Chapter 7 - MY FATHER WAS ALIVEI called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then an unknown number called.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice said,
“You finally know.”
I stopped breathing.
“Who is this?”
“You used to call me Dad.”
My knees weakened.
“No.”
He laughed.
“You always were stubborn.”
I knew that voice.
Every childhood memory came crashing back.
My father's voice.
Victor Carter.
“You're dead.”
“That's what everyone believes.”
“Where are you?”
“Where your wife has been hiding.”
My heart exploded.
“Give me Claire.”
“No.”
“Give me my son.”
“Not yet.”
I gripped the phone.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The one Claire found.”
“I don't have it.”
“Then find it.”
“What happens if I don't?”
A pause.
“You lose another person you love.”
The call ended.
I stood frozen.
Another person.
Then my mother's photograph fell from the wall.
Behind it was an envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
From my father.
Ethan,
If you're reading this, Claire has already discovered the truth.
I kept reading.
You were never the heir.
My hands shook.
You were the shield.
There was more.
The company was built on three things: money, silence, and blood.
I read faster.
Your mother tried to expose us.
I stopped.
My mother.
The official story had always been suicide.
My father had told me she couldn't handle depression.
The letter continued.
I stopped her before she could talk.
I dropped the page.
For twenty years, I had believed my father.
My mother hadn't killed herself.
He had killed her.
I couldn't breathe.
Then another page slipped out.
Claire knows about Noah.
I froze.
Noah is not your son.
Then:
But he is mine.
I stared at the words.
My father was Noah's biological grandfather.
Unless…
Unless he meant something else.
My phone buzzed.
A video.
Claire.
She was crying.
Noah was asleep beside her.
“Ethan,” she whispered.
“You need to listen carefully.”
She looked toward the door.
“They found us.”
My blood froze.
“Who?”
Claire's eyes filled with terror.
“Your father.”
The video ended.
Then the phone rang.
Victor.
“You have twenty-four hours.”
“For what?”
“To bring me the ledger.”
“And if I don't?”
A baby began crying in the background.
My son's cry.
May you like
Victor whispered,
“Then Noah learns what happens to disobedient families.”
