Chapter 7
Claire didn’t react at first.
Then she laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“I went to her funeral.”
“You went to a funeral.”
Claire stepped toward her.
“Stop.”
“Claire—”
“STOP.”
Victor smiled as if he had been waiting years for this moment.
Daniel looked between them.
“What is she talking about?”
Claire’s voice shook.
“My mother, Rebecca Bennett, died in a house fire.”
Victor said quietly, “That’s what Charles arranged for you to believe.”
Claire lunged.
Daniel caught her.
“You’re lying!”
Victor didn’t flinch.
“Your mother’s name wasn’t Rebecca Bennett.”
Claire stopped fighting.
“What?”
Victor walked toward the fireplace.
“Her real name was Rebecca Hale.”
Claire stared.
Daniel looked at Victor.
“Hale?”
Victor nodded.
“My sister.”
The room went silent.
Claire’s face drained of color.
“No.”
Victor smiled without warmth.
“You’re my niece.”
Claire backed into the wall.
Michael whispered, “Claire.”
She ignored him.
Victor continued.
“Rebecca worked with Charles before any of you were old enough to understand.”
Vanessa looked horrified.
“You never told me.”
“You never needed to know.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
“If Rebecca was your sister, why did she help Charles kill Eleanor?”
Victor turned.
“She didn’t.”
Vanessa frowned.
“But she was in the car.”
“She was trying to stop him.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Then what happened?”
Victor’s face changed.
For the first time, something emotional appeared.
“My sister discovered what Charles was doing long before Eleanor did.”
“The stolen money?”
“More than money.”
“What?”
Victor looked toward the laptop.
“The Mercer fortune wasn’t built only on real estate.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Explain.”
“Charles bought bankrupt properties through shell companies. He bribed officials. He destroyed competitors. He blackmailed business partners.”
Daniel knew his father had been ruthless.
But this—
Victor continued.
“Rebecca kept records.”
Claire whispered, “Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Against Charles?”
“Against everyone.”
Victor looked at her.
“She planned to disappear with you.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“She did disappear.”
“Yes.”
“Without me.”
Victor said nothing.
Claire’s pain turned to rage.
“She left me!”
“She tried to take you.”
“No.”
“Charles stopped her.”
Claire looked away.
Daniel understood.
“Charles faked Rebecca’s death.”
Victor nodded.
“He forced her to remain useful.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Victor’s voice softened slightly.
“The night Eleanor died, Rebecca was helping her escape.”
Claire slowly looked at him.
“Escape from Charles?”
“Yes.”
Daniel frowned.
“My mother was leaving him?”
“She planned to take evidence to federal investigators and disappear.”
Michael sat against the wall, still bleeding from his face.
“Why did Mom never tell us?”
“Because Charles would use you against her.”
Daniel thought of his mother.
All those years he assumed she was simply private.
Maybe she was terrified.
Victor continued.
“Rebecca got into the car with Charles because she believed she could stop him.”
Vanessa asked, “Then where is she?”
Victor looked at Claire.
“Dead.”
Claire shut her eyes.
“For real this time?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Charles.”
Daniel stared.
“He killed her too?”
“Three days after Eleanor.”
Claire slid down the wall.
Michael tried to move toward her.
She shouted, “DON’T.”
He stopped.
Daniel turned to Victor.
“If Charles killed your sister, why did you keep working for him?”
Victor stared back.
“That is the question everyone asks when they want morality to be simple.”
“Answer it.”
“Because he had Claire.”
Claire looked up.
Victor nodded toward her.
“He told me if I moved against him, she would die.”
Claire whispered, “So you saved me by locking me in a cage?”
Victor’s face hardened.
“I didn’t put you there to punish you.”
“No?”
“Charles ordered your death.”
Claire froze.
“After you got the drive, you became a liability. I convinced him you were more useful alive.”
Daniel looked disgusted.
“And after Charles died?”
Victor didn’t answer.
Claire stood.
“After Charles died, why didn’t you let me out?”
Victor’s silence said everything.
Claire’s voice grew louder.
“WHY?”
Victor finally said, “Because the drive was still missing.”
Claire stared at him.
Daniel understood.
“You kept your own niece imprisoned for seven years because you wanted the money.”
Victor’s face changed back to stone.
“I wanted what my sister died for.”
“No,” Daniel said. “You wanted what my father stole.”
Victor raised the gun.
“Careful.”
Daniel didn’t move.
“No.”
Vanessa stepped closer to Daniel.
“Victor, Lily has nothing to do with this.”
Victor glanced at the child.
“Actually, Lily has everything to do with it.”
Daniel stiffened.
“What does that mean?”
Victor smiled.
“We were getting there.”
Vanessa whispered, “Don’t.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“You know.”
She began crying.
“Daniel—”
“Is Lily my daughter?”
Lily looked up immediately.
“Daddy?”
Daniel’s heart broke.
He crouched in front of her.
“You are my daughter.”
He looked at Vanessa.
“Whatever the answer is, she is my daughter.”
Lily hugged him.
Daniel held her for a second.
Then stood.
“Now answer me.”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“You were having fertility problems.”
“You told me my tests were normal.”
“They weren’t.”
Daniel went still.
“What?”
“Your sperm count was extremely low.”
“Why didn’t the doctor tell me?”
“He tried.”
Daniel remembered missed calls Vanessa had dismissed as billing questions.
“You intercepted it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew what Charles had stored.”
Daniel stared.
“My father’s samples.”
Vanessa nodded.
Michael looked horrified.
“You used Dad’s sperm?”
Vanessa whispered, “I thought it was Daniel’s.”
Daniel blinked.
“What?”
Victor laughed.
Vanessa turned on him.
“Shut up!”
Daniel grabbed her shoulders.
“Explain.”
“Charles had samples stored under the Mercer family trust. After he died, Victor told me they were yours.”
Daniel looked at Victor.
Victor’s smile said enough.
Vanessa continued.
“He said Charles arranged for you to bank samples years earlier.”
“I never did.”
“I know that now!”
“You were inseminated with my father’s sperm?”
Vanessa cried.
“Yes.”
Daniel felt the floor move beneath him.
Lily was biologically his half-sister.
And legally his daughter.
His father had reached into his life from the grave.
Michael whispered, “Jesus.”
Daniel’s voice was hollow.
“Why?”
Victor answered.
“Charles wanted an heir.”
Daniel turned.
“He had two sons.”
“Michael was an addict. You resisted having children.”
“I was thirty-two!”
“Charles didn’t believe either of you would preserve what he built.”
“So he planned a child?”
“He created several embryos before his death.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No. The clinic told me it was insemination.”
Victor smiled.
“The clinic told you what I paid them to tell you.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
Lily stood behind him.
Too young to understand.
Thank God.
Daniel said, “Why Vanessa?”
Victor looked at her.
“Charles trusted her.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“His mistress.”
Vanessa cried, “I hated him by the end.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why follow his plan?”
“Because Victor threatened me.”
Victor rolled his eyes.
“Everyone blames the man with the gun.”
Daniel turned toward him.
“You did threaten her.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
Victor stepped closer to the laptop.
“Now we finish.”
Claire said, “We don’t have the original drive.”
Victor froze.
Daniel looked at her.
Claire smiled.
The first real smile she had shown.
“The one you have is a copy.”
Victor stared at the flash drive.
“You’re lying.”
Claire shook her head.
“The original is somewhere you’ll never find.”
Victor’s face darkened.
He aimed the gun at Lily.
Daniel moved instantly.
“NO!”
Claire shouted, “If you hurt her, you never get it!”
Victor’s arm remained raised.
Claire continued.
“You need me.”
Victor slowly lowered the weapon.
“Where is it?”
Claire smiled.
“Let them leave.”
“No.”
“Then you lose four hundred million.”
Victor stared at her.
Claire walked closer.
“You trained me well, Uncle.”
The word hit him.
“You taught me exactly what leverage looks like.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Then—
sirens.
Distant.
Approaching.
Everyone froze.
Victor looked at his men.
“Who called police?”
Daniel looked at Michael.
Michael shook his head.
Vanessa looked confused.
Claire smiled.
Victor suddenly understood.
“You.”
Claire nodded.
“When?”
“At the mansion.”
Daniel stared.
Claire explained quickly.
“Before we left, I used Lily’s tablet. Emergency message. Location of the cabin.”
Victor shouted.
“MOVE!”
His men rushed for the doors.
Daniel grabbed Lily.
Michael tackled the nearest guard.
A gunshot exploded.
Vanessa screamed.
Daniel fell over Lily, shielding her.
Another shot.
Another.
Windows shattered.
Police lights flashed through the trees.
Victor grabbed Claire.
Gun to her neck.
“BACK DOOR!”
He dragged her toward the kitchen.
Michael shouted, “CLAIRE!”
Daniel handed Lily to Vanessa.
“Stay down!”
He ran after Victor.
Through the kitchen.
Out into the rain.
Victor pulled Claire toward an SUV.
Daniel followed.
“LET HER GO!”
Victor turned.
Gun raised.
BANG!
Daniel felt fire rip across his shoulder.
He fell.
Claire screamed.
Victor shoved her into the vehicle.
Daniel tried to get up.
Blood soaked his shirt.
The SUV roared to life.
Michael ran from the cabin.
He raised his gun.
Daniel shouted, “DON’T SHOOT!”
Michael lowered it.
The SUV accelerated.
Claire slammed her hands against the window.
Then disappeared down the road.
Police vehicles raced after them.
Daniel collapsed into the mud.
Michael dropped beside him.
“Daniel!”
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
“The drive.”
“What?”
“The original.”
“Where is it?”
Daniel looked toward Vanessa.
She was standing in the cabin doorway with Lily.
And Vanessa’s face told him something was wrong.
May you like
Daniel whispered—
“She has it.”
