Chapter 8 - We escaped through the basement.Again.
At this point, I was beginning to hate secret exits.
But Claire had planned ahead.
She drove us through back roads while Evelyn called every person she trusted.
Almost nobody answered.
That scared me.
By sunrise, we were hidden inside an isolated property north of Big Sur.
No internet.
No cameras.
No staff.
No registered vehicles.
For the first time since the helicopter, I had eight uninterrupted hours.
I slept for two.
When I woke, there was a file waiting on the table.
Project Orion.
Evelyn sat beside it.
“You deserve the truth.”
I opened the folder.
The first pages were technical.
Genetic sequencing.
Inheritance mapping.
Biometric authorization.
A private governance structure.
Then I reached a line highlighted in red.
ORION ACCESS REQUIRES TWO VERIFIED HAYES BLOODLINE SUBJECTS.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn pointed.
“Your father built a private security system into the trust.”
“For what?”
“Control of the original Hayes assets.”
“The shares?”
“More than that.”
She showed me another document.
A map.
Offshore warehouses.
Research facilities.
Private accounts.
Land holdings.
And one enormous location in Northern California.
“What's this?”
“Orion.”
I looked at the number beside it.
The estimated value made my eyes widen.
“That's bigger than Hayes Technologies.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because Hayes Technologies was never the real asset.”
She slid another paper toward me.
The original family trust wasn't worth millions.
It was worth billions.
But the money wasn't sitting in bank accounts.
It was tied to patents.
Research.
Mineral rights.
Energy contracts.
Land.
And one mysterious company listed only as O-9.
I looked up.
“Who owns O-9?”
Evelyn answered:
“Your mother.”
I stared at her.
“My mother is dead.”
“She was.”
“So who owns it now?”
“You.”
Silence.
The baby moved.
I placed my hand over my stomach.
“Richard wants the company.”
“No.”
“What does he want?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“He wants access to Orion.”
“And that requires me.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“Nothing.”
I frowned.
“Then why kill me?”
“Because Richard thought your death would force the trustees to transfer control.”
“But we changed the trust.”
“Exactly.”
A chill went through me.
“Then the helicopter wasn't about getting the trust.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“It was about removing you before you discovered Orion.”
That made sense.
But then why did Richard panic when he learned I survived?
Because if I was alive, I could stop him.
We needed evidence.
Real evidence.
Something strong enough to destroy him.
Claire had an idea.
“We let him think you're still hiding.”
“No.”
“We let him think you're desperate.”
“No.”
“We let him think you're willing to trade the trust.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
Claire smiled.
“We leak a document.”
That afternoon, a forged trust amendment appeared in a private banking database.
It stated that I had secretly changed the inheritance structure before the helicopter flight.
The new beneficiary wasn't my unborn child.
It was an unnamed offshore foundation.
Richard would have to react.
He did.
Within two hours, his attorney filed an emergency motion to freeze my estate.
Within four, he transferred another $3.2 million to Nora Vance.
Within six, he contacted a private mercenary firm.
We had him.
Or so we thought.
Then something happened that none of us expected.
Nora called me.
Directly.
Her number appeared on my phone.
I answered.
“You survived.”
“Yes.”
She sighed.
“That complicates everything.”
“You helped Richard kill me.”
“I helped him believe he could kill you.”
“You gave him the plan.”
“Yes.”
“You gave him the helicopter.”
“Yes.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Why?”
“Because your father was wrong.”
“About what?”
“About who should inherit Orion.”
My blood ran cold.
“Nora, stop speaking in riddles.”
“I've been trying to protect your sister.”
“What?”
“Sofia.”
I froze.
“She is alive.”
“Where?”
“Closer than you think.”
“Where?”
Nora hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“She married Richard's brother.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Richard has a brother?”
“He has two.”
“Who?”
Nora gave me the name.
I knew it instantly.
The man had attended our wedding.
He had hugged me.
He had toasted my marriage.
He had called me family.
I had always thought he was simply Richard's cousin.
He wasn't.
He was Richard's older brother.
And he had been standing three feet from me on the day I married the man who tried to kill me.
Nora continued.
“And there's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Your sister isn't hiding from Richard.”
“She is hiding from you.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Claire asked, “What happened?”
I whispered:
“My sister doesn't trust me.”
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message.
One photograph.
Sofia standing beside a man.
My husband.
But it wasn't Richard.
It was his brother.
May you like
And written beneath them were the words:
YOU'VE BEEN CHASING THE WRONG BROTHER.
Related Stories
