Chapter 8 - Ruiz didn't speak for several seconds.Elena stared at him.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't sure who killed him.”
“Who did?”
Ruiz shook his head.
“That night, your father called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me someone inside the Howard family had betrayed him.”
Elena's voice trembled.
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
“Then why did he die?”
Ruiz hesitated.
“Your father didn't die in an accident.”
Elena's eyes widened.
“He was murdered.”
She stepped back.
“How?”
“Poison.”
The church suddenly felt too small.
“Who had access?”
“Four people.”
“Who?”
Ruiz answered.
“Margaret.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“My grandfather?”
Ruiz nodded.
“And your mother.”
Elena froze.
“My mother died when I was six.”
Ruiz looked at her.
“No.”
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
Elena's chest tightened.
“My mother never disappeared.”
“That's what they told you.”
He showed her an old case file.
Elena's fingers trembled as she opened it.
A photograph.
Her mother.
Alive.
Standing beside a man Elena had never seen.
Then she turned the page.
A report.
IDENTITY UNKNOWN.
“Elena,” Ruiz said softly.
“Your mother was investigating the same network your father was investigating.”
“Where is she?”
“We don't know.”
Suddenly the phone Ruiz had confiscated from the attacker rang.
Unknown number.
Ruiz answered.
A woman's voice spoke.
“Detective Ruiz.”
He froze.
Elena stared.
“You've been very loyal.”
Ruiz's expression changed.
“Who is this?”
“You know exactly who.”
The call ended.
Ruiz lowered the phone.
Elena whispered:
“Who?”
He stared at her.
“Your mother.”
Three hours later, Elena returned to the mansion.
Vanessa was waiting.
“I found something.”
“What?”
Vanessa handed her a document.
“I searched Margaret's room.”
Elena unfolded it.
Inside was a list of names.
One name appeared at the top.
ELENA HOWARD.
Next to it:
STATUS: REMOVE BEFORE BIRTH.
Elena stared.
Then saw another line.
SECONDARY TARGET: VANESSA REED.
Vanessa whispered:
“They want me dead too.”
Elena looked at her.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
A noise came from upstairs.
They both froze.
Footsteps.
Elena grabbed Vanessa's wrist.
“Hide.”
They slipped behind a door.
A man entered Vanessa's bedroom.
He opened a drawer.
Removed a small envelope.
Then turned.
Elena recognized him.
Daniel.
But he wasn't alone.
Margaret entered behind him.
She closed the door.
Vanessa looked at Elena.
Elena quietly lifted her phone.
Recording.
Margaret spoke.
“We have one problem.”
Daniel asked:
“Elena?”
“No.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Your daughter.”
Daniel stared.
“I don't have a daughter.”
Margaret smiled.
“You do.”
Then she placed a photograph on the table.
A baby.
Newborn.
With Daniel's face.
Vanessa's hand covered her mouth.
Elena stared at the photograph.
And suddenly understood.
This wasn't about her unborn child.
It was about a child Daniel had hidden years ago.
May you like
A child everyone believed was dead.
A child who was now the key to the entire inheritance.
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