Chapter 6 - My Mother’s Last ConfessionMy mother's voice continued.
“If you're hearing this, Sarah, it means they found you.”
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Victoria watched us.
The recording continued.
“I need you to understand something. Daniel is not your enemy.”
I looked at him.
“He is the only man who can protect you.”
The recording crackled.
“But you must never trust his uncle.”
Victoria's expression changed.
“What?”
The recording continued.
“Charles Hayes was responsible for the fire at Saint Mary's.”
Daniel went still.
His uncle.
His own family.
My mother continued.
“He wanted the trust.”
“Your father refused.”
“So Charles killed him.”
Daniel's face became empty.
My mother paused.
“And then he came for me.”
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
“He thought I had the access code.”
She whispered the next words.
“I didn't.”
A second voice entered the recording.
A man's voice.
Charles.
“Where is the girl?”
My mother cried.
“She doesn't know anything.”
“You'll tell me.”
“No.”
A gunshot.
The recording ended.
Silence.
I looked at Daniel.
“Your uncle killed my mother?”
“We don't know if she died that night.”
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
“She did.”
Daniel turned.
“Why?”
Victoria's confidence disappeared.
Because she had just realized something.
The recording didn't mention a body.
And she had just claimed there was one.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know she died?”
Victoria backed away.
“I...”
Security entered.
Daniel pointed at her.
“Don't let her leave.”
She ran.
Two guards caught her.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice said:
“Congratulations on the marriage.”
Daniel froze.
“Who is this?”
“You should've listened to your father.”
The call ended.
A moment later, every light in the building shut off.
Darkness swallowed us.
A gunshot cracked outside.
Then another.
Security shouted.
I grabbed Ava.
Daniel grabbed Ethan.
“Stay together!”
We ran through the emergency corridor.
Bullets struck the walls.
The house was under attack.
Someone had disabled the security system from inside.
We escaped through an underground tunnel.
It led to an abandoned garage beneath the estate.
Daniel started an SUV.
As we drove away, flames rose behind us.
The mansion burned.
Ava cried.
Ethan stared through the rear window.
Daniel's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
Everything he'd built was disappearing.
Then he looked at me.
“This isn't about my company anymore.”
“What is it about?”
“You.”
I swallowed.
“Why?”
“Because whoever is behind this knows exactly who you are.”
He reached into the glove compartment.
There was another envelope.
My name was on it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not mine.
Ava's.
I looked at the final line.
Father: Daniel Hayes.
I dropped the paper.
“No.”
Daniel's face turned white.
“I've never met her before.”
I looked at him.
“Then why does this say you're her father?”
He didn't answer.
Because the truth was worse.
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Someone had forged Ava's birth certificate.
And whoever did it had access to records only Daniel's family could reach.
