Chapter 12: The Billionaire's Enemy Was My Father
I couldn't breathe.
Leon Mercer.
The man who had poisoned Victor.
The man who had threatened my family.
The man who had spent five years hunting my father.
He was claiming to be mine.
“No.””
Leon smiled.
“DNA doesn't lie, Lena.””
I turned toward my mother.
“Tell him he's lying.””
Margaret was crying.
“Lena...””
“Mom!””
She lowered her head.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Don't listen to him.””
Leon laughed.
“Still pretending to be her father, Daniel?””
Daniel raised his weapon.
“You have no right to speak about her.””
Leon didn't even flinch.
“I have every right. I was there when she was born.””
My stomach turned.
Victor moved closer to me.
“Lena, look at me. Whatever that report says, it doesn't change who raised you.””
I stared at the document.
“Is it real?””
Victor examined it.
“The laboratory listed here doesn't exist.””
Clara's smile faded.
“What?””
Victor pointed at the bottom.
“This report is a forgery.””
Leon laughed.
“Of course you'd say that.””
Rebecca stepped forward.
“I can verify the laboratory. Give me the document.””
Clara pulled it away.
“No.””
Rebecca raised her weapon.
“Put it down.””
Leon suddenly clapped his hands.
One of his men moved behind Rebecca and seized her.
“Don't!”” I screamed.
Another man grabbed my mother.
Daniel lunged forward, but two armed guards forced him against the wall.
Victor tried to move.
Leon raised his gun.
“Stop.””
Victor froze.
Leon approached him slowly.
“You know, Victor, I've spent twenty years watching you receive everything I deserved.””
Victor stared at him.
“What did you deserve?””
“The company. The family name. The respect.””
“You were my business partner.””
“I was your father's real son in every way that mattered. But he gave everything to you.””
Victor shook his head.
“My father trusted you.””
“He trusted me more than he trusted you.””
Leon stepped closer.
“And then Margaret came along. You took her. You took the future I wanted.””
My mother looked horrified.
“You were obsessed with me.””
“I was in love with you.””
“You threatened my family!””
Leon smiled.
“Because you chose the wrong man.””
Daniel struggled against the guards.
“Leave her alone!””
Leon turned toward him.
“Ah, Daniel. The loyal husband.””
He walked toward my father and struck him across the face.
“You spent years pretending Lena was yours.””
Daniel spat blood onto the floor.
“She is mine.””
Leon laughed.
“Then why did you hide her from me?””
I looked at my mother.
“Mom, is he really my biological father?””
Margaret closed her eyes.
Then she nodded.
The room seemed to disappear.
I stepped backward.
My entire life had become a collection of lies.
Daniel wasn't my biological father.
Victor wasn't my biological father.
And the man who had tried to kill everyone I loved was.
Leon approached me.
“Come here, Lena.””
I shook my head.
“Stay away from me.””
“I can give you everything. Money. Power. A place in the company.””
“I don't want anything from you.””
His expression hardened.
“That's unfortunate.””
He turned toward Clara.
“Take her.””
Clara grabbed my arm.
I struggled.
“LET GO!””
She twisted my wrist.
“You really should have accepted the family reunion.””
Victor suddenly moved.
He struck the nearest guard, seized his weapon, and fired a shot into the ceiling.
Everyone ducked.
Daniel broke free.
Rebecca slammed her elbow into the man holding her.
Within seconds, the archive became chaos.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“Run!””
We raced toward the steel door.
But Leon was faster.
He caught my coat and pulled me backward.
“Not so fast, daughter.””
I stumbled.
He pressed a gun against my ribs.
Victor immediately lowered his weapon.
“Let her go.””
Leon smiled.
“Drop it.””
Victor placed the gun on the floor.
Daniel did the same.
Leon looked at both men.
“Look at you. Two powerful men, both willing to die for a girl who belongs to me.””
I glared at him.
“I don't belong to anyone.””
He leaned closer.
“Your father would disagree.””
I looked at him.
“You're not my father.””
For the first time, Leon's smile disappeared.
He struck me across the face.
My mother screamed.
Victor took one step forward.
Leon pressed the gun harder against my ribs.
“Another step and she dies.””
Then he looked at Daniel.
“Now, old friend. Tell us where the original ledger is.””
Daniel wiped blood from his mouth.
“You already have the key.””
“I have the key to the safety deposit box. But the box is empty.””
Leon looked at me.
“Your daughter knows where it is.””
Daniel shook his head.
“She doesn't.””
Leon smiled.
“Then perhaps she'll remember after I make you watch her suffer.””
He pulled me toward the door.
Suddenly, Rebecca shouted.
“Leon! Wait!””
He turned.
Rebecca held up her phone.
“I've got the recording.””
Leon froze.
“What recording?””
“The one you made five minutes ago. Your confession about Thomas Shaw, Victor's father, and the murder of Elizabeth Hart.””
Leon looked toward the ceiling.
A tiny red light blinked above the filing cabinets.
His expression changed.
“You set me up.””
Rebecca smiled coldly.
“Your biggest mistake was believing I was investigating my father's death because I wanted revenge.””
She lowered the phone.
“I wanted justice.””
Leon shoved me aside and fired.
The bullet struck the filing cabinet.
Victor tackled him.
Both men crashed against the floor.
Clara screamed and ran toward the exit.
Daniel chased her.
A gunshot echoed through the archive.
Then another.
I crawled toward my mother.
“Are you okay?””
She nodded, crying.
Victor wrestled Leon's gun away.
But before he could restrain him, the lights went out.
Someone shouted.
A door slammed.
When the emergency lights returned, Leon was gone.
So was Clara.
Rebecca rushed to the corridor.
“Lock down the building!””
I looked toward Victor.
He was breathing heavily, blood staining his shirt.
“Are you hurt?””
“I'm fine.””
Daniel returned alone.
“Clara escaped through the eastern entrance.””
My mother grabbed his arm.
“Where is Leon?””
Daniel shook his head.
“Gone.””
Victor leaned against the filing cabinet.
“Then we find them.””
I looked down at the forged DNA report lying on the floor.
Something about it bothered me.
The laboratory name was fake.
The signature was forged.
But the date wasn't.
It was dated two days before my birth.
I picked it up.
Then I noticed a second page attached behind it.
A hospital record.
My mother had given birth to twins.
Two babies.
One girl.
One boy.
The boy's name had been crossed out.
Beside it was a handwritten note:
Transferred to the Romano family under confidential guardianship.
I looked at Victor.
“Did you know about this?””
He stared at the document.
His face drained of color.
“No.””
My mother began shaking.
Daniel whispered something I could barely hear.
“God help us.””
I looked at the final line.
The baby's name.
*NICHOLAS MERCER.*
And beneath it was a note from the attending physician.
Child survived. Adoptive parents: Thomas and Elizabeth Shaw.
I slowly raised my eyes toward Rebecca.
She was standing in the doorway.
Her face had turned completely white.
Because the name of her adopted brother was Nicholas Shaw.
And according to the hospital record, he was my twin.
A twin who had disappeared twenty-five years ago.
A twin who had been raised by the family responsible for destroying ours.
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
Hello, sister. If you want to meet me, come to the Grandeur Hotel tomorrow night.
A second message appeared.
And bring the original ledger. I know what really happened to Elizabeth.
I stared at the screen.
Then a photograph arrived.
A young man stood beside Leon Mercer.
He had my eyes.
My father's smile.
May you like
And a familiar scar above his left eyebrow.
*My brother was alive.*
