Chapter 13 - The Daughter They NeededI kicked the door.
No response.
I tried the window.
Locked.
Smoke began creeping under the door.
Fire.
Someone had set the bedroom on fire.
I covered my face and smashed the window with a lamp.
Glass shattered.
I climbed onto the roof.
Below me, flames spread through the house.
Megan arrived in her car.
“Jump!”
I did.
We escaped.
At the hospital, I stared at the document again.
Unknown mother.
It couldn't be real.
Unless everything I knew about my childhood was a lie.
Megan sat beside me.
“We need a DNA test.”
“With who?”
She looked at me.
“Your father.”
I laughed.
“Richard is Evan's father.”
“I know.”
“So what?”
“You aren't Richard's daughter.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The handwriting on the certificate was altered.”
She showed me an old copy.
The original name had been removed.
Someone had written over it.
“Who?”
Megan shook her head.
“We need the original records.”
We found them in a courthouse archive.
My real father's name was Daniel Mercer.
Lauren's father.
I stared at the page.
“That's impossible.”
Lauren was my husband's ex-wife.
That meant Lauren and I were half-sisters.
She had been connected to my life long before Evan.
She knew me before I knew her.
We confronted her.
She broke down.
“My father died trying to protect you.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“Did Evan?”
“Yes.”
“Did my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Who is my mother?”
Lauren looked at Eleanor.
“Her.”
I turned.
Eleanor's face was wet with tears.
“I had no choice.”
“You are my mother?”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to disappear.
“You abandoned me.”
“To keep you alive.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the only person outside the network who could inherit the trust.”
“You said the trust belonged to the Whitakers.”
“It did.”
“Then why me?”
Eleanor pulled out the final ledger.
The real one.
She opened it.
The first page contained one name.
Mine.
Not as a beneficiary.
As the controlling authority.
My stomach dropped.
“What does this mean?”
Eleanor whispered:
“You were never meant to inherit the trust.”
“What?”
“You were meant to control the entire network.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
“Your father created the trust in your name.”
“Why?”
“To expose everyone.”
“The network?”
“Yes.”
“And the money?”
“Evidence.”
I stared at the pages.
Every account.
Every name.
Every payment.
Then I saw one name repeated hundreds of times.
Evan.
And beside it:
PROTECT CAROLINE AT ALL COSTS.
My eyes filled with tears.
“He was protecting me.”
Eleanor nodded.
“He was.”
“Then why did he hurt me?”
“Because he believed the only way to save you was to become the villain.”
The door opened.
Evan stood there.
No gun.
No disguise.
Just tears in his eyes.
“I never stopped loving you.”
I whispered:
“Then why did you bury me alive?”
He shook his head.
“I didn't.”
“Who did?”
He looked at Eleanor.
Then at Lauren.
Then at me.
“The person who ordered the funeral.”
May you like
He paused.
“Was your mother.”
