Chapter 12 - The Third BloodlineWe escaped through the service stairs.
The hotel security alarm screamed.
Ryan grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
We reached the parking lot.
A black SUV sped toward us.
Ryan pushed me behind a concrete barrier.
The vehicle stopped.
Daniel stepped out.
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“You.”
He raised both hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“You’re Ryan’s father.”
His expression changed.
“You found that.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone says that.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“Dad.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I didn’t want you involved.”
“You married me into this.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn’t arrange the marriage.”
“You helped Patricia.”
“I thought I was preventing a war.”
“A war?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father’s death created a power vacuum.”
“Who benefited?”
“Patricia.”
“Who else?”
Daniel looked at Ryan.
“Thomas.”
“But Thomas is your brother.”
Silence.
“What?”
Daniel exhaled.
“Thomas and I are brothers.”
My knees weakened.
Ryan stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
I shook my head.
“My entire life is one giant family secret.”
Daniel looked at me sadly.
“Your father wasn’t just wealthy.”
“What was he?”
“A whistleblower.”
I frowned.
“Against who?”
“The largest private investment syndicate in Tennessee.”
“Patricia?”
“Patricia was one piece.”
“Then who runs it?”
Daniel looked toward the hotel.
“Someone you have not met.”
“Who?”
“Your father’s lawyer.”
I froze.
“My father had a lawyer.”
“Jonathan Reed.”
The name meant nothing.
Daniel handed me a folder.
“He represented your father for twenty years.”
I opened it.
Inside was correspondence between Jonathan and Patricia.
At the bottom of one page was a line that made my blood run cold.
Once Emily marries Ryan, we can access the Carter voting block.
Date:
Four years before my wedding.
I looked at Ryan.
“You knew this was planned.”
“No.”
“But the wedding was.”
He shook his head.
“Emily, I swear I didn’t.”
A car horn sounded.
We turned.
Patricia stood across the street.
She wasn’t alone.
Beside her was an older man in a black suit.
Jonathan Reed.
My father’s trusted attorney.
Patricia smiled.
“Emily.”
She lifted a file.
“Would you like to know what your father left you?”
I took one step forward.
“What?”
She smiled.
“Proof that you were never supposed to inherit the company.”
She opened the file.
“Because you were adopted.”
My heart stopped.
I looked at Ryan.
Then Daniel.
No one spoke.
Patricia laughed softly.
“Your father stole you from me.”
She glanced at Jonathan.
“And he made one terrible mistake.”
May you like
Jonathan stepped forward.
“You were never legally his daughter.”
