Chapter 13: The Bloodline Lie
For several seconds, neither Daniel nor I moved.
The words he'd just spoken seemed to hang between us.
Victor Hale might be my father.
I looked at him, searching his face for some sign that this was another lie.
“Did Patricia actually say that?””
Daniel nodded.
“She showed me a letter.””
“From whom?””
“Richard.””
I leaned back.
“Your father?””
“That's what I've always believed.””
He rubbed his forehead.
“Mom said she discovered the truth shortly before I was born. She claimed Richard knew, too, but agreed to raise me as his own.””
I stared at the photograph on his phone.
“Why would she tell you this now?””
“Because she thinks it gives me a claim to the foundation.””
“Victor isn't a beneficiary. Even if he's your biological father, that doesn't make you entitled to my mother's company.””
“I know.””
“Do you?””
Daniel looked at me.
For the first time since this nightmare began, he seemed less angry than frightened.
“I don't know what to believe anymore.””
I pushed the phone back toward him.
“Then let's find out what's true.””
He hesitated.
“Will you help me?””
“I'll help uncover the truth. That doesn't mean I'll protect you from the consequences.””
He nodded.
“I understand.””
I called Evelyn.
She arrived twenty minutes later carrying the trust documents and a folder from the forensic examiner.
After Daniel explained what Patricia had told him, Evelyn asked one question.
“Did she give you the original letter?””
“No. She showed me a photograph.””
“Then we need the original. A photograph proves nothing.””
Daniel opened his phone again.
“I took a picture of the envelope.””
Evelyn examined it.
The envelope bore Richard's handwriting and a date from thirty years earlier.
But something caught her attention.
“Look at the return address.””
I leaned closer.
The letter hadn't been sent from Richard's office.
It had been sent from a private medical clinic.
“Why would Richard be writing from a clinic?”” I asked.
Evelyn studied the photograph.
“Possibly a hospital admission. Possibly something else.””
Daniel looked pale.
“Mom said it was a paternity test.””
“Then we need the actual report,” Evelyn replied.
Daniel stood.
“I know where she keeps it.””
We arrived at Patricia's house just before sunset.
She opened the door before we knocked.
Her expression changed when she saw Daniel.
“You told her?””
Daniel stepped inside.
“You told me Victor might be my father. I want the truth.””
Patricia looked at me.
“This is a family matter.””
“No,” I said.
“It became my business when you used a false ownership claim to threaten my company.””
She stepped aside reluctantly.
We entered the living room.
A folder sat on the coffee table.
Patricia noticed me looking at it.
“Don't touch that.””
Daniel picked it up.
“Is this the report?””
She reached for it.
He stepped away.
“Answer me, Mom.””
Her face crumpled.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
“From everything your father did.””
Daniel opened the folder.
Inside were several medical documents, an old photograph, and a laboratory report.
Evelyn took the report and examined it carefully.
The date was thirty years old.
The names were Richard Carter and Daniel Carter.
But the conclusion was not what Patricia had claimed.
Evelyn read it twice.
“Daniel, this report does not say Richard was excluded as your biological father.””
Daniel stared at her.
“What does it say?””
“It says the sample was insufficient for a definitive conclusion.””
Patricia shook her head.
“That isn't the only report.””
Evelyn looked up.
“Where is the other one?””
Patricia didn't answer.
Daniel's voice broke.
“Mom.””
She sat down.
“There was another test.””
“Where?””
“I destroyed it.””
He stared at her.
“Why?””
“Because Richard would have taken you away from me.””
The room fell silent.
I looked at her.
“Was Victor your lover?””
Patricia closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
Daniel took a step backward.
For a moment, he looked like a child who had just learned that every story he'd been told about his childhood was false.
“Did Dad know?””
“He suspected.””
“And Victor?””
Patricia looked at him.
“He knew there was a possibility.””
Daniel's hands trembled.
“So you used this uncertainty to make me believe I was entitled to Nia's company?””
“I wanted you to have something. Richard spent his life trying to recover what he lost.””
“You told me I was his heir.””
“You are his son in every way that matters.””
“But maybe not by blood.””
Patricia began to cry.
Daniel looked at the folder again.
“Why didn't you tell me the truth?””
“Because I thought Victor would use you.””
I stepped forward.
“Yet you brought him into our lives anyway.””
Patricia looked at me.
“He came to me first. He said he could restore the family's position if Daniel cooperated.””
“Did he know about the forged guarantee?””
“Yes.””
“Did he know about the transfer to Northbridge?””
She hesitated.
“Yes.””
Evelyn closed the folder.
“Then you're going to tell us everything you know about Victor Hale.””
Patricia wiped her eyes.
“He has a copy of the original trust agreement. He also has the missing payment records.””
“Where?””
“In a storage facility outside the city.””
“Which one?””
Patricia gave us an address.
Then she looked at Daniel.
“There's something else you need to know.””
He didn't respond.
“Victor didn't approach me because he wanted to help you.””
Daniel finally looked at her.
“Then why?””
Patricia's voice dropped.
“Because he wanted access to the foundation. And he believed your name could give him that access.””
I looked at Evelyn.
The trust claim was never about Daniel.
It was about using Daniel as a legal doorway.
We left Patricia's house with the medical documents and a written statement from her.
Outside, Daniel stopped beside my car.
“I'm sorry.””
I looked at him.
“For what?””
“For believing I deserved your company. For letting my mother convince me that your inheritance was something we could claim.””
I waited.
He continued.
“I did love you, Nia. But I also knew what your family had. I told myself those things could exist together.””
“They couldn't.””
“I know.””
I opened the driver's door.
“Daniel, I don't know what happens to us now.””
He nodded.
“I don't expect you to forgive me.””
“Good.””
He looked at me one last time.
“Whatever happens with Victor, I'll give Evelyn everything I have.””
“Do that because it's the right thing to do. Not because you think it will bring me back.””
He stepped away.
As I got into the car, my phone rang.
James Whitmore.
“Nia, I've received the confirmation request for the trust.””
“Good. Can we complete it?””
“Not yet. There's a problem with the third trustee's records.””
“What problem?””
“Someone submitted a document claiming that I resigned from the foundation twelve years ago.””
“Did you?””
“No.””
“Who submitted it?””
James paused.
“Ethan Cole.””
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Ethan?””
“Yes. And the document includes my signature.””
I looked through the windshield at Evelyn.
She was already watching me.
“James, don't approve anything.””
“I won't. But Nia, you need to understand something. If that resignation is accepted, Victor could gain control of the trust through the competing claim.””
I ended the call.
Then I looked at Evelyn.
“Ethan didn't just transfer the money.””
She nodded slowly.
“He may have been trying to take control of the foundation itself.””
My phone buzzed again.
A message from an unknown number.
One sentence.
*Ask Ethan what happened to your mother's final payment.*
Then a second message arrived.
It contained a photograph of my mother standing outside a hospital.
May you like
Beside her was Victor Hale.
And behind them, partially visible through the glass doors, stood Ethan Cole.
