Chapter 5 - I turned off the laptop.The house fell silent.
I grabbed the old baseball bat from beneath the bed.
Footsteps moved through the downstairs hallway.
I stayed still.
One step.
Then another.
A shadow appeared beneath the bedroom door.
I raised the bat.
The door opened.
“Ethan?”
I almost swung.
It was Claire.
She looked terrified.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came because Lily said you left.”
“How did you know where I was?”
“I followed you.”
“Why?”
She hesitated.
“Because I knew you'd find the card.”
I stared at her.
“So you knew about the watch?”
“Yes.”
“You knew about my father?”
“Yes.”
“You knew someone was watching us?”
“Yes.”
Rage flooded through me.
“How long have you been lying to me?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Since the day I married you.”
I lowered the bat.
“What?”
Claire swallowed.
“My father worked for yours.”
The room seemed to spin.
“My father was dead.”
“I know.”
“He had no connection to your family.”
“He did.”
She pulled an old photograph from her bag.
Two men stood beside a car.
My father.
And a younger man I didn't recognize.
“Who is that?”
“My father.”
I looked at her.
“Your father worked for mine?”
“Yes.”
“What did they do?”
“Something illegal.”
“What?”
“Money laundering.”
I stared at her.
“My father built the company through dirty money.”
Claire nodded.
“And your father helped him hide it.”
I felt sick.
“What happened?”
“They fought.”
“About what?”
“My father wanted out.”
“And mine?”
“He refused.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“My father vanished.”
“Vanished?”
“Yes.”
“No body?”
“No.”
“Then he could still be alive.”
“He isn't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your father told me.”
My mind was racing.
“Why would your father tell you?”
“He didn't.”
She looked at me.
“Your father did.”
I stared at her.
She continued.
“After my father disappeared, your father contacted me.”
“You were how old?”
“Twenty.”
“And he asked you to marry me?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He asked me to watch you.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He said there were people who wanted access to you.”
“To me?”
“To your inheritance.”
The pieces began to connect.
“You married me because my father told you to.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
She looked down.
“Then I fell in love with you.”
I wanted to believe her.
But Tommy was lying in a hospital because of her.
“You locked our son in that room.”
“I did.”
The admission broke through every defense I had.
“Why?”
“Because they threatened Lily.”
“Who?”
Claire whispered,
“The same people who killed your father.”
“Why would they want Tommy?”
“Because your father left something inside your son’s inheritance.”
I stared at her.
“My son doesn't have an inheritance.”
“He does.”
“What?”
“A trust.”
She handed me another document.
I opened it.
Tommy's name appeared.
The trust contained twelve million dollars.
My father had created it before his death.
The beneficiary was my son.
But there was a condition.
The money could not be accessed until Tommy turned twenty-one.
Unless his father was declared dead.
My hands went numb.
“They wanted me dead.”
Claire nodded.
“If you died, I would control the trust until Tommy was eighteen.”
“And they would control you.”
“Yes.”
“So why did you cooperate?”
“Because they had Lily.”
“What do you mean?”
Claire looked at me.
“They threatened to make her disappear.”
Silence.
I thought of Lily crawling across that hallway.
Dragging her brother.
Trying to protect him.
I felt ashamed that I had ever doubted her.
Then Claire whispered,
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Tommy isn't the only child they were interested in.”
I looked up.
“What do you mean?”
She opened another photograph.
It showed a newborn baby.
Not Tommy.
Another baby.
I stared at the picture.
“When was this taken?”
“Eight months ago.”
“Whose baby?”
Claire's face went pale.
“Your father's other grandson.”
I couldn't speak.
“My father had another child?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Your father had another son.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Who?”
Claire looked at me.
“Marcus.”
I stared at her.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
“No.”
“Marcus was adopted.”
The world seemed to stop.
My brother wasn't my brother.
Not by blood.
Claire whispered the final piece.
“And he knows about the trust.”
My phone rang.
Hospital.
I answered.
May you like
A nurse was crying.
“Mr. Carter... your daughter is missing.”
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