Chapter 6 - The SaleI didn't believe him.
I wanted to.
I wanted the truth.
But some truths arrive wearing knives.
“My mother wouldn't.”
Adrian stared at me.
“She already did.”
He handed me another file.
Inside was a contract.
A payment agreement.
My mother's name was on it.
So was the date.
The year I was born.
The amount shocked me.
$500,000.
For what?
Custody.
Identity transfer.
Silence.
I read the document again.
“She was desperate,” Adrian said.
“She was seventeen.”
I looked at him.
“What happened?”
“She was pregnant. Your grandfather offered her money.”
“To give me away?”
“To disappear.”
The documents painted a nightmare.
My biological father had been investigating Blackstone Holdings.
He discovered that the Thorne family had created illegal trusts using children as legal beneficiaries.
Children whose identities could be manipulated.
When Adrian found evidence, they took his newborn son.
Me.
They told him I was dead.
Then Daniel Thorne took custody.
Raised me as his own.
And slowly drained the trust created in my name.
“Why did you wait twenty years?”
“I didn't.”
Adrian's voice cracked.
“I spent twenty years looking.”
I couldn't speak.
Then he showed me something else.
A photograph of a hospital room.
My mother was holding me.
Beside her stood Daniel.
And behind them was Kyle.
But Kyle was only six years old.
I frowned.
“That can't be right.”
Adrian nodded.
“It is.”
He pointed at Kyle.
“He knew about you before you did.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
He gave me another file.
Kyle's birth certificate.
Then mine.
The dates overlapped.
By three months.
I stared.
“His mother was pregnant with both of you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Adrian looked away.
“You and Kyle are twins.”
The world went silent.
Kyle.
My brother.
The golden child.
The person who had watched them abuse me.
My entire life rearranged itself in seconds.
Adrian continued.
“Your mother gave Daniel one child.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel wanted an heir.”
“And Kyle?”
“Daniel kept him.”
“So why keep me?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Because you weren't supposed to inherit anything.”
I frowned.
“The trust.”
“Yes.”
He leaned closer.
“Your trust was created by your grandfather on your father's side.”
“So?”
“It was worth almost twenty million dollars.”
“And Kyle?”
“He could access it only if you were declared dead or legally incompetent.”
I felt sick.
All those years.
The humiliation.
The financial dependence.
The beatings.
The isolation.
Suddenly they had a purpose.
They weren't merely cruel.
They were protecting a fortune.
Then Adrian looked at his watch.
“We have less than an hour.”
“Until what?”
“Until the trust disappears.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“Someone has already started transferring it.”
My phone buzzed.
A bank alert appeared.
Transfer initiated: $7,000,000.
Recipient:
Kyle Thorne.
Then another alert.
Transfer initiated: $5,000,000.
Recipient:
Daniel Thorne.
Adrian whispered:
“They know you found out.”
Then headlights appeared behind us.
Three black SUVs entered the cemetery.
Adrian looked at them.
May you like
His face hardened.
“They're here.”
