Chapter 8 - The Man Who Bought the BeggarDaniel Wasn't Born RichDaniel spent the entire night studying the ledger.
Amara sat across from him.
She had not slept.
Neither had he.
“My mother knew your family,” she said.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“You have spent years investigating my father.”
“Yes.”
“And you never discovered this?”
“No.”
Amara looked at the missing page.
“Who removed it?”
“Your father.”
“Then he knows who funded the trust.”
Daniel nodded.
“And he is terrified that we will find out.”
At sunrise, Sophia arrived.
She placed a file on the table.
“I found this.”
Daniel opened it.
Inside was an old bank statement.
The original sender was listed only as:
D.W. FOUNDATION
Daniel stared.
“That's impossible.”
Amara looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel looked up.
“The initials are mine.”
Sophia shook her head.
“They can't be.”
Daniel's hands trembled slightly.
“The foundation was created twenty-two years ago.”
“By who?”
“My father.”
Amara frowned.
“So your family funded my mother's trust?”
“No.”
Daniel flipped another page.
The account had been transferred years later.
To another name.
Daniel Williams.
He stared at the document.
“I was seventeen.”
Amara whispered:
“Someone was preparing you for this.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“For what?”
Sophia answered.
“For us.”
The room went silent.
Daniel stood.
“My entire life…”
He stopped.
Suddenly, the front door burst open.
Security rushed inside.
“Sir!”
Daniel turned.
“What happened?”
“We found an intruder.”
“Where?”
The guard looked at Amara.
“In her father's study.”
They rushed there.
A man was sitting at the desk.
Old.
Thin.
Wearing a worn coat.
Amara stared.
She had seen him before.
Outside the mansion.
On the same street where she had first met Daniel.
It was the man who had once handed Daniel a cup of coffee.
Daniel looked at him.
“Who are you?”
The old man smiled.
“My name is Samuel.”
Daniel's face changed.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“My father said you died.”
Samuel laughed.
“He said many people were dead.”
He placed a photograph on the desk.
It showed three people.
Daniel's father.
Amara's mother.
And Samuel.
Together.
Twenty-two years earlier.
Amara stared.
“What was the three of you?”
Samuel answered.
“Partners.”
“In what?”
“Building the empire.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then why did my father destroy everything?”
Samuel's smile faded.
“Because he wanted all of it.”
“What all of it?”
“The trust.”
Amara stepped closer.
Samuel pointed toward her.
“Your mother refused.”
“Why?”
“Because she discovered the money was being used for illegal operations.”
Amara felt sick.
Samuel continued.
“She created the trust to take the money away from Edward.”
Daniel asked:
“Why did she tie it to me?”
Samuel looked at him.
“Because she believed you were the only person your father could never control.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I was a child.”
“You were the reason she trusted your family.”
Amara swallowed.
“What does my mother have to do with Daniel being homeless?”
Samuel looked directly at Daniel.
“You weren't born a billionaire.”
Daniel went still.
Samuel continued.
“You became one because of what your mother and his father left behind.”
Amara looked at Daniel.
“Your money…”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Was inherited.”
Samuel corrected him.
“Not inherited.”
He placed another file on the table.
“Transferred.”
Daniel opened it.
A long list of companies appeared.
Williams Global.
Thirty-seven subsidiaries.
Sixteen private investment firms.
Four international banks.
A technology group.
A shipping empire.
A private aviation company.
Daniel stared.
“How did I get all of this?”
Samuel smiled.
“Your father stole the company.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“And?”
“Your mother stole it back.”
Silence.
Samuel slid one final document across the desk.
A legal agreement.
Dated eighteen years ago.
The beneficiary was:
Daniel Williams.
But one clause had been added.
Daniel read it aloud.
“If Daniel Williams ever marries Amara Harrison, all concealed assets shall become jointly controlled.”
Amara felt her blood run cold.
She looked at Daniel.
“This marriage wasn't an accident.”
“No.”
“You were chosen.”
“Yes.”
“And I was chosen too.”
Samuel nodded.
Then he smiled.
“But there is one thing none of you know.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
Samuel's voice dropped.
“The marriage contract your father forced you to sign…”
May you like
He paused.
“…was not the original contract.”
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