reflects on how her mother steered her toward teaching (a career Olivia once mentioned), though she thinks Olivia would have pursued something greater. Unable to disappoint her mother, Caitlin abandoned her dreams.

That evening, the eve of the 16th anniversary of Olivia’s disappearance, Caitlin meets Florence at a cocktail bar in Bath for their annual get-together. Seeing another pair of sisters together intensifies Caitlin’s loneliness. Florence teases her for being late. Caitlin’s colleague, Gemma, unexpectedly arrives, but Florence coldly dismisses her, explaining that this is their private annual tradition. After Gemma leaves, they discuss Florence’s upcoming wedding to Daniel and Caitlin’s taking Oscar’s surname, even though they’re only engaged. Caitlin explains that she wants to escape the stigma of being an Arden.

Florence presses Caitlin about her lack of wedding plans despite her three-year engagement to Oscar. To deflect, Caitlin lies about viewing venues. Florence criticizes Caitlin’s plan for a York honeymoon instead of traveling abroad, arguing that Caitlin’s mother, Clara, has held her back from pursuing art and adventure. Florence accurately observes that Caitlin constantly placates her anxious mother. Privately, Caitlin acknowledges the real reason she defers to her mother: crushing guilt over failing to save Olivia. She froze in the doorway that night instead of calling for help and believes that her delay allowed her sister to go missing. Florence urges Caitlin to believe that she deserves happiness, but Caitlin can’t accept this.

In a parallel storyline set during winter, 17-year-old Elinor Ledbury wakes at Ledbury Hall to find that her brother, Heath, is gone, which triggers intense anxiety in her. Their parents drowned when she was three, and they now live under their Uncle Robert Brent’s guardianship. Elinor fears water and rarely leaves the estate. As hours pass, she grows increasingly distressed, imagining that Heath may have been in an accident. She drinks wine to calm herself and passes out.

Heath returns and runs a bath for her. Though he smells of another woman’s floral perfume, she doesn’t confront him. He tells her that she must learn to cope alone and then reveals that their uncle is returning that evening (a day earlier than expected). After her bath, Heath brushes Elinor’s long, golden hair and kisses her neck. When Uncle Robert arrives and calls for them, Elinor descends. Robert remarks on her resemblance to her mother. Heath joins them, acting mockingly insincere. The novel reveals that Heath thinks Robert murdered their parents, and they maintain a pretense of family harmony to preserve their living arrangement. When Robert orders Heath to serve dinner, Heath responds with an exaggerated bow. Robert restrains himself from confronting Heath. Afterward, Heath tells Elinor that he wanted to protect her from their uncle, who “wants” her.

That same evening, Caitlin returns home around 10 o’clock to find Oscar working late in his study. Not wanting to be alone on the anniversary eve, she playfully scares him. He pulls her into a hug and asks how she’s feeling. She says she misses her sister. As he embraces her, vivid memories of Olivia’s abduction overwhelm her (the masked man, the knife, her paralysis). To escape the traumatic flashback, she initiates sex.

Afterward, Oscar sleeps while Caitlin lies awake. She reminisces about how she met him five years ago at a farm shop event. She had planned to backpack through Europe but fell in love and stayed instead. He was supportive when she disclosed Olivia’s disappearance. Looking at her engagement ring, she recalls how she and Olivia used to conduct play weddings as children. She worries that her mother is desperate for her wedding and fears that Clara (instead of seeing her) will visualize Olivia on that day. Guilt consumes her over having the happy ending that the abductor denied Olivia.

In the early hours, Caitlin’s father, Myles Arden, calls (highly unusual since he hardly ever does). His voice trembles, alarming her, as he demands that she come immediately. When she asks what’s happening, he says Olivia has returned.

Caitlin rushes to get dressed, snapping at Oscar when he startles her. He hesitates about accompanying her, but she insists that she needs him there. He agrees. The car ride to her parents’ house feels agonizingly slow. To manage her overwhelming emotions, Caitlin uses a grounding technique, listing colors. At Blossom Hill House, Myles lets them in and guides them to the living room.

Her mother, Clara, appears in the doorway and then steps aside to reveal a woman Caitlin identifies as Olivia. Tall and slim, the woman is wearing an oversized checked shirt over leggings. Her waist-length blonde hair is wild and knotted. Caitlin recognizes her sister’s face but notices a strange, calculating look in her eyes. She says Caitlin’s name in a self-assured voice, not using the childhood nickname. Nonetheless, something familiar in the woman’s blue eyes helps calm Caitlin. The woman crosses the room, embracing her. She smells of men’s cologne and tells Caitlin she missed her. Caitlin wraps her arms around the sister she thought was lost forever.

Elinor reflects on her isolated existence with Heath as the center of her world. She loves the library and her mother’s romance novels. Lying in bed with Heath, she dreads Uncle Robert’s return. Heath looks forward to turning 21 in a year, when he’ll gain control of their inheritance. He repeats his belief that Robert murdered their parents. To soothe him, Elinor denies it as always, recalling nothing of their parents, who died when she was three. Her dismissal angers Heath, and he gets out of bed. Secretly, Elinor is glad their parents died, believing that it made her and Heath closer.

When Heath says he must go to town again, Elinor panics. He refuses to take her, saying that people stare because she’s beautiful, and tells her she needs to cope without him. Five hours pass after he leaves. Knowing that he lied about shopping, she goes to find him. Inadequately dressed for snow, in only a slip and a cardigan, she leaves through the unlocked gate. A young man named Flynn Healy offers her a ride. He gives her his jacket, reminding her that they met as children when he left small gifts at her gate. He mentions knowing her brother through his cousin, Sofia. Shocked, Elinor asks him to take her to Heath. Through a music shop window, she sees Heath being intimate with Sofia. Heartbroken, she asks Flynn to take her home and keeps his jacket. When Heath returns, she feigns sleep.

The afternoon of Olivia’s return, Caitlin sits with Oscar and her parents as they make small talk with Olivia, who chats normally despite 16 years of captivity. Caitlin feels trapped in an absurd play in which only she lacks a script. Unable to bear the pretense, she interrupts to ask where Olivia has been. Her father, Myles, scolds her for demanding answers. Clara takes Caitlin to the kitchen, explaining that Olivia asked them not to call the police yet. Caitlin argues that the abductor could return, but Clara insists that they mustn’t overwhelm Olivia. When Myles enters, Caitlin gives up.

Upstairs, Caitlin recalls the night of the abduction and enters Olivia’s redecorated room. Olivia appears in the doorway, mirroring the moment 16 years ago when she caught Caitlin holding the gold-bee journal. Caitlin studies her sister, noting her tan, slimness, and blunt-cut waist-length hair, which has leaves tangled in it. When Caitlin asks what happened, Olivia deflects by discussing crème brûlée. Caitlin demands that she stop pretending. Olivia snaps that the police were useless and says she just wants to be normal. Caitlin presses about why she won’t involve the authorities. Olivia refuses to discuss her captor.

Caitlin asks if the boy on the bus and the gold-bee journal were involved. Olivia stares blankly and suggests that Caitlin is misremembering. When Caitlin insists that she’s correct, Olivia feigns sudden memory but merely repeats the details that Caitlin just disclosed. Caitlin knows she’s lying. She notices Olivia’s neatly manicured, pink-polished nails, inconsistent with captivity. Unsettled, Caitlin leaves when Olivia asks for privacy.

Downstairs, Caitlin finds her parents in hushed conversation, and Myles shuts the kitchen door on her. In the living room, Oscar quickly hides his phone. Clara enters the living room, distressed that Caitlin left Olivia alone. When Clara goes upstairs, Myles admonishes Caitlin for interrogating her sister. Caitlin responds sarcastically. When she hears the shower running, she realizes that Olivia could be washing away forensic evidence. Racing upstairs, she finds Clara emerging from the bathroom with Olivia’s clothes. Caitlin tries to stop her, shouting that Olivia is destroying crucial evidence.

She pleads with Myles to call the police before the investigation is compromised, but when she calls Olivia a “walking crime scene,” he becomes furious. Oscar warns her to stop pushing. Frustrated and defeated, Caitlin demands that Oscar take her home. In the car, he defends her parents, saying they’re in shock. Caitlin insists that they need immediate police involvement. She mentions Olivia’s strange vagueness and memory gaps about the journal. Oscar becomes annoyed, agreeing with her parents that she’s pushing too hard. Caitlin realizes that Olivia spent more time with her captor than with her family and is now a stranger. Hurt that Oscar doesn’t understand the urgency, she silently considers calling the police herself. At home, Oscar warns her not to do something she’ll regret. Once he’s in his study, Caitlin takes her car keys and leaves.

During Bath’s summer carnival, Caitlin arrives at Florence’s small home. Florence’s fiancé, Daniel, lets her in. Alone with Florence, Caitlin struggles to speak. She begins pacing and asks if Florence ever imagined Olivia returning. In a raw confession, Caitlin admits that while she bargained with God for Olivia’s return, she sometimes thought her sister might be better off dead, given what she must have endured. Florence comforts her.

Just as Caitlin is about to reveal the news, Florence’s agent calls. While Florence takes the call, Caitlin looks out at the carnival below. Among the colorful crowd, she spots a tall man dressed entirely in black (coat, hood, and jeans) standing motionless while staring directly up at the building. He wears a midnight-blue Venetian mask with a long nose and furrowed brow: the mask from the night of Olivia’s abduction. Florence startles her, and when Caitlin looks back, the man has vanished.

Caitlin runs into the street and searches the crowd desperately. Florence catches up, confused. Caitlin explains that the masked man was watching them. Florence pulls her down from a railing, and Caitlin finally blurts out that Olivia is back. She quickly explains the entire situation. Terrified that the man will harm her parents, Caitlin’s resolve hardens. She takes Florence’s phone and calls the police.

During winter at Ledbury Hall, the staff prepares for a party that Uncle Robert is hosting for his pharmaceutical company. Heath joins Elinor on the landing. She’s still giving him the cold shoulder over Sofia. To hurt him, she reminds him that the Hall isn’t theirs for another year. Robert appears, announcing that he has had new outfits delivered and demanding that they act like a happy family for his colleagues. Heath mocks him, but Robert restrains his anger. In her room, Heath tries to talk to Elinor. He takes her romance novel, telling her that such books teach lies about love and that nothing worth having comes easily. Elinor snaps at him for provoking their uncle. Heath explains that because Robert needs them tonight, they hold the power. Elinor asks him to behave for once. He agrees to do as she wishes. After he leaves, she puts on Flynn’s jacket for comfort.

One week after calling the police, Caitlin sits in her parents’ house, which is now surrounded by media. Myles remains furious with her. She realizes that her naive hope that Olivia’s return would heal their family was wrong. Clara and Olivia return from the police station. Clara signals to Myles that Olivia revealed nothing new. As an adult, Olivia doesn’t have to share investigation details with her family. Olivia complains about her new therapist and asks where Oscar is (he’s at a work meeting in London). When Olivia suggests going to London, Clara becomes anxious.

Olivia pulls Caitlin upstairs to her room, where she has started a collage of childhood photos. A box of old diaries sits on the bed, including Caitlin’s purple diary. Olivia admits to reading it to learn about the life she missed. She says everyone’s lives carried on without her. Caitlin tries to explain their suffering, but Olivia changes the subject. She complains about feeling like a “bag of evidence,” which triggers Caitlin’s guilt over her earlier comment. Olivia says their mother smothers her. Caitlin defends Clara but concedes she can be a bit much, creating a moment of sisterly bonding.

Using details from Caitlin’s diary about a bakery in Bristol, Olivia fabricates a conversation to manipulate their mother into making a long drive there to get a specific cheesecake, leaving the sisters alone. Once their parents leave, Olivia declares that they’re going shopping in Bath. When Caitlin protests, Olivia threatens to go alone. Fearing for her safety, Caitlin agrees.

On the night of the party, Elinor considers skipping it, but Heath enters, wearing his new suit. He says she looks breathtaking in her velvet dress, and she internally forgives him. Downstairs, the crowded, lavishly decorated house overwhelms her. Heath is surprisingly charming and social, impressing even Robert. Elinor feels insecure and mute beside him. A woman named Anna flirts with Heath. Annoyed, Elinor pulls him away and confronts him about a Worcester trip, suspecting that it involved Sofia. He’s evasive but says he’s behaving because she asked. Robert takes Heath away, telling Elinor to stop following him like a faithful pup.

Humiliated, Elinor starts drinking heavily. She overhears two men discussing Robert’s precarious job situation: He needs to project a family-man image to the board to keep his position over rival Johnathan Jones. They joke that he might harm the children or himself if he loses. Elinor realizes that she and Heath have the power to ruin their uncle. Unable to find Heath, she goes to his room. From his window, she sees Heath and Sofia on the drive below, arguing and then kissing passionately. Overcome with jealousy, Elinor returns to the party.

To avoid the press, Olivia leads Caitlin through the woods behind their house. Caitlin realizes it must be the path the abductor used. Olivia claims that she and Florence used to meet here and points out a dilapidated shed as a landmark. In Bath, Caitlin buys Olivia a disguise. Using Myles’s credit card, Olivia buys new clothes. She teases Caitlin about jealousy.

At a fancy restaurant, Olivia drinks a cocktail with practiced ease. When the meal reminds Caitlin of their last picnic, she feels content. Olivia observes that teaching doesn’t make Caitlin happy. Caitlin admits that she became a teacher to please Clara. She confesses her dreams of traveling and painting. Olivia grows upset at the thought of Caitlin leaving and then suggests that they travel together. She criticizes Oscar for prioritizing his family over Caitlin’s dreams. When Olivia asks why Caitlin hasn’t married Oscar, Caitlin admits that she doesn’t feel ready, despite Olivia’s return. Olivia suggests that Oscar isn’t right for her.

Caitlin surprises Olivia with crème brûlée. Touched, Olivia promises that they’ll never be apart again. They dislike the crème brûlée and order chocolate fondant instead. Olivia pulls Caitlin into a bridal boutique and guilts her into trying on dresses. After a terrible first option, Olivia selects a perfect ivory gown, in which Caitlin feels beautiful. She notices that their eyes are nearly the same shade of blue. While changing, she sees Olivia staring at another dress, whispering to herself that it looks just like hers. When Caitlin confronts her, Olivia flees. Chasing her sister, Caitlin spots the man in black from the carnival across the street, hood up, watching and following Olivia. She sprints to her sister. When she grabs Olivia’s wrist, the man in black vanishes.

At Robert’s party, Elinor gets drunk on stolen vodka. Anna mentions framed butterflies on the wall, triggering Elinor’s memory of breaking one as a child; Heath took the beating from Robert for it. When Anna mentions how Robert taught them to play piano, Elinor recalls the brutal lessons, during which he hit their hands with a ruler. When Anna asks what Elinor wants to be when she’s older, Elinor says she wants to be loved.

Heath finds Elinor near a candle, which she’s about to knock over. He realizes that she’s drunk. She confronts him about Sofia. Board member Charles Vine interrupts and makes an inappropriate comment about Elinor’s chest. She responds crudely. Heath pulls her away, but she trips and knocks over a table of candles. The curtains catch fire. Heath drags Elinor to safety and uses ice water and water from a flower vase to extinguish the flames. Elinor vomits. Robert appears. Furious, he shakes Elinor, accusing her of ruining everything. Heath lies, taking the blame for giving her wine. Robert turns his rage on Heath. Heath carries Elinor away as Robert threatens that he’ll deal with Heath later.