Chapter 15 - THE UNBORN HEIRThe words echoed in my head.
Your child.
I didn't have children.
So what was my mother talking about?
Ethan looked at me.
“What did she say?”
I repeated it.
He frowned.
“That's impossible.”
“That's what I thought.”
Elise went silent.
Then she whispered:
“Not entirely.”
I turned toward her.
“What do you know?”
She looked uncomfortable.
“Daniel has been tracking your medical records.”
My stomach turned.
“For what?”
“Fertility.”
“What?”
“He wanted to know whether you could have children.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust changes if you have a biological heir.”
Ethan understood first.
“If Lauren has a child, the beneficiary hierarchy changes.”
Elise nodded.
“And that child would have priority.”
“Over Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“Over Daniel?”
“Yes.”
That meant Daniel didn't merely want my inheritance.
He wanted to control the person who would inherit after me.
But there was no child.
So why had my mother said otherwise?
Then I remembered something.
Six months earlier, I'd received a strange notification from a private clinic.
An appointment I had never scheduled.
A consultation under my name.
I had assumed it was a billing mistake.
Now I knew it wasn't.
Someone had created medical records in my identity.
Pregnancy records.
My blood type.
Hormone tests.
Ultrasound reports.
All fake.
The implication was horrifying.
Daniel had fabricated a medical history suggesting I was pregnant.
Why?
Because a future child could become part of a legal succession battle.
And if he controlled the paperwork, he could manufacture an heir.
Ethan looked at the files.
“Someone is trying to create a legal person who doesn't exist.”
Elise whispered:
“Or erase a real one.”
My blood ran cold.
“Whose?”
She didn't answer.
Then she handed me another document.
A birth certificate.
A child's name.
Mother:
Lauren Bennett.
Father:
Unknown.
Date of birth:
Six months from now.
My hands began shaking.
“This is future-dated.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel planned to create a paper child.”
I stared.
“That sounds insane.”
“It is.”
“Why would he?”
“To redirect the inheritance.”
“To whom?”
Elise looked at me.
“Daniel.”
Before we could continue, federal agents rushed in.
They had intercepted a message.
Daniel had scheduled a hearing for tomorrow.
A judge would review the guardianship petition.
And one of the witnesses had already signed an affidavit claiming:
Lauren Bennett suffers from severe paranoia and financial instability.
The witness?
My mother.
I felt betrayed all over again.
“She signed it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ethan hesitated.
My mother had not acted alone.
There was a second affidavit.
From Victoria.
I stared at her signature.
My sister had testified that I had become obsessed with imaginary threats.
That I had accused the family of stealing from me.
That I had fabricated the story about the penthouse sale.
I called Victoria.
She answered immediately.
“Lauren.”
“Did you sign this?”
Silence.
“Victoria.”
“I had no choice.”
“Who threatened you?”
“Daniel.”
“What did he say?”
“He showed me Mason.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He was in the school parking lot.”
My sister's voice cracked.
“He said if I didn't sign, Mason would disappear.”
I closed my eyes.
Victoria hadn't betrayed me.
She had been blackmailed.
And now Daniel controlled both sides of the family.
I asked:
“Where are you?”
She gave me an address.
Then whispered:
“Lauren, you need to come alone.”
I knew immediately it was a trap.
But before I could warn her, the line went dead.
Elise looked at Ethan.
“He has her.”
Then Ethan's phone rang.
A single message.
A photograph of Victoria.
Tied to a chair.
May you like
And beneath it:
Tomorrow, Lauren loses everything.
