Chapter 8 - Why They Wanted My SonMason's words followed me into the night.
Teresa wants the baby.
I couldn't understand it.
Frederick was one year old.
What could anyone possibly want from him?
His inheritance?
His trust?
His name?
Mason looked terrified.
“You don't understand what your mother found.”
“Then explain.”
“She discovered the trust wasn't just money.”
“What is it?”
“Control.”
I frowned.
“Control over what?”
Mason looked around.
“Your grandfather owned shares in several companies.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don't know how many.”
The trust contained controlling interests in dozens of companies.
Energy.
Construction.
Real estate.
Transportation.
Banking.
The total value was enormous.
But the real power came from voting rights.
Whoever controlled the trust could control the companies.
Teresa had spent years trying to access it.
But she couldn't.
Because the trust was protected.
First by me.
Then by Frederick.
Mason had been trying to steal the house because the property was one of the legal keys connected to the trust.
Without the property…
Certain clauses couldn't be activated.
It sounded insane.
But the documents proved it.
I looked at Mason.
“Why are you telling me?”
He swallowed.
“Because Teresa wants me dead.”
Amy stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because I know too much.”
He pulled out a flash drive.
“She gave me this.”
“What is it?”
“Everything.”
I took it.
Mason looked at Frederick.
“I was greedy.”
He lowered his head.
“I thought I'd get rich.”
“But when I realized what they were planning…”
He stopped.
“I couldn't do it anymore.”
We took him with us.
Not because I trusted him.
Because I needed the evidence.
The next morning, my attorney opened the files.
His face became pale.
“Connor.”
“What?”
“These transfers…”
He pointed to the screen.
“Your mother wasn't spending your money.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“She was moving it.”
“Where?”
“To an account belonging to someone named Evelyn Reed.”
I stared.
The same woman from my mother's recording.
“Who is she?”
My attorney searched.
Then he looked at me.
“She's your grandmother.”
I froze.
“My grandmother died twenty years ago.”
“No.”
He turned the screen toward me.
“According to this…”
“She is alive.”
The family had lied about her death.
For twenty years.
I couldn't understand why.
Then the attorney opened another file.
A photograph.
An elderly woman.
Standing beside a hospital bed.
Beside her was my mother.
And beside my mother…
Was Teresa.
The photograph was taken the day before my mother died.
On the back was a handwritten message:
Tomorrow everything changes.
We found Evelyn that evening.
She lived in a small assisted-living community outside Nashville.
When I entered her room…
She immediately started crying.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
I sat beside her.
“Why did everyone tell me you were dead?”
“Because Teresa wanted you to believe it.”
“Why?”
Evelyn looked at Frederick.
“Because your mother left him something.”
“Who?”
“Your son.”
My heart tightened.
“What?”
“Your mother knew you would have a child.”
“How?”
“She had a dream.”
I almost laughed.
But Evelyn's expression was completely serious.
“She believed your first child would become the legal protector of the family trust.”
I looked at Frederick.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she knew Teresa was listening.”
Evelyn revealed the final piece.
The trust contained a clause that activated when the first grandchild was born.
The child would become the permanent beneficiary.
No spouse.
No parent.
No grandparent.
Nobody could override it.
Not even me.
That meant Teresa could no longer steal the assets by manipulating me.
She had to control Frederick.
That was why she wanted Amy declared unfit.
That was why she wanted custody.
That was why she had been trying to remove Amy from the house.
Amy looked devastated.
“She wanted my baby.”
Evelyn nodded.
“She wanted legal control.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever controls the child controls access to the trust.”
I stood.
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
I shook my head.
“She doesn't get him.”
Then Evelyn handed me another envelope.
“Your mother left this for you.”
Inside was a single photograph.
My mother.
Holding Frederick.
Impossible.
The photograph had been taken before Frederick was born.
I looked at Evelyn.
“How?”
She whispered:
“Your mother knew you would have a son.”
Then she added:
“But she also knew Teresa would try to kill the child before he could inherit.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
Evelyn pointed to the photograph.
“Look at the date.”
I did.
It was dated one year before my mother died.
On the back was a sentence:
If Teresa discovers Frederick exists, she will come for him.
That night, we increased security around our home.
But at 2:17 AM…
The alarm went off.
I ran downstairs.
The nursery door was open.
The window was broken.
Amy was screaming.
“Frederick!”
The crib was empty.
My heart stopped.
Then I heard a car engine outside.
I ran toward the driveway.
A black SUV was speeding away.
May you like
And through the rear window…
I saw Teresa holding my son.
