Chapter 6 - THE TRUST
We returned to the safe house.
Lucas had found something in the documents Arthur left behind.
A hidden clause.
He placed it on the table.
“The trust doesn't simply pass to the baby.”
I frowned.
“What does it do?”
“It transfers control of every Carter asset.”
“Then why is Arthur so desperate?”
“Because once the child is born, Arthur loses everything.”
My father looked at the document.
“There is another clause.”
“What?”
“If the mother is declared unfit, the trust passes to the nearest living Carter relative.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Victoria.”
“Yes.”
My heart sank.
“That was the plan.”
Sophia nodded.
“She needed Emily accused of adultery.”
“Then she could claim I was unstable.”
“Yes.”
“Then take custody of the baby.”
Lucas nodded.
“And control the inheritance.”
Daniel stood.
“She planned everything.”
My father looked at him.
“She planned it with Arthur.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I almost helped them.”
I looked at him.
“You did.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Silence filled the room.
Then he said:
“But I can stop them.”
“How?”
“By telling the truth.”
He called the police.
He gave them every document.
Every conversation.
Every message.
Every bank record.
He admitted that his mother had manipulated him.
He admitted he had believed the false accusation.
He admitted that Victoria had known about the pregnancy.
He admitted everything.
For the first time, Daniel wasn't protecting himself.
He was protecting me.
Three days later, we received another letter.
No signature.
Only an address.
THE OLD CARTER CHAPEL.
Lucas stared at it.
“That place doesn't exist anymore.”
My father shook his head.
“It does.”
We went there at midnight.
Inside the abandoned chapel was a wooden box.
Sophia opened it.
Inside was an old journal.
Robert's journal.
The final pages described the night he disappeared.
He had discovered Arthur's plan.
He had hidden the original trust.
He had arranged for Sophia to escape.
And he had written one final sentence.
IF MY CHILDREN SURVIVE, THE FAMILY CAN STILL BE SAVED.
Sophia cried.
Then Lucas found something else.
A map.
It led to a hidden vault beneath the original Carter estate.
The trust was there.
So was the evidence.
And according to Robert's final note, the vault could only be opened by one person.
May you like
His first surviving child.
Me.
