Chapter 6
Daniel read the amendment three times.
Each time, his face became paler.
Claire watched him from across Henry’s study.
Emma was upstairs.
Safe.
For the moment.
But everything beneath her life had just shifted.
Sarah took the document from Daniel.
“Let’s make sure we understand exactly what Olivia wrote.”
She read aloud.
My daughter Emma is my daughter by law, choice, and love. Her inheritance shall not depend upon genetic relationship to me or to any member of the Whitmore family.
Daniel sat down heavily.
“I was there when she was born.”
Christopher looked at him.
“Were you?”
Daniel’s eyes lifted.
“What?”
“Were you actually in the delivery room?”
“Yes.”
Then he stopped.
Claire saw memory moving across his face.
“Not when she was born.”
Henry frowned.
“What happened?”
“Emergency C-section.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“They took Olivia away. I waited outside.”
“For how long?”
“Maybe forty minutes.”
“And when you saw Emma?”
“She was already cleaned and wrapped.”
Sarah asked, “Which hospital?”
“St. Matthew’s.”
Christopher’s expression darkened.
“That hospital had a maternity scandal around that time.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What scandal?” Daniel demanded.
“Two nurses were accused of falsifying records for private adoptions.”
Claire’s pulse jumped.
“Could Emma have been switched?”
Christopher shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stood.
“I’m getting the records.”
Sarah stopped him.
“At two in the morning?”
“I don’t care.”
“You won’t get anything without proper authorization.”
“I’m her father.”
Sarah’s voice softened.
“Then be her father right now. She needs you calm.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
Claire knew Emma’s room was directly above them.
His anger broke.
“I don’t care whose DNA she has.”
No one spoke.
“She is my daughter.”
Claire stepped closer.
“She knows that.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What if Olivia lied to me?”
Claire hesitated.
“That isn’t what this says.”
“She knew Emma wasn’t biologically hers and never told me.”
“Maybe she was protecting Emma.”
“From me?”
“No.”
Claire looked at the threatening note.
“From whoever wanted to use this.”
A knock came at the door.
An officer entered.
“Detective, we found Victoria.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?” Sarah asked.
“On the property.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“What?”
The officer continued.
“She was hiding in the old greenhouse.”
Sarah immediately drew her weapon.
“Is she in custody?”
“Yes.”
“Search her.”
“We did.”
The officer held up an evidence bag.
Inside was a phone.
A small pistol.
And a syringe.
Christopher stepped forward.
“What’s in the syringe?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
“Bring her in.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
“She came into my home with a gun.”
“And she’ll be questioned at the station.”
Claire looked at the phone.
“Why would she come back?”
Nobody had an answer.
Then the phone inside the evidence bag rang.
Everyone froze.
The screen displayed one word.
MOTHER.
Sarah’s eyes sharpened.
She answered on speaker.
No one spoke.
A woman’s voice came through.
“Victoria?”
Sarah remained silent.
The woman waited.
Then laughed softly.
“You’re not Victoria.”
Sarah said, “Who is this?”
The call ended.
Christopher looked sick.
“That was her.”
“Elaine?” Henry asked.
Christopher nodded.
“I haven’t heard her voice in years.”
Sarah immediately requested a trace.
Daniel looked toward the evidence bag.
“Why did Victoria come back?”
Claire thought about the syringe.
“She didn’t come back for the ring.”
Christopher looked at her.
“What?”
“She came back for Emma.”
Daniel went rigid.
Claire continued.
“If they want to challenge Emma’s identity, they need DNA.”
“They already took blood,” Daniel said.
“Maybe not enough.”
Christopher shook his head.
“Or maybe the blood they took gave them an answer they didn’t expect.”
Henry stared at him.
“What answer?”
Christopher went silent.
Sarah noticed.
“You know something.”
“No.”
“You reacted.”
Christopher rubbed his face.
“My mother has an obsession with bloodlines.”
Henry laughed bitterly.
“That’s ironic.”
Christopher ignored him.
“She always believed wealth should stay with biological family.”
Daniel stared.
“She thought Emma wasn’t mine?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said she wanted medical records.”
“Yes.”
“Then say what you’re thinking.”
Christopher looked directly at him.
“What if the test showed Emma isn’t Olivia’s biological daughter…”
He paused.
“…but she is biologically a Whitmore?”
Silence.
Daniel shook his head.
“That makes no sense.”
Henry slowly sat down.
Unless.
Claire saw fear cross his face.
“Henry?”
He didn’t answer.
Daniel turned.
“What?”
Henry’s lips parted.
“There was another child.”
Daniel stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Henry looked at Christopher.
Christopher’s face had gone white.
“My daughter.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel whispered, “You have a daughter?”
Christopher nodded.
“Had.”
Claire felt sick.
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Nine years ago.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling again.
Emma was seven.
The dates were too close.
Christopher continued.
“Her name was Lily.”
His voice cracked.
“She was twenty.”
Henry stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“You weren’t part of my life.”
“What happened?”
“She became pregnant.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
Christopher covered his face for a moment.
“She was afraid to tell me who the father was.”
Claire whispered, “Did she have the baby?”
“I don’t know.”
“She disappeared before giving birth?”
“Eight months pregnant.”
Sarah stood very still.
“What was the exact date?”
Christopher told her.
Daniel grabbed his phone and opened Emma’s birth record.
The dates were separated by nine days.
Nobody breathed.
Christopher stared at the record.
“No.”
Claire could barely speak.
“Could Emma be Lily’s baby?”
“No.”
Christopher shook his head harder.
“No.”
Sarah asked, “Did Olivia know Lily?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Did Marcus?”
Christopher looked at her.
“Marcus knew everyone in the family.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“He could have arranged it.”
Henry whispered, “And Olivia discovered the truth.”
Claire remembered the video.
Christopher Whitmore is hiding inside the family.
Maybe Olivia wasn’t warning them that Christopher was the danger.
Maybe she was saying his bloodline was already inside the family.
Emma.
Daniel turned toward Christopher.
“If Emma is your granddaughter…”
Christopher sat down, stunned.
Sarah’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression tightened.
“The syringe contained a sedative.”
Daniel cursed.
Then Sarah listened again.
“What about the phone?”
A pause.
“Send it.”
Her phone buzzed.
She opened an image sent by the forensic team.
Victoria’s phone had one unsent message drafted minutes before her arrest.
Sarah read it aloud.
I can’t do this anymore. Emma is innocent. You said we only needed the blood. You never said Claire had to die. I’m done.
Daniel looked toward Claire.
Claire’s skin went cold.
Sarah continued.
The draft had been addressed to “Mother.”
Victoria had been turning against Elaine.
That explained why she came back.
Maybe she hadn’t come to hurt Emma.
Maybe she had come to protect her.
“Where is Victoria now?” Claire asked.
“Patrol car outside.”
“I want to speak to her.”
Sarah shook her head.
“I’ll do that.”
Claire looked at the message.
“She mentioned me.”
“You’re not going near her.”
“She may talk to me.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because she tried to kill me and failed.”
Claire’s voice turned quiet.
“She knows I have every reason to hate her.”
Sarah studied her.
“That makes you think she’ll trust you?”
“No.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“It makes me think she’ll believe me when I say Elaine will kill her next.”
Ten minutes later, Victoria sat handcuffed in a downstairs sitting room.
Two officers stood outside.
Sarah remained by the door.
Daniel watched from the corner.
Claire sat across from Victoria.
For the first time, Victoria looked nothing like the polished woman who had planned a wedding at the estate.
Her hair was tangled.
Her makeup was smeared.
One red nail was broken.
Claire looked at her.
“Your mother called.”
Victoria flinched.
Claire continued.
“She knows you were caught.”
Victoria said nothing.
“We found your draft.”
Her eyes lifted.
Daniel’s face tightened.
Victoria looked away.
Claire leaned closer.
“She will kill you.”
Victoria laughed weakly.
“You don’t know her.”
“Exactly.”
Claire held her gaze.
“But I know people who sacrifice others to protect themselves.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“Marcus was shot minutes after police caught him.”
Fear flashed in her eyes.
Claire saw it.
“Who shot him?”
Victoria whispered, “I don’t know.”
“Who disabled the camera?”
Silence.
“Who rigged the canopy?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I did.”
Daniel made a broken sound.
Claire forced herself not to look at him.
“Why?”
“My mother said we needed to scare you away.”
“By dropping hundreds of pounds of glass on me?”
“She said the support would only partially collapse.”
Claire stared.
“You believed her?”
“No.”
Victoria’s voice cracked.
“I wanted to.”
“Why me?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Because Olivia left you something.”
“The music box?”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Claire froze.
“What else?”
“I don’t know.”
“My mother believes Olivia gave you proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Victoria started trembling.
“That Emma belongs to us.”
Christopher stepped into the room.
Victoria stared at him.
“Uncle Chris.”
Daniel looked from one to the other.
Christopher whispered, “Is Emma Lily’s daughter?”
Victoria began crying.
“I don’t know.”
Christopher moved closer.
“Tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
He slammed his hand against the table.
“Tell me!”
Sarah stepped between them.
Victoria sobbed.
“My mother said Lily gave birth.”
Christopher went still.
“She said the baby was taken because Lily was unstable.”
“Taken where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Lily?”
Victoria looked at him.
Her answer came so quietly that Claire almost missed it.
“She’s alive.”
Christopher’s knees nearly gave out.
“Where?”
Victoria looked toward the dark window.
“My mother keeps her somewhere called Rosehaven.”
Sarah immediately radioed officers.
Henry frowned.
“Rosehaven?”
Claire knew the name.
Her heart stopped.
“That was Olivia’s childhood home.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
Claire stood.
“It’s been abandoned for years.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at them.
“It isn’t abandoned.”
Outside, an alarm suddenly began screaming.
The lights went out.
The room turned black.
Sarah shouted, “Nobody move!”
A crash came from the hallway.
Then a gunshot.
Daniel shouted Emma’s name.
The emergency lights flashed red.
Claire ran toward the staircase.
She heard Emma screaming upstairs.
“Claire!”
Claire reached the landing.
The bedroom door stood open.
One guard lay unconscious on the floor.
Mrs. Bennett was crying.
Daniel arrived behind Claire.
“Where is she?”
Mrs. Bennett pointed toward the open window.
A rope hung over the sill.
Claire ran to it.
Below, a dark figure carried Emma across the lawn.
Daniel shouted.
Police rushed outside.
Claire looked toward Victoria.
Victoria had followed them upstairs.
Her face turned white when she saw the figure.
“That’s her.”
Daniel turned.
“Who?”
May you like
Victoria whispered one word.
“Grandmother.”
