Chapter 11 - “Drop the weapon.”Police surrounded Richard.
He smiled.
“You're late.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“Where is Ethan?”
Richard laughed.
“Still asking the wrong question.”
Arthur's voice was deadly calm.
“Where is my son?”
“You should ask who took him.”
“You did.”
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
“Lucy did.”
Arthur stared.
“Then why are you here?”
“To finish what your father started.”
Richard lowered the gun.
The police ordered him to surrender.
Instead, he dropped the weapon.
“I've been waiting twenty years.”
He raised his hands.
“Arrest me.”
Arthur frowned.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
The officer handcuffed him.
Richard smiled.
“Because now you have exactly what I wanted.”
“The trust?”
“No.”
He looked at Arthur.
“Proof.”
Arthur's face tightened.
“What proof?”
“That Lucy is alive.”
The officer looked confused.
Richard continued.
“For twenty years, she couldn't legally exist.”
“Why?”
“Because your father declared her dead.”
Arthur stared.
“He forged her death.”
Richard nodded.
“And when Lucy came back, everyone who knew the truth became a target.”
Arthur looked at the grave.
“Then who killed my father?”
Richard was silent.
Arthur grabbed his collar.
“Who?”
Richard whispered:
“Isabella.”
The world stopped.
Arthur stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She said she was protecting the children.”
“She was.”
“Then why kill him?”
Richard looked at him.
“Because your father discovered she wasn't protecting the children.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“What was she doing?”
Richard answered:
“She was protecting herself.”
Arthur looked at Isabella's photograph on his phone.
Everything she had said.
Everything she had cried.
Could it all have been an act?
Richard continued.
“Your father discovered Isabella had been transferring company funds.”
“To where?”
Richard smiled.
“To a private account in Lucy's name.”
Arthur frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does when you understand the arrangement.”
Arthur waited.
“Isabella and Lucy were working together.”
Silence.
Richard explained.
“They intended to make you believe Lucy was dead. Then they would make Ethan and Emily appear dead too.”
Arthur's face went cold.
“Why?”
“The trust.”
“They'd get the money.”
“Exactly.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Then why kidnap Ethan?”
Richard's expression changed.
“That wasn't part of the original plan.”
“What happened?”
“Thomas got impatient.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Where are my children?”
Richard smiled.
“Ask Isabella.”
Arthur turned.
The police officer's radio crackled.
“Sir…”
“What?”
“We just got a message.”
“What message?”
The officer read it.
COME TO THE OLD CHAPEL. ALONE.
Arthur's heart dropped.
“Who's it from?”
The officer turned the screen.
A photograph appeared.
Ethan.
Bound to a chair.
Emily beside him.
And behind them stood Isabella.
Arthur couldn't breathe.
May you like
Richard smiled.
“She finally chose a side.”
Related Stories
