Chapter 13 - Everything happened at once.Daniel fired.
Adrian ducked.
Marcus tackled Helena.
Claire grabbed Emma and ran toward the kitchen.
Bullets struck cabinets.
Glass exploded.
The safe house became a storm of noise and smoke.
Claire reached the back door.
Daniel caught up.
“Go!”
They ran.
Evelyn followed.
Marcus stayed behind to slow Adrian.
They reached the car.
Daniel slammed the door.
“Where's Marcus?”
“Still inside.”
Claire stared at the burning house.
“We can't leave him.”
“He knows what he's doing.”
Evelyn suddenly grabbed Claire's arm.
“Listen to me.”
Claire turned.
“The honeymoon house.”
“I know.”
“Don't go there.”
Daniel frowned.
“You just told us to.”
“Because Adrian was listening.”
Claire's blood went cold.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To give him the wrong location.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
“Then where is the real room?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your first home.”
Claire froze.
Their first apartment.
The tiny apartment where Daniel had proposed.
She suddenly remembered something.
A loose floorboard.
A wall behind the bookshelf.
She had always thought it was strange.
Daniel looked at her.
“You know where.”
Claire nodded.
They drove through the night.
Marcus eventually escaped and met them two hours later.
He was bleeding from his shoulder.
“Where's Helena?”
“Gone.”
“And Adrian?”
“Gone.”
Evelyn looked exhausted.
“This ends tonight.”
They entered the old apartment building.
The landlord was asleep.
Daniel unlocked the door.
The apartment looked exactly as it had years ago.
Claire walked straight to the bookshelf.
She pulled it aside.
A hidden panel appeared.
Her hands shook.
“How did I know?”
“Because you built it.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
“What?”
“You and my father.”
She opened the panel.
Inside was a metal box.
The bracelet fit into a slot.
A click.
The box opened.
Inside was a small recorder, a passport, and an envelope.
Claire opened the envelope.
The first line read:
To Claire. If you have forgotten, this is because they succeeded.
Her hands trembled.
She kept reading.
Daniel is not who he believes he is.
She looked at him.
He stepped closer.
“What else?”
Claire continued.
Your daughter is the legal heir. But she is not the reason I chose you.
Claire stared.
The next page explained everything.
Before the accident, Claire had discovered evidence that Adrian planned to kill Marcus.
She had contacted Daniel's father.
Together they developed a plan.
They would move Emma to safety.
They would hide Marcus's identity.
They would make the world believe Marcus was dead.
Daniel would be protected by his adoptive father.
But someone betrayed them.
Claire herself.
Or at least, someone using her identity.
The letter ended:
The woman who betrayed us is closer than you think.
Claire looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn shook her head.
“It wasn't me.”
Marcus entered.
“You're lying.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You still don't understand.”
She pulled off her necklace.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
A woman.
Helena.
Next to her was another woman.
Claire stared.
She recognized her.
The attorney.
The doctor.
The woman who had altered her memory.
“She was the real traitor.”
Evelyn nodded.
“She worked for Adrian from the beginning.”
Daniel read the next line.
If she ever returns, do not trust Helena either. Helena knows more than she admits.
A shadow moved in the hallway.
Claire looked up.
A woman stood there.
The attorney.
She smiled.
“You found it.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
She laughed.
“Put that down.”
“Who are you working for?”
She looked at Claire.
“You.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“Before your accident, you came to me.”
“For what?”
“To erase someone else's memory.”
Claire's blood ran cold.
“Whose?”
The woman smiled.
“Daniel's.”
Silence.
Daniel stared.
“What did Claire ask you to erase?”
The attorney answered:
“The memory of the night your biological father died.”
Daniel froze.
Claire shook her head.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
The attorney pulled out a recording.
Daniel's own voice played.
“You can't let Claire remember.”
Claire stared at him.
Daniel looked horrified.
“I never said that.”
The attorney smiled.
“Then ask yourself why you don't remember that night either.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
A gunshot sounded.
The attorney fell.
When the lights came back on, she was dead.
May you like
And on the wall behind her, written in blood, were four words:
HE WASN'T YOUR FATHER.
