Chapter 10 - MY SON'S REAL IDENTITYDaniel sat across from me in a secure room.
For an hour, he said nothing.
Finally, he looked at me.
“Dad made me promise never to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“That my name wasn't supposed to be Daniel.”
I felt numb.
“Then whose name is it?”
“Elias.”
The same name from the ledger.
The same name from Robert's secret passport.
Arthur slowly sat down.
“This changes everything.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Dad told me when I was sixteen.”
“Why?”
“Because people were looking for me.”
“For you?”
Daniel nodded.
“He said my real grandfather wasn't the man I thought he was.”
“Who was he?”
“Elias Whitmore.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Then Robert was lying about being your father?”
Daniel nodded.
“He adopted me.”
I stared.
“But I gave birth to you.”
Daniel looked away.
“You gave birth to me.”
He swallowed.
“But the identity on my original records was changed.”
I couldn't understand.
“Why?”
“To protect me.”
Arthur opened the red ledger.
“The original Elias Whitmore disappeared in 1998.”
Daniel said,
“He didn't disappear.”
Arthur looked up.
“What?”
“He was murdered.”
Silence.
“Who told you that?”
“Dad.”
“Did he tell you who did it?”
Daniel shook his head.
“He only said one thing.”
“What?”
“Never trust the Whitmore bloodline.”
I felt dizzy.
“Then why did he give me the Whitmore name?”
“Because he needed the killers to believe the real heir was dead.”
Arthur's eyes widened.
“The real heir.”
Daniel nodded.
“Me.”
Suddenly everything made sense.
The twenty-eight million.
The penthouse.
The ledger.
Black Harbor.
The people hunting us.
They weren't after me because Robert had left me money.
They were after me because Robert had used my inheritance as bait.
I looked at Daniel.
“Why did Vanessa marry you?”
His face collapsed.
“She knew who I was.”
“Did she marry you for the money?”
“I don't know.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Yes, she did.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Arthur placed a photograph on the table.
Vanessa.
Victor Hale.
And another man.
My husband's father.
The three were standing together years before Vanessa met Daniel.
Daniel stared.
His face went pale.
“She knew my grandfather.”
Arthur nodded.
“And she was working for Victor.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She used me.”
I touched his hand.
He pulled away.
“Mom…”
“What?”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Vanessa wasn't the one running this.”
“Who was?”
Daniel whispered,
“My grandfather.”
I stared at him.
“Your grandfather has been dead for twenty years.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He handed me his phone.
There was one message.
From an unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
An old man sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Current.
And smiling.
Underneath:
HELLO, ELEANOR.
I KNOW WHAT ROBERT TOLD YOU.
May you like
The next message arrived.
AND I KNOW WHERE THE $28 MILLION CAME FROM.
