Chapter 14 - THE FINAL LIEThe room went silent.
“Who?”
Claire didn't move.
I felt something inside me crack.
“You said the clinic switched samples.”
“Yes.”
“You said we didn't know who Noah's father was.”
“I lied.”
“Who is he?”
Claire looked at Noah.
Then at me.
“Martin.”
I couldn't breathe.
My biological father was Noah's biological grandfather.
The family tree was twisted beyond anything I could understand.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Before Noah was born.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Victor would have killed you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You let me believe I was Noah's father.”
“You loved him.”
“That doesn't justify it.”
“No.”
Claire wiped her tears.
“But it kept you alive.”
I stared at her.
“Was anything in our marriage real?”
She stepped closer.
“Yes.”
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
“You marrying me?”
“Yes.”
“Noah?”
“Every moment.”
I looked away.
Then Daniel interrupted.
“There is one problem.”
We turned.
“Victor's network has gone dark.”
Lucas frowned.
“That means someone took control.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at me.
“You.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The trust.”
He opened a laptop.
The moment Victor died, the control structure automatically transferred.
To me.
I watched the screen.
Accounts.
Companies.
Properties.
Billions.
Everything Victor had built now belonged to me.
I felt sick.
“I don't want this.”
“You don't get to choose.”
Then an alert appeared.
A transfer.
One hundred million dollars.
To an unknown account.
“What's that?”
Daniel checked.
His face changed.
“It's a payment.”
“To whom?”
He read the destination.
VANESSA COLE.
I looked at Vanessa.
She stared at her screen.
“I didn't do this.”
Another transfer.
One hundred million.
Then another.
Another.
Money was leaving the trust automatically.
We watched in horror.
“Stop it!”
Daniel typed furiously.
“It's encrypted.”
“Can you stop it?”
“No.”
“How long?”
“Six minutes.”
“Until what?”
He looked at the screen.
“Until everything is transferred.”
Claire suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
She pointed at the screen.
The destination account changed.
The name appeared.
NOAH CARTER FOUNDATION.
I froze.
“Noah?”
Daniel whispered,
“Someone is using Noah's identity.”
Then an email arrived.
No sender.
No subject.
Only one attachment.
A photograph.
Victor.
Alive.
Standing beside someone.
I zoomed in.
The other person was wearing a black suit.
My stomach dropped.
I knew him.
Martin Hale.
My biological father.
The man who was supposed to have been shot in the basement.
The man who had supposedly disappeared.
May you like
The email contained one sentence:
You killed the wrong man.
