Chapter 7: The Son They Tried to Erase
“Don't give them your blood, Daniel. You're the only one who can prove which of the four children was never supposed to be born.””
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
My mother stood in the doorway of the moonless room, one hand pressed against the frame, her silver-streaked hair falling loose around her face. She was older than the woman I remembered, her cheeks hollowed and her shoulders thinner, but her eyes were unchanged.
Those gray eyes had haunted my dreams for thirty years.
“Mom?””
The word escaped before I could stop it.
Her lips trembled.
“Daniel.””
I took one step toward her.
Then another.
Thomas raised his pistol.
“Stay where you are.””
I stopped.
My mother looked at the gun, then at her brother-in-law.
“Thomas, put it down.””
He shook his head.
“I'm sorry, Catherine.””
“No, you're not.”” Her voice sharpened.
“If you were sorry, you would have stopped years ago.””
Thomas flinched, but he didn't lower the weapon.
I stared at him.
“You told me you didn't know where she was.””
“I didn't.””
“You said you'd been helping us.””
“I was.””
“You've got a gun pointed at me!””
“Because Richard has my wife.””
The room went silent.
Thomas's face had lost all its color. His fingers tightened around the pistol, and for the first time, I noticed the wedding ring on his left hand.
“Richard took Margaret three days ago,” he continued.
“He said he'd release her when I delivered you and the pendants.””
My anger faltered.
“Why didn't you tell us?””
“Because he sent me a photograph of her tied to a chair. He told me he'd cut off one finger for every hour I delayed.””
My mother closed her eyes.
“Richard has always known how to find a man's weakness.””
I looked at her.
“And what is mine?””
She opened her eyes.
“You.””
The answer hurt more than I expected.
Thomas moved toward the desk.
“Catherine, we need the files. Richard wants the original records, and Daniel has to come with me.””
“No,” my mother said.
“You don't have a choice.””
“I've spent thirty years watching men tell me what choices I have.””
She stepped into the room.
“And I'm done listening.””
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small glass vial.
Thomas's pistol wavered.
“What is that?””
“Something your employer has spent thirty years trying to obtain.””
She held the vial up to the light.
Inside was a dark red liquid.
My stomach tightened.
“Mom, what are you doing?””
She looked at me, and for a moment the years fell away.
“I owe you the truth, Daniel. All of it. But first, you need to understand why your father wanted you alive, why Alexander Vale died, and why Richard is so desperate to get his hands on your blood.””
Thomas stepped forward.
“Give me the vial.””
My mother laughed bitterly.
“You've been chasing it for twenty years. You still don't know what it contains.””
“Catherine—”
“It's a sample from the original inheritance test. The one that proved Alexander was not Daniel's biological father.””
The words struck me like a physical blow.
I stared at her.
“What?””
My mother turned toward me.
“Your father was a terrible man, Daniel. But he was your biological father.””
For a moment, I felt nothing.
Then the room seemed to tilt.
“Lily said—”
“Lily was told what your father wanted everyone to believe. Alexander was the man I loved. He was the man who helped me escape. But he wasn't your father.””
I gripped the edge of the desk.
“Then why did you let me believe he was?””
“I didn't. Richard did.””
Thomas's face hardened.
“Enough.””
My mother ignored him.
“Richard wanted Alexander's shares in the company. When Alexander discovered that Richard had been diverting money through shell corporations, he prepared to expose him. Your father helped Richard cover it up. In exchange, he was promised control of the entire company.””
“And you?””
“I found the original financial records. I also found evidence that your father had falsified the inheritance documents of four children.””
My mind raced.
“The four pendants.””
She nodded.
“Each pendant belonged to a child named in Alexander's original trust. The trust was designed to protect the children from Richard's schemes. But someone altered the records before the trust was finalized.””
“Who?””
My mother looked toward Thomas.
“He knows.””
Thomas's face went rigid.
“Catherine, don't.””
She took another step toward him.
“You were there when Richard changed the documents. You were the one who signed the witness statement.””
“I was twenty-three!””
“And you were old enough to understand what you were doing.””
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to save Margaret.””
“You were trying to save yourself.””
He raised the pistol again.
“I'm taking the files.””
My mother turned toward me.
“Daniel, listen carefully. The fourth child is the key. If Richard gets a verified DNA sample from that child, he can reopen the trust and claim everything Alexander left behind.””
“Which child?””
She didn't answer.
Instead, she placed the vial in my hand.
“Keep this safe.””
Thomas lunged.
I stepped backward, knocking the desk against the wall. Papers scattered across the floor. The pistol fired.
The sound was deafening.
My mother screamed.
I felt a sharp burning sensation across my left shoulder and stumbled into the filing cabinet.
“Daniel!””
She rushed toward me.
Thomas stood frozen, staring at the gun as if it had fired by itself.
Blood spread across my shirt.
Not a deep wound, I thought. Not deep enough.
But my mother was already pressing a cloth against my shoulder.
“Look at me,” she said.
“Stay with me.””
I tried to smile.
“You always did worry too much.””
She let out a broken laugh that turned into a sob.
“I've had thirty years to worry.””
Thomas lowered the gun.
“Daniel, I didn't mean—”
“Get out.””
“Please.””
“GET OUT!””
My uncle stumbled backward.
For a moment, I thought he might shoot again.
Instead, he ran up the stairs.
My mother helped me sit against the wall.
I clutched the vial in my right hand.
“Mom,” I whispered, “tell me who the fourth child is.””
She looked at me.
Her expression changed.
Not fear.
Grief.
“The fourth child,” she said, “is the one your father has been raising without knowing what he truly is.””
My phone vibrated.
A video had arrived from an unknown number.
I opened it.
Amara sat in a dimly lit room, crying silently, her stuffed rabbit clutched to her chest.
Richard Vale crouched beside her.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel, I believe you've met your mother. Wonderful. Now, let's stop wasting time.””
He lifted a second phone.
On the screen was a photograph of Sophie sleeping in a bed.
My daughter.
Richard smiled.
“You have one hour to bring me the vial. If you fail, I will begin with the girl who calls you Daddy.””
The video ended.
My mother stared at the screen.
May you like
Then she whispered something that made the blood in my veins turn to ice.
“Richard has Sophie.””
