Chapter 7 - THE WILLFlynn found me the next morning.
He looked exhausted.
His shirt was stained.
He had a cut above his eyebrow.
“Mabel.”
I stepped back.
“What happened?”
“I went looking for you.”
“Why?”
“Because someone sent me the same message.”
He showed me his phone.
YOUR WIFE KNOWS EVERYTHING.
I looked at him.
“Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Know everything.”
He stared at me.
“You know about Selina.”
“I know she lied.”
“I know.”
“You know about Jonathan.”
He nodded.
“And about your father.”
Silence.
Flynn's face collapsed.
“You found out.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
For the first time, he looked smaller than the man in the newspapers.
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't know what?”
“That Richard Cole was my father.”
I stared.
“What?”
“My parents told me he was dead.”
“They lied.”
“Yes.”
“And Selina?”
“I knew she wasn't my biological sister.”
I swallowed.
“You knew?”
“I found out when I was nineteen.”
“Then why did you stay close to her?”
Flynn looked ashamed.
“Because she knew things about my childhood.”
“Things like what?”
“She told me my mother abandoned me.”
“And did she?”
“No.”
He looked at the floor.
“She was murdered.”
The room fell silent.
“By Marcus?”
“I don't know.”
I stared at him.
“You've been hiding this for years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every time I tried to investigate, someone threatened me.”
“Who?”
“My grandfather.”
“Vincent?”
Flynn nodded.
“He told me that if I opened the past, people would die.”
I almost laughed.
“They already did.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Then Evelyn walked in carrying another folder.
“Both of you need to see this.”
She put the folder on the table.
“What is it?”
“Your husband's grandfather died five years ago.”
Flynn nodded.
“Yes.”
“No.”
Evelyn opened the file.
“He died six weeks ago.”
Flynn stood.
“That is impossible.”
“His death certificate was falsified.”
She placed another document beside it.
“The real Vincent Vance disappeared two years ago.”
I looked at Flynn.
“Then who attended his funeral?”
“Nobody.”
“Exactly.”
Evelyn opened the final page.
“The Vance family trust has a hidden succession clause.”
Flynn frowned.
“What clause?”
“The company goes to the surviving biological heir.”
He went pale.
“I am the heir.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not necessarily.”
She pointed at another name.
Jonathan Cole.
I stared.
“What?”
“Your grandfather changed the will twenty years ago.”
Flynn read the page.
His hands trembled.
“If Flynn dies…”
He couldn't continue.
I finished it.
“Jonathan inherits everything.”
Flynn looked up.
“That can't be real.”
“It is.”
“And if Jonathan dies?”
Evelyn turned one more page.
“Selina.”
I froze.
The three of us stared at one another.
Selina wasn't trying to steal Flynn.
She was trying to eliminate the entire succession chain.
First me.
Then Flynn.
Then Jonathan.
And finally, she would inherit everything.
But there was one problem.
Selina wasn't listed as a biological heir.
She needed someone else.
Someone with legal authority.
Someone inside the company.
A signature.
A proxy.
A chairman.
Marcus Vale.
I looked at Flynn.
“She's working with him.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You said he threatened you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why protect Selina?”
Flynn was silent.
Then he whispered:
“Because she has my mother's blood.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She isn't just adopted.”
He looked at me.
“She is her daughter.”
I froze.
“Your mother's daughter?”
“Yes.”
That meant Selina was Flynn's half-sister after all.
The room went cold.
“And Marcus?”
Flynn's face changed.
“He's not her father.”
“Then who is?”
Flynn whispered:
“My grandfather.”
Silence.
I felt sick.
Selina had been placed inside the family.
She wasn't chasing Flynn.
She was chasing the Vance bloodline.
Suddenly Evelyn's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She listened.
Then looked at us.
“There's been another murder.”
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Dr. Marcus Reed.”
My stomach dropped.
“He was found dead in the hospital parking garage.”
A message arrived on my phone.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
There was a photograph of Dr. Reed.
Underneath were four words.
HE KNEW THE REAL FATHER.
I looked at Flynn.
“What did Dr. Reed know?”
Flynn's face had gone completely white.
May you like
Then he said:
“Who donated the DNA.”
