Chapter 10 - THE DNA REPORT
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything.
The room was full of people.
My father.
Michael.
Andrew.
Jonathan.
Thomas.
Helen.
Yet all I could hear was my own breathing.
You were never Daniel Reed's daughter.
Thomas's words kept repeating inside my head.
I looked at the DNA report again.
Michael was listed as Daniel Reed's biological son.
I was not.
Then I looked at my father.
“Mine?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“You said you were only my mother's protector.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother asked me to.”
“That isn't enough.”
“I know.”
I pushed the report away.
“Tell me everything.”
My father sat down.
He looked broken.
“Your mother and I loved each other before she met Michael.”
I knew that much.
“But when Eleanor became pregnant, she believed Daniel Reed was the father.”
Michael stared at him.
“So you're saying Lily and I have different fathers?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Michael.
My brother.
The man I had found only days earlier.
We had spent our entire lives separated by secrets.
And now we were learning that we weren't even fully related.
Michael shook his head.
“Why did Mom tell everyone we were twins?”
“Because she needed to protect you.”
“From whom?”
“Daniel Reed.”
Michael frowned.
“Why would my own father be dangerous?”
My father looked at Thomas.
Thomas answered.
“Because Daniel Reed was involved in the original theft of the Bennett fortune.”
The room went silent.
Jonathan stepped forward.
“The DNA report changes the inheritance structure.”
“How?”
“Your mother's trust was written to protect her biological descendants.”
I stared at him.
“Then Michael inherits?”
“Potentially.”
“And me?”
Jonathan looked at my father.
“You are not a Reed descendant.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“So I lose everything?”
“No.”
Jonathan opened another file.
“Because your mother amended the trust.”
He placed the document in front of me.
I read the clause.
My mother had known.
She had known I was my father's daughter.
She had known Michael was Daniel Reed's son.
She had deliberately created two separate inheritance structures.
Michael received the Reed assets.
I received the Bennett assets.
But both were protected by one condition.
Neither heir could sell or transfer the assets without the other's approval.
My mother had done it deliberately.
She had created a bond between us that nobody could break.
I looked at Michael.
“She knew we would find each other.”
“Yes,” Jonathan said.
“And she knew someone would try to separate us.”
“Yes.”
Thomas suddenly laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
I turned toward him.
“What?”
“The trust wasn't created to protect you from us.”
“Then why?”
“To protect us from the truth.”
I frowned.
Thomas continued.
“Your mother discovered what Daniel Reed had done.”
“What did he do?”
“He stole company assets.”
“Why?”
“To build his own empire.”
Michael stared.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“He wasn't poor.”
“No.”
“He wasn't missing.”
“No.”
“He died?”
Thomas shook his head.
“He disappeared.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Where?”
Thomas looked at him.
“You've already met him.”
The room went silent.
Michael's face turned white.
“No.”
Thomas smiled.
“Daniel Reed is alive.”
I couldn't breathe.
May you like
My brother's biological father was alive.
And suddenly the entire mystery had another layer.
