Chapter 8 - THE BODYMy mother was detained at her home.
Police had arrived after finding human remains inside the basement wall.
The remains were badly damaged.
Identification would take time.
But there was one thing the investigators already knew.
The body had been wearing a ring.
My father's ring.
The same ring seen in the photograph.
Victoria was hysterical.
“This isn't real.”
Ethan told her to stay somewhere secure.
She refused.
“I need to know what happened to Mom.”
I understood.
Despite everything, she was still our mother.
The woman who had protected one daughter at the expense of the other.
The woman who had lied for years.
The woman who might also have been manipulated.
When Ethan reached the station, he found my mother sitting in an interview room.
She looked older than she had the previous day.
Exhausted.
Afraid.
She refused to speak until she saw me on the screen.
Then she whispered my name.
“Lauren.”
“What did you do?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to protect you.”
“From what?”
She looked toward the camera.
“From your father.”
I froze.
“My father is dead.”
“He was not the man you think he was.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Then explain the body.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“I didn't kill anyone.”
“Whose body is in your wall?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
She looked at me.
“No.”
Then she said something that shattered everything.
“Your father didn't die eighteen years ago.”
I couldn't speak.
Ethan remained still.
My mother continued.
“He disappeared.”
“What about the funeral?”
“Someone else was buried.”
I felt the room tilt.
“You knew?”
“I knew later.”
“When?”
“Three years after.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because by then Daniel had control.”
“What control?”
“The trust.”
She started crying.
“Your father had created a second identity.”
“Why?”
“To escape Daniel.”
My mother looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel was stealing from him.”
Ethan said, “How much?”
“All of it.”
My father had discovered financial fraud.
He had planned to expose Daniel.
Instead, someone betrayed him.
My mother claimed my father had gone into hiding.
Daniel told her that if she spoke, Lauren and Victoria would be harmed.
So she cooperated.
She signed documents.
She altered trusts.
She helped move properties.
But one thing remained.
My father had created a secret beneficiary.
Me.
“Why me?”
My mother swallowed.
“Because you were not his biological daughter.”
I stared.
“You said he wasn't my father.”
“He wasn't your biological father.”
“Then why choose me?”
She looked away.
“Because you were the daughter of the woman he loved.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
She whispered,
“Vera Mercer.”
I felt ice spread through my body.
Impossible.
Vera Mercer was Daniel's wife.
My mother continued.
“Your father had an affair with her before she married Daniel.”
Ethan's face changed.
“Lauren is Vera's daughter.”
My mother nodded.
“And Daniel knew.”
I stared at the camera.
Everything twisted together.
Vera.
Daniel.
My father.
The fake identity.
The trust.
The 2031 transfer.
The dead woman.
My mother whispered:
“Daniel wasn't trying to steal your inheritance.”
I barely breathed.
“What was he trying to steal?”
“Your bloodline.”
I frowned.
She looked at me.
“Because if you are Vera's daughter, the inheritance from her family belongs to you.”
I felt dizzy.
“What inheritance?”
My mother whispered a number.
“Two hundred and forty million dollars.”
Silence.
Then the lights in the interview room flickered.
Ethan looked toward the ceiling.
A power failure.
For three seconds, everything went black.
When the emergency lights came on, my mother was gone.
Her chair was empty.
The locked door was open.
May you like
And on the table was a note.
YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE COME LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH.
