Chapter 6: The Mother Who Disappeared
We left before dawn.
Arthur insisted on security.
Two vehicles.
Four investigators.
And a private medical team.
I barely spoke.
The message had only contained four words that mattered.
Your mother is waiting.
For seventeen years, I had dreamed of hearing that sentence.
Now that it had come true, I was terrified.
The clinic was hidden in a remote mountain town.
No sign.
No patients.
Only a locked gate and cameras.
Arthur showed his credentials.
The gate opened.
Inside, the halls were silent.
A nurse led us to a private room.
Then she opened the door.
I stopped.
A woman sat beside the window.
Her hair was silver.
Her face thinner.
Her hands folded in her lap.
But I knew her instantly.
“Mom?”
She turned.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then her eyes filled with tears.
“Cassidy.”
My knees almost gave out.
I crossed the room.
She stood.
We stared at each other.
Seventeen years vanished in a single second.
I hugged her.
She held me tightly.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“You left me.”
“I know.”
“I hated you.”
“I know.”
I pulled away.
“Then tell me why.”
My mother looked at Arthur.
“Did you activate Protocol Seven?”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
“Then we're out of time.”
She sat down.
I took the chair opposite her.
“Tell me everything.”
She was silent for a long moment.
Then she spoke.
“Your father didn't create Aurora Hartwell Group.”
I frowned.
“My father founded the first division.”
“But the corporation existed before him.”
She looked at Arthur.
“My family built it.”
“Your family?”
“The Hart family.”
I stared.
“Our family's wealth goes back generations.”
She nodded.
“But wealth wasn't the reason I disappeared.”
“What was?”
“Your grandmother.”
My stomach tightened.
“Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“She was alive.”
“Yes.”
“She ordered your disappearance.”
My mother's eyes darkened.
“She ordered your father's death too.”
I stared.
“My father wasn't killed in the warehouse fire.”
“No.”
“He was alive when I thought he died?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
She looked away.
“He discovered what Evelyn had done.”
“And?”
“He tried to expose her.”
My mother took a breath.
“Your grandmother had him imprisoned under a false identity.”
I couldn't speak.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“But he's alive?”
“He was.”
The room went silent.
Arthur stepped forward.
“You said Protocol Seven would bring them out.”
My mother nodded.
“That's why I built it.”
She looked at me.
“I knew one day the company would fall into the wrong hands.”
“You knew Brendan would marry me?”
“I knew they would try.”
“Why didn't you warn me?”
“Because I needed you to live outside the war.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I married the enemy.”
“I know.”
“I had a child with him.”
My mother reached toward my stomach.
“That's why we have to move quickly.”
“Why?”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Because your daughter is the legal heir to the controlling trust.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your shares aren't the whole story.”
She leaned closer.
“The company has a generational trust.”
“I'm the trustee?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You are the guardian.”
My blood ran cold.
“The heir is your daughter.”
Silence.
Arthur stepped closer.
“Who is the trustee?”
My mother looked at him.
“Victor.”
Arthur frowned.
“Victor Hale?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if Victor isn't the villain.”
I stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
My mother whispered:
“Victor betrayed Evelyn.”
Arthur looked stunned.
“Then why did he disappear?”
“Because he was protecting Brendan.”
“From what?”
My mother looked at me.
“From Evelyn.”
I shook my head.
“This is impossible.”
“It gets worse.”
She opened a drawer.
Inside was a small metal box.
She handed it to me.
“Your father left this for you.”
I opened it.
Inside was a key.
A photograph.
And a bloodstained wedding ring.
I recognized the ring.
My father had worn it every day.
My mother's voice trembled.
“He was alive when he gave me this.”
I looked at the ring.
“Where is he now?”
My mother looked toward the window.
“I don't know.”
Then the lights went out.
Again.
Arthur stood immediately.
“Stay behind me.”
A gunshot exploded through the glass.
The nurse screamed.
My mother fell.
I rushed toward her.
“Mom!”
She grabbed my wrist.
“Don't worry.”
But there was blood on her sleeve.
Arthur shouted for security.
More shots echoed through the hallway.
Then silence.
My mother looked at me.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
A door slammed somewhere down the corridor.
Footsteps approached.
And a voice echoed through the darkness.
“Hello, Cassidy.”
I knew that voice.
I had heard it once in my childhood.
May you like
The last time I saw my grandmother alive.
Evelyn Hart had finally come for me.
