Chapter 4
My hands went cold.
Dad noticed immediately.
“What?”
I showed him the phone.
His expression changed.
Angela grabbed my wrist.
“Is that Claire?”
“Yes.”
Daniel was already calling someone.
“Get corporate security to her office. Now.”
I called Claire.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
My pulse hammered.
“She always answers.”
Dad put a hand on my shoulder.
“Keep trying.”
I called again.
Straight to voicemail.
I ran toward the door.
Angela stepped in front of me.
“Where are you going?”
“To her.”
“You don’t know who sent that.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t go alone.”
I reached for the lock.
Dad said, “Daniel goes with you.”
“I don’t have time.”
“You have time to stay alive.”
I looked at him.
He wasn’t asking.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“Let’s move.”
Angela said, “I’m coming.”
Dad shook his head.
“No. You stay.”
“Dad—”
“I need you here.”
She looked furious.
But she stayed.
Daniel and I drove to Claire’s office in seven minutes.
It felt like an hour.
I called her fourteen times.
Nothing.
When we arrived, a security SUV was already outside.
I jumped out before Daniel fully stopped.
Claire worked for a nonprofit legal clinic on the third floor.
The lobby guard recognized me.
“Ethan?”
“Claire Bennett.”
He frowned.
“She left.”
“When?”
“Maybe ten minutes ago.”
“With who?”
“Alone.”
I showed him the picture.
“Did you see anyone watching her?”
His face changed.
“No.”
“Cameras?”
He pointed toward the desk.
Daniel stepped forward.
“We need footage.”
The guard hesitated.
Daniel handed him his business card.
“Police are already involved.”
Five minutes later, we were watching the lobby camera.
Claire walked out at 2:37.
She looked at her phone.
She smiled at something.
Then she left.
Another camera showed her entering the parking garage.
We switched views.
She reached her car.
Then stopped.
A black sedan pulled beside her.
My heart stopped.
The driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
I leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Claire hugged him.
I stared at the screen.
“What?”
She knew him.
The man opened the passenger door.
Claire got inside.
They drove away.
I felt sick.
Daniel rewound the video.
“Can we get the plate?”
The guard zoomed.
Blurry.
But visible enough.
Daniel photographed it.
I called Claire again.
Nothing.
“Who was he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said she hugged him.”
“I saw.”
The guard looked uncomfortable.
I didn’t care.
Then my phone buzzed.
Claire.
I answered instantly.
“Where are you?”
She sounded confused.
“Ethan?”
“Where are you?”
“In a car.”
“With who?”
Silence.
“Why are you yelling?”
“Claire, who are you with?”
A male voice came through the background.
“Tell him.”
My stomach twisted.
Claire sighed.
“I’m with your father.”
I stared at Daniel.
“What?”
“Not Richard.”
My blood turned cold.
Claire continued.
“Your biological father.”
I couldn’t speak.
Daniel slowly turned toward me.
I finally whispered, “What did you just say?”
Claire sounded nervous now.
“Ethan, I think we need to talk.”
“My biological father died before I was born.”
“That’s what Richard told you.”
I pressed the phone against my ear.
“Where are you?”
“We’re coming to you.”
“No. Tell me where you are.”
“Ethan—”
“Claire!”
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Daniel asked quietly, “What did she say?”
I looked at him.
“My father.”
He frowned.
“I heard.”
“My biological father.”
Daniel’s face became unreadable.
And that told me everything.
“You know.”
He looked away.
“Daniel.”
“Ethan.”
“You know.”
“This isn’t the place.”
I stepped toward him.
“Who is he?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“You need to ask Richard.”
I laughed.
There was nothing funny about it.
“You’ve known me since I was nine.”
“Yes.”
“You came to every Christmas.”
“Yes.”
“You stood beside me at Mom’s funeral.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
He whispered, “Some of it.”
I walked away before I punched him.
My entire life suddenly felt fake.
Richard Harrison wasn’t my biological father?
My mother had lied?
Dad had lied?
Daniel had lied?
And Claire knew enough to get into a car with a stranger claiming to be my father.
“How long has Claire known?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
I turned back.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear I don’t.”
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
A location pin.
An abandoned warehouse outside town.
Below it:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.
Daniel saw it.
“You’re not going alone.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“Apparently everybody in my life knows secrets about me except me.”
“This could be a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“And you still want to go?”
“Yes.”
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Ethan, listen to me.”
I pulled away.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do right now.”
His eyes flashed with anger.
Then pain.
“I promised your mother I’d protect you.”
That stopped me.
I stared at him.
“What?”
He realized he had said too much.
“Daniel.”
He shook his head.
“What did you promise my mother?”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“She knew this day might come.”
“What day?”
“The day Marcus came back.”
The name hit me strangely.
Like I had heard it somewhere before.
“Marcus who?”
“Marcus Vale.”
“Who is he?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your biological father.”
I almost couldn’t breathe.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since before you were born.”
My knees felt weak.
I leaned against the desk.
“Why did everyone tell me he was dead?”
“That was Margaret’s decision.”
“And Richard agreed?”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Why?”
“Because Marcus wasn’t safe.”
I looked at the warehouse location again.
“What does that mean?”
“Marcus and your mother were together before Richard.”
“I know that part.”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“You know the version they gave you.”
I stared at him.
“What’s the real version?”
Daniel looked around the security office.
Then lowered his voice.
“Your mother didn’t leave Marcus because she stopped loving him.”
A chill ran through me.
“She left because he stole from dangerous people.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
My eyes widened.
Daniel continued.
“He disappeared. Your mother thought he’d been killed.”
“And Richard?”
“Richard protected her.”
“Then Marcus came back?”
“Years later.”
“When?”
Daniel hesitated.
“When you were seventeen.”
My stomach turned.
“And nobody told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened the family.”
I thought about the missing money.
Fake accounts.
My mother’s maiden name.
Paul running.
Three passports.
The message.
Claire.
“Marcus is stealing from Harrison Jewelers.”
Daniel said nothing.
That silence was enough.
I whispered, “Dad knew.”
“Richard suspected.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
I called my father.
He answered immediately.
“Ethan, where are you?”
“Did you know Marcus Vale was alive?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
Dad exhaled.
“Yes.”
Something inside me broke.
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
I closed my eyes.
“You let me believe my biological father was dead.”
“It was safer.”
“For who?”
“For you.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“I was your father.”
“Were?”
Silence.
He corrected himself.
“I am your father.”
The words hit me harder than anything else.
Because despite everything, they sounded true.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed immediately.
“What?”
He listened.
“When?”
I looked at him.
“What happened?”
He lowered the phone.
“Paul Richards is dead.”
Dad heard through my call.
“What?”
Daniel looked at me.
“The police transport vehicle was hit by a truck.”
My father said something through the phone, but I barely heard it.
Daniel continued.
“Paul died at the scene.”
I looked at the warehouse location.
Then at the text.
COME ALONE.
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was a picture from inside the warehouse.
Claire sat in a chair.
Her face was pale.
Behind her stood a man in his late fifties.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
A face that looked disturbingly familiar.
My face.
May you like
Below the picture were five words.
YOUR REAL FAMILY IS WAITING.
