Chapter 16 - The Truth About LilyDaniel stared at Michael.
“I’ll die.”
Michael smiled.
“I knew you would.”
He handed Lily to a woman standing nearby.
Emma stepped forward.
“Daddy!”
Daniel wanted to run to her.
Michael raised a gun.
“Stay.”
Daniel stopped.
“You wanted the trust.”
“Yes.”
“You want the money.”
“No.”
Michael laughed.
“I want what Rachel stole.”
Daniel frowned.
“What did she steal?”
“The evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Michael pointed toward the diary.
“Everything.”
Daniel looked down.
The diary was filled with names.
But there was one missing section.
A torn page.
“Where is it?”
Michael smiled.
“You tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
Michael shook his head.
“Rachel hid it before she died.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Then why take Lily?”
“Because Rachel left clues inside her.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“You’re sick.”
“No.”
Michael’s expression became serious.
“Your daughter’s DNA is the final key.”
Daniel remembered the trust.
The genetic lock.
The money.
The forty million dollars.
But Michael leaned closer.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Lily isn’t your only child.”
Daniel froze.
Michael pointed toward Emma.
“She was part of the plan too.”
Daniel stared at his daughter.
“What are you talking about?”
“Rachel had two children.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at Emma.
“No.”
Michael nodded.
“Emma was born naturally.”
“Then?”
“Rachel changed her medical records.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
Why?
Michael continued.
“Emma’s DNA is connected to your father.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
Michael smiled.
“Test her.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
She was crying.
“Daddy, I don’t understand.”
Neither did he.
Then Maya screamed.
“Michael!”
Everyone turned.
Maya had grabbed a candle.
She threw it toward the curtains.
Fire exploded upward.
Chaos erupted.
Marcus tackled one of the men.
Daniel ran toward Emma.
Michael grabbed Lily and disappeared through a side door.
Daniel chased him.
Outside, snow covered the churchyard.
A black SUV sped away.
Daniel ran toward the road.
Too late.
Then he saw someone standing under the trees.
A woman.
Rachel.
For one impossible second, Daniel forgot how to breathe.
The woman stepped into the light.
She looked exactly like Rachel.
Same hair.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Daniel whispered:
“Rachel?”
She smiled.
Then said:
“No.”
She removed a hood.
Daniel stared.
It was Sophia Vale.
Rachel’s resemblance was astonishing.
Sophia looked at him.
“My father prepared for this.”
Daniel was shaking.
“Where is Michael taking Lily?”
Sophia pointed toward the road.
“Not where you think.”
“Where?”
“To the place Rachel died.”
Daniel froze.
“The crash site?”
Sophia nodded.
“And you need to get there before midnight.”
“Why?”
May you like
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because that’s where your wife left the last piece of the truth.”
