Chapter 6 - Vanessa's Real FamilyEthan stared at me.
Vanessa's voice echoed through the abandoned house.
“You can't hide forever.”
I motioned for silence.
Footsteps descended the staircase.
Slow.
Careful.
Then Vanessa appeared.
She was alone.
At least, that's what it looked like.
She stood in the hallway wearing a black coat.
Her expression wasn't frightened.
It was calm.
Too calm.
“You should have stayed home,” she said.
Ethan stepped into the light.
“What are you doing here?”
Vanessa looked at him.
Then at me.
“I came to talk.”
“After trying to kill Victor?”
“I didn't touch Victor.”
“You followed us.”
“I was following your mother.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she knows.”
“Knows what?”
Vanessa smiled.
“That your husband's death wasn't the only secret.”
She walked closer.
“You think my family wants your money.”
Ethan replied coldly.
“Don't you?”
Vanessa ignored him.
“My father isn't the mastermind.”
“Who is?”
She looked at me.
“You.”
I almost laughed.
“Why would I destroy my own family?”
“Because you don't know everything about your own family.”
She pointed toward the red folder.
“Read the last page.”
I opened it.
My heart stopped.
A birth certificate.
Ethan Carter.
Mother: Margaret Carter.
Father:
Richard Carter.
Everything was normal.
Until I saw a handwritten note across the bottom.
Inheritance restricted under Clause 14.
Vanessa whispered:
“Ethan doesn't own what you think he owns.”
I looked at her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your husband placed everything in a trust.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You know about the trust.”
“You don't know who controls it.”
My stomach tightened.
Vanessa continued.
“Your husband appointed three trustees.”
I knew two.
Richard's old attorney, Thomas Reed.
A family accountant.
And...
I couldn't remember the third.
Vanessa's smile widened.
“You don't remember?”
Ethan turned toward me.
“Mom?”
I searched my memory.
Then I remembered.
A woman named Evelyn Cross.
Richard had trusted her completely.
She had disappeared after his death.
Vanessa reached into her coat.
She pulled out a photograph.
Evelyn Cross.
Standing beside Daniel Mitchell.
And behind them...
Thomas Reed.
All three together.
Ethan looked stunned.
Vanessa said:
“They've been controlling the trust for eleven years.”
I stared at her.
“Then why are you marrying Ethan?”
Her face softened.
“For the same reason your husband died.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“What reason?”
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“The trust expires on your thirtieth birthday.”
Silence.
Ethan's thirtieth birthday was less than four months away.
Vanessa continued.
“If you aren't married by then, the trust transfers to the surviving beneficiary.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Me.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What?”
“Your father named a backup beneficiary.”
“Why you?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because my mother was your father's sister.”
I couldn't breathe.
Patricia Mitchell.
Richard's sister.
A woman I had never met.
That was impossible.
Richard had told me he had no surviving siblings.
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“He lied to you.”
Then a gunshot exploded upstairs.
Vanessa's body jerked.
Ethan grabbed her.
I ducked behind the wall.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
Vanessa screamed.
Someone was firing into the house.
Ethan shouted:
“Get down!”
We heard footsteps running away.
Then silence.
Vanessa looked at me.
Blood covered her sleeve.
Her eyes were wide.
“I wasn't lying.”
She reached into her coat.
And handed me a second key.
“Your husband left one more room.”
“What room?”
“The room he never told anyone about.”
She closed her eyes.
“Because that's where the person who betrayed him kept the evidence.”
May you like
Her voice became a whisper.
“Your son is not the only heir.”
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