Chapter 9 - Elena waited until Daniel and Margaret left.Then she entered the bedroom.
The photograph was still on the table.
Vanessa followed.
“That's Daniel.”
Elena nodded.
“Then why has nobody ever heard about this child?”
Vanessa picked up another document.
The child's birth certificate.
Mother:
Unknown.
Father:
Daniel Howard.
Status:
Deceased.
Vanessa's face went pale.
“The child is supposed to be dead.”
Elena looked at the photograph.
“The certificate could be fake.”
She turned it over.
A handwritten address was on the back.
A children's home.
Ruiz arrived twenty minutes later.
He examined the document.
“This is real.”
Elena stared at him.
“Then the child may still be alive.”
“We need to find out.”
They drove to the address.
The children's home was closed.
An old woman answered the door.
When she saw the photograph, her face changed.
“You found him.”
Elena's heart raced.
“Him?”
“Yes.”
“The boy?”
The woman nodded.
“He was here twelve years ago.”
“Where is he now?”
The woman looked toward the road.
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
She hesitated.
“Daniel Howard.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“What did he do?”
“He came with a woman.”
“Margaret?”
“No.”
The woman pointed to the photograph.
“The boy's mother.”
Elena froze.
“What was her name?”
The woman whispered:
“Claire.”
Elena stared at Ruiz.
Her mother's name was Claire.
Ruiz's face turned pale.
“That's impossible.”
The old woman continued.
“Claire left the boy here after she discovered what the Howard family was doing.”
“Elena,” Ruiz whispered.
The woman handed Elena an old file.
“Your mother asked me to keep this.”
Elena opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Elena,
If you're reading this, then they finally came for you.
Her hands shook.
The Howard family is not your enemy because of money.
The trust contains evidence.
Elena stopped.
“What evidence?”
The next line answered.
Names. Payments. Judges. Police officers. Politicians. Every person they bought.
Elena stared.
The inheritance was not money.
It was a weapon.
Her father had hidden proof of an entire criminal network inside the trust.
And Elena was the only person who could legally access it.
She turned the page.
One sentence remained.
Your baby has the access key.
Elena froze.
“My baby?”
Ruiz looked over her shoulder.
“How?”
The letter continued:
When the child is born, the trust automatically unlocks.
Elena's breathing became shallow.
That explained everything.
Why they wanted the baby dead.
Why Margaret was desperate.
Why Daniel had married her.
And why Vanessa had been pushed into becoming the villain.
But then another page fell from the file.
A list of names.
At the bottom was one name Elena didn't expect.
DETECTIVE RUIZ.
She looked up.
Ruiz had gone silent.
“Why is your name here?”
Ruiz didn't answer.
Elena stepped back.
“You said you were protecting me.”
“I am.”
“You lied.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
Ruiz slowly reached inside his coat.
Elena tensed.
He pulled out a photograph.
It showed Ruiz standing beside Elena's mother.
Alive.
Very recently.
Ruiz whispered:
“She is not missing.”
He looked directly at Elena.
“She's been working with me for years.”
Before Elena could respond, the building's windows shattered.
Gunfire erupted.
Ruiz tackled Elena to the floor.
The old woman screamed.
And outside, a black SUV accelerated toward them.
But what Elena saw through the broken window made her blood run cold.
Daniel was driving.
May you like
And beside him...
was her mother.
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