Chapter 6 - No one moved.The elderly woman looked exhausted.
Her hair was silver.
Her clothes were simple.
Her hands trembled.
But her eyes were fixed entirely on Sabrina.
Sabrina took one step backward.
“Who are you?”
The woman swallowed.
“My name is Emily Hart.”
Victoria began crying.
“No.”
Emily looked at her.
“Yes.”
Raymond lowered his eyes.
Sabrina's voice shook.
“Are you telling me you're my mother?”
Emily nodded.
“I gave birth to you.”
Sabrina turned toward Victoria.
“But she…”
Victoria sank into a chair.
“I wanted you.”
The words came out like a confession.
“I wanted you so badly.”
Emily's face hardened.
“You stole her.”
“I protected her.”
“You stole her.”
Raymond suddenly stepped between them.
“Enough.”
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You helped her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He stared at the floor.
“Because I was a coward.”
That answer shocked me more than any lie.
Sabrina began crying.
“You're both insane.”
She turned toward me.
“Dad…”
I stepped closer.
“I’m here.”
“You knew nothing.”
“No.”
“You really thought I was your daughter.”
“I never needed a blood test.”
She cried harder.
“You raised me.”
“Yes.”
“And now everything is falling apart.”
I reached for her.
She allowed me to hold her.
For the first time all day, she felt like my little girl again.
Then Emily said something quietly.
“There is more.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She glanced toward Victoria.
“The money wasn't the goal.”
“What was?”
Emily's expression darkened.
“Your father's estate.”
My father.
The man in the old photograph.
“What does my father have to do with this?”
Emily pulled a sealed envelope from her coat.
“This was left with me twenty-three years ago.”
She handed it to me.
My father's handwriting was unmistakable.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, you are already in danger.
My heart pounded.
Victoria is not the woman you believe she is.
I looked up.
Victoria was shaking.
I continued.
And Raymond is not Sabrina's father.
I stopped.
Sabrina stared at me.
“But…”
The next line was worse.
The man claiming to be Sabrina's biological father is someone else entirely.
I turned to Raymond.
He looked sick.
“Who is my biological father?”
Nobody answered.
I read the final paragraph.
I discovered that the woman you married was part of a financial scheme involving my company. She became pregnant shortly before she met you. If she ever tells you Raymond is the father, do not believe her.
I looked at Victoria.
“Who is Sabrina's father?”
Victoria whispered:
“You aren't ready.”
I slammed the letter down.
“I am.”
She closed her eyes.
Then Raymond spoke.
“It was me.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Raymond looked at her.
She stepped forward.
“You weren't even in the city.”
Sabrina stared at both of them.
“Then who was?”
Emily looked directly at me.
“It was your father.”
Silence.
I stopped breathing.
“My father?”
Emily nodded.
“He had an affair with Victoria.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I looked at Sabrina.
Then at Victoria.
Then at the letter.
Suddenly, every piece of my life felt counterfeit.
The marriage.
The child.
The family.
The sacrifices.
And yet one thing remained true.
I had raised Sabrina.
Blood could not erase twenty years.
Victoria broke down.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
“Why?”
“Because everything would be transferred tomorrow.”
“What everything?”
She looked at Raymond.
He answered.
“The estate.”
I stared at them.
“What estate?”
Raymond's voice was quiet.
“The one your father left.”
“My father left me nothing.”
Raymond smiled bitterly.
“That is what you were told.”
I felt my pulse rise.
“My father died twenty-one years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And there was an estate?”
“A massive one.”
“How massive?”
Raymond hesitated.
“About sixty million dollars.”
Sabrina gasped.
Victoria closed her eyes.
I laughed once.
A broken, disbelieving laugh.
“My father left sixty million dollars?”
“Not directly.”
Raymond pulled out a document.
“The money was placed into a dormant family trust.”
He pointed to the beneficiary.
My name.
Daniel Mercer.
I looked at the document.
Then at Raymond.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because someone redirected the inheritance.”
“Who?”
Nobody spoke.
Then Emily answered.
“Victoria.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I was trying to protect Sabrina.”
“You stole sixty million dollars.”
“I didn't steal it.”
“Then where is it?”
Victoria looked toward Raymond.
He whispered:
“Gone.”
“Where?”
Another pause.
Then Raymond said:
“Most of it is already in Sabrina's name.”
Sabrina stared at him.
“What?”
Raymond looked at me.
“But there is one account they never managed to access.”
“What account?”
Raymond's face went white.
“Your father's original account.”
I frowned.
“Where?”
Raymond took a breath.
“Bayfront Pavilion.”
The lights in the room suddenly went out.
A scream came from the ballroom.
Then the building's fire alarm started ringing.
May you like
And in the darkness, someone whispered directly behind me:
“Run.”
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