Chapter 11 - The Child Before the TwinsI had never had another child.
At least, that was what I remembered.
But my mother knew something.
She led me to an underground exit.
“We don't have time.”
“Tell me.”
“Your first pregnancy.”
I shook my head.
“I've never been pregnant before the twins.”
She looked devastated.
“You were.”
A memory surfaced.
A hospital.
An early pregnancy.
A miscarriage.
At least, that was what I had been told.
I had been twenty-four.
Before marriage.
Before Gavin.
My mother explained.
“You did not miscarry.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
“They took the baby.”
“Who?”
“Gavin's people.”
The words didn't make sense.
My mother continued.
“Your father discovered the pregnancy. The child showed the same genetic markers Atlas required.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What happened?”
“They told you the baby died.”
“And?”
My mother looked at me.
“The child survived.”
I stumbled backward.
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
That answer was unbearable.
Gavin had taken my child.
Used my marriage.
Used my twins.
Used me.
For Atlas.
I felt something inside me go cold.
“No more.”
Nathaniel stepped beside me.
“What?”
“No more running.”
I turned toward the tunnel entrance.
“I want Gavin.”
My mother shook her head.
“Cassandra, you can't fight him alone.”
“I don't have to.”
Because for the first time, I understood the real advantage I possessed.
Evidence.
The kind of evidence Gavin couldn't buy.
We returned to court.
The next morning, I filed an emergency motion.
My attorney submitted:
The original incorporation records.
The forensic report.
The forged financial records.
The Atlas files.
The genetic testing.
The recordings.
And my father's will.
Gavin's legal team fought everything.
But something had changed.
The judge was no longer skeptical.
She was furious.
Judge Beckett looked at Gavin.
“You have repeatedly misrepresented your financial interests.”
He remained silent.
“You have concealed corporate ownership.”
Silence.
“You authorized unauthorized genetic testing of your children.”
Silence.
“You may also have participated in an organized fraud.”
Gavin's attorney stood.
“Your Honor, these allegations remain unproven.”
Then the courtroom doors opened.
Samuel Voss entered.
Everyone turned.
Sloane froze.
“Dad?”
Voss walked slowly toward the table.
Gavin stood.
“Why are you here?”
Voss looked at him.
“To end this.”
He placed a folder before the judge.
Inside were original contracts between Voss and Gavin.
Payment records.
Surveillance reports.
Private communications.
Judge Beckett reviewed them.
Her face hardened.
“Mr. Voss, these documents implicate you as well.”
“I know.”
He looked at his daughter.
Sloane was crying.
“I'm done protecting him.”
Gavin stared at him.
“You promised.”
Voss answered,
“You promised me the Atlas system.”
He turned toward me.
“And then you married Cassandra.”
Gavin's jaw tightened.
“I did what you asked.”
“No.”
Voss shook his head.
“You did what you wanted.”
Then he looked at the judge.
“The final Atlas key belongs to Cassandra Bellamy.”
Silence.
Everyone looked at me.
Judge Beckett asked,
“What is the final key?”
Voss answered:
“Her biometric identity.”
My stomach dropped.
“And if she refuses?”
Voss looked at Gavin.
“Then Atlas cannot function.”
Gavin smiled.
Not defeated.
Not afraid.
A small, terrible smile.
Then he said,
“She won't have a choice.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
He reached inside his jacket.
Pulled out a photograph.
A teenage boy.
Dark hair.
My eyes.
He looked directly at me.
On the back was a name.
Daniel Rourke.
May you like
And beneath it:
Your son.
