Chapter 19 - The Betrayal“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No, that's impossible.”
I pressed stop.
The station fell silent.
He looked at me.
“You believe that?”
“I don't know what to believe.”
“Emily, please.”
My father's voice came from the tape.
Daniel listened as I pressed play again.
“If Daniel is with you when you hear this, do not trust anything he tells you.”
Daniel's face collapsed.
My father continued:
“He may not remember the agreement, but it exists.”
Daniel whispered:
“What agreement?”
I looked at him.
The tape continued.
“Samuel trained Daniel to become the perfect successor.”
Daniel shook his head.
“My father?”
“No.”
Thomas's voice said:
“Samuel.”
Daniel froze.
My father explained.
Samuel had selected Daniel because he believed Daniel could eventually control the company.
He had arranged Daniel's education.
His career.
His connections.
Even his marriage.
Daniel wasn't consciously part of the plan.
He had been shaped by it.
Then came the part that devastated me.
“Daniel was instructed to marry Emily.”
Daniel stared at me.
“I didn't know.”
My father's voice continued.
“He will be told that he married for love.”
A pause.
“But if he ever discovers the truth, he may be forced to choose between Emily and the family.”
I stopped the tape.
Daniel looked broken.
“Emily.”
I couldn't answer.
He stepped toward me.
“I loved you.”
I believed him.
That was what made it hurt.
“You did.”
“I still do.”
“I know.”
“Then don't let them turn this into something it isn't.”
I looked at the evidence.
The signatures.
The contract.
The surveillance.
The manipulated memories.
Everything pointed toward a terrifying truth.
Daniel had been used.
But had he truly known nothing?
Then Chloe spoke.
“I found another document.”
She held up a page.
A bank transfer.
To Daniel.
The date was six years ago.
The amount was enormous.
Daniel stared.
“That isn't mine.”
His face turned pale.
“I never received that.”
Richard looked at him.
“Then someone used your identity.”
“Who?”
Chloe turned the page.
The recipient account belonged to an offshore company.
The director was listed as...
Margaret Collins.
I exhaled.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She made it look like I was part of it.”
“Exactly,” Chloe said.
My anger shifted.
Daniel had been manipulated.
His entire life had been manipulated.
But there was still one problem.
The person behind it all was alive.
Samuel.
We returned to the house.
And found the doors open.
Inside, everything had been destroyed.
The study.
The library.
The documents.
The photographs.
All gone.
On the wall above the fireplace, written in red paint, was one sentence:
COME TO THE COLLINS MAUSOLEUM ALONE.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“No.”
Richard read it.
“He wants Emily.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You're not going.”
I looked at him.
“I have to.”
“No.”
“If I don't go, he'll come for everyone.”
Daniel stared at me.
Then he said quietly:
“Then you won't go alone.”
We drove to the mausoleum.
Rain poured over the stone graves.
Inside, one candle burned.
Samuel stood beside a coffin.
I stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
He smiled.
“To finally tell you the truth.”
“About my father?”
“No.”
He pointed toward the coffin.
“About yours.”
I looked at the coffin.
It was old.
But the name on it was fresh.
THOMAS CARTER.
I stared.
Samuel smiled.
“Your father is not buried here.”
“Then who is?”
Samuel answered:
“Your grandfather.”
I looked at him.
May you like
He whispered:
“Thomas is alive.”
