Chapter 18 - THE FINAL FAMILY SECRETMy mother had been lying from the beginning.
Or at least, that's what I thought.
Then Ethan found the hidden footage.
My mother was working with Daniel.
Not because she was loyal to him.
Because she was trying to trap him.
She had been feeding him false information for years.
The fake lease.
The false medical records.
The fake inheritance transfers.
The guardianship petition.
All of them were bait.
My mother had known Daniel would reveal himself if he believed he had won.
The problem was that she'd placed me in danger to do it.
I confronted her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
She cried.
“Because you would have trusted me.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“If I told you, Daniel would know.”
“You could have told Ethan.”
“I didn't know who I could trust.”
I hated that part.
Because she had a point.
Daniel's network was enormous.
Then she revealed the final secret.
There was another trust.
Not my father's.
Not Vera's.
Daniel's.
A secret trust created with money stolen from both families.
And the beneficiary was…
Victoria.
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel needed someone who could legally inherit without triggering suspicion.”
“And Mason?”
“He intended to transfer everything to Mason later.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why?”
My mother looked at me.
“Because Daniel knew Lauren would have children someday.”
The same obsession.
The future heir.
Control beyond death.
I finally understood.
Daniel wasn't trying to become rich.
He was trying to build a dynasty he controlled.
Every property.
Every trust.
Every identity.
Every heir.
And my family had been his board for thirty years.
Then Victoria stepped forward.
She had been listening.
“Mom.”
My mother looked at her.
Victoria held up a recording.
“You lied to him.”
Her voice trembled.
“You lied to Daniel too.”
My mother nodded.
“Yes.”
Victoria looked at me.
“I found this.”
She pressed play.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
“If Lauren reaches 2031, everything collapses.”
A woman's voice replied.
“She'll never make it.”
Daniel answered:
“Make sure of it.”
Victoria stopped the recording.
Silence.
Then she handed it to Ethan.
“That's why I came here.”
“You recorded him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened Mason.”
I hugged my sister for the first time in years.
Not because everything was forgiven.
Because we had finally understood that the real enemy had spent years making us hate each other.
Then Daniel appeared on the security monitor.
He was standing inside a warehouse.
Mason was beside him.
Alive.
Terrified.
Daniel looked at the camera.
“Bring Lauren.”
My mother stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Daniel smiled.
“Or the boy dies.”
I felt every muscle in my body tighten.
Ethan said, “We're not negotiating.”
Daniel laughed.
“Then you don't understand what I have.”
The screen changed.
A document appeared.
My father's trust.
A transfer order.
Already signed.
My signature.
Victoria's signature.
My mother's.
Ethan stared.
“That document is fake.”
Daniel nodded.
“Correct.”
Then he smiled.
“But the judge doesn't know that yet.”
He tore the document in half.
“Tomorrow, I won't need it.”
“What happens tomorrow?” I asked.
He looked directly at the camera.
“2031 is not five years away.”
My blood turned cold.
Daniel smiled.
“Your trust was amended.”
May you like
He raised another document.
“The date was moved to tomorrow.”
