Chapter 10 - The BetrayalWe returned to the hospital at dawn.
Police were everywhere.
Investigators surrounded the building.
The board had been informed that the merger was suspended.
But none of that mattered.
Lily was sleeping.
Safe.
At least for the moment.
Felix sat beside her bed.
I stood at the window.
Rachel had been taken into custody.
Adrian was missing.
Odette had vanished.
Celeste had disappeared too.
And Protocol Seven was still active.
I looked at Felix.
"Who is our friend?"
He frowned.
"The message."
I showed him.
He studied it.
"Could be anyone."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Rachel said someone inside the circle was helping them."
Felix stood.
"Then we identify everyone."
He called his security chief.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"He never misses calls."
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice said:
"Sarah."
My stomach dropped.
"Mr. Marlowe?"
My father's old lawyer.
He was supposed to have died three years ago.
"I have something you need to see."
"Where are you?"
"Old Marlowe House."
"Why?"
"Because your father left something behind."
Felix looked at me.
I put the call on speaker.
The lawyer continued.
"He knew Odette was coming."
"What did he know?"
"He knew about Rachel."
I felt dizzy.
"How?"
"Because your father was the one who separated you."
I stared at Felix.
The lawyer went on.
"He believed two daughters could destroy each other if Odette discovered the truth."
I swallowed.
"Then why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he was afraid."
"Of Odette?"
"No."
A pause.
"Of Felix."
The room went silent.
Felix stepped backward.
"Me?"
"Your father believed the Kingsley family would use you to reach Sarah."
"Why?"
"Because you were the heir."
I asked:
"What did my father leave behind?"
"A recording."
"Where?"
"Below the original restaurant."
The call ended.
Felix looked at me.
"We're going."
"No."
He stared.
"You can't go alone."
"I'm not going alone."
I looked at Lily.
"I'm taking you."
He immediately shook his head.
"No."
"She's the reason they are doing this."
"Exactly."
"We hide her somewhere they don't know."
Felix took my hand.
"I know a place."
His voice was suddenly different.
Serious.
Certain.
"Where?"
"My father's lake house."
I looked at him.
"Your father?"
"My real father."
I froze.
"Felix..."
He looked toward Lily.
"I found out something the night Adrian returned."
"What?"
"Odette wasn't my biological mother."
I stared at him.
"What?"
He nodded.
"Adrian and I aren't brothers."
I couldn't breathe.
"Then why does he call you little brother?"
Felix's eyes darkened.
"Because he believes we share the same father."
A noise came from Lily's bed.
She sat up.
"Mommy?"
I rushed to her.
"What is it, baby?"
She looked at Felix.
Then whispered:
"Grandma told me Daddy wasn't my Daddy."
Felix froze.
"What did she say?"
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"She said my real father was a king."
Then someone knocked on the hospital room door.
Three times.
A doctor entered.
He held an envelope.
"Ms. Marlowe?"
"Yes?"
He handed it to me.
"Someone left this at the front desk."
I opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Lily Marlowe.
Father:
Unknown.
Mother:
Sarah Marlowe.
May you like
And underneath, handwritten in red:
ASK FELIX WHO HE REALLY IS.
