Chapter 10 - Daniel tore the ring from Emily's finger.She cried out.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
The hospital corridor was empty.
Harris stood at the end of the hall, watching.
Daniel examined the ring.
A tiny seam ran across the gold.
He looked at Emily.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Then why did he say the key was inside your ring?”
Emily stared at the ring.
Then she remembered.
“My father gave it to me before our wedding.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Your father.”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said it would protect me.”
Daniel used a pocketknife.
The ring split.
A tiny steel key dropped onto his palm.
Harris stepped closer.
“That can't be a coincidence.”
Daniel looked toward him.
“You said Claire had been kidnapped.”
“She was.”
“Then we get her back.”
Harris nodded.
Emily grabbed Daniel's arm.
“Don't trust anyone.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Except Claire.”
Emily whispered:
“And maybe not me.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“I've remembered more.”
“About what?”
“My father.”
Emily's voice broke.
“He didn't manipulate me into marrying you.”
Daniel waited.
“He told me I had to marry you or he would kill your mother.”
Daniel's face changed.
“My mother died before we married.”
“She was alive.”
“What?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“She survived the first attempt.”
Daniel stumbled backward.
“You knew?”
“I found out years later.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was scared.”
Harris stepped in.
“Where is she?”
Emily looked at him.
“I don't know.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Everything we know is a lie.”
The hidden key lay between them.
A metal tag was attached to it.
B-17.
Harris recognized it.
“Warehouse B.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Where?”
“Old Whitmore shipping district.”
Emily stood.
“We need to go now.”
They reached the warehouse just before dawn.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Daniel unlocked the side entrance.
Inside were hundreds of steel containers.
Harris checked the numbers.
B-17 was at the far end.
The lock was already broken.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a room.
A bed.
Medical equipment.
Old photographs.
And a woman sitting beside the window.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Mom?”
The woman turned.
She was older.
Frailer.
But unmistakable.
Daniel's mother.
Alive.
She stared at him.
Then began to cry.
“My son.”
Daniel crossed the room.
He dropped to his knees beside her.
“You're alive.”
She touched his face.
“I wanted to come home.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because your father threatened you.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
His mother noticed her.
Her face changed.
“You married her.”
Emily lowered her head.
“I didn't know.”
The older woman looked at both of them.
“He wanted you together.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
His mother reached beneath the bed.
She pulled out an old file.
“Because he wanted the Whitmore bloodline untouched.”
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a genetic report.
His father's name.
His mother's name.
Emily's.
Daniel's hands shook.
The report contained one sentence highlighted in red:
EMILY WHITMORE IS NOT A BLOOD RELATIVE OF DANIEL WHITMORE.
Daniel stared.
His mother whispered:
“Your father lied about everything.”
Emily began to cry.
Daniel closed his eyes.
The nightmare they had believed was real had been fabricated.
They were not siblings.
They had been manipulated into thinking they were.
Harris exhaled.
“Then why did Martin tell Claire otherwise?”
Before anyone could answer, the warehouse doors slammed shut.
A voice echoed from the ceiling.
“Because fear is easier to control than truth.”
Martin.
Daniel looked upward.
“Where is Claire?”
Martin laughed.
“She's safe.”
“Bring her here.”
“Soon.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you finally found your mother.”
Daniel looked at the old woman.
Martin's voice hardened.
“Now you can watch me take her away again.”
Gunfire erupted outside.
Harris drew his weapon.
The lights died.
Emily screamed.
Then a figure appeared in the doorway.
Claire.
Blood covered one side of her face.
She was holding a gun.
Daniel stared.
“Claire?”
She looked directly at him.
Then she said:
“Don't come any closer.”
Harris raised his weapon.
Claire's hands trembled.
“I know who killed Emily.”
Daniel stared.
May you like
Claire slowly pointed the gun at him.
“It was you.”
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