Chapter 14: The Last Ashford Lie
By midnight, Agent Collins had moved us to a secure federal facility.
Emily refused to leave my side.
Evelyn was being questioned in another room.
I sat in a wheelchair near the window, watching rain slide down the glass.
My baby kicked.
I placed a hand over my stomach.
"Your mother is going to get you out of this," I whispered.
Emily sat beside me.
"Sarah, there's something I've been thinking about.""
"What?""
"If Margaret is your biological mother, and Daniel is adopted, why would she say the marriage was never legally valid?""
I looked at her.
"Because someone falsified the paperwork.""
"Exactly.""
She opened her phone.
"I found something in the documents Agent Collins gave us.""
She showed me a scanned marriage certificate.
The officiant's signature was different from the one on the original license.
I frowned.
"That's not the man who married us.""
"I know.""
Emily enlarged the image.
"Look at the date.""
September fourteenth.
But the certificate had been registered three weeks before the ceremony.
I stared.
"That doesn't make sense.""
"Unless the certificate was prepared in advance.""
I looked at her.
"Can you do that?""
"Not with a fake signature from an officiant who wasn't there.""
I remembered the ceremony.
The white flowers.
The music.
Daniel holding my hands.
A smiling older man who'd introduced himself as Reverend Thomas.
I had assumed everything was legitimate.
"Who was the officiant?"" I asked.
Emily searched the records.
Then she found something.
"His name was Thomas Bell.""
"Was he a real minister?""
Emily shook her head.
"He was a notary employed by Ashford Global.""
I felt sick.
Agent Collins entered.
"You're right.""
She placed a folder on the table.
"The marriage certificate was falsified. The man who performed the ceremony had no legal authority to solemnize marriages in Georgia.""
I stared.
"So Daniel and I were never legally married?""
"Based on the evidence we currently have, the marriage may not have been legally valid.""
I looked down at my wedding ring.
Three years.
Three years of calling someone my husband.
Three years of believing I had entered a family.
All built on paperwork that didn't exist.
Then Agent Collins opened another file.
"We also recovered the original adoption records for Daniel.""
Emily leaned forward.
"Who were his biological parents?""
Agent Collins hesitated.
"His mother was a woman named Patricia Reed.""
I looked at Emily.
Thomas Reed.
The man in the photograph.
The man who had supposedly fathered Emily.
Agent Collins continued.
"Daniel's biological father was Thomas Reed.""
The room went silent.
Emily slowly stood.
"That's impossible.""
"Why?"" I asked.
"Because Thomas Reed was my biological father too.""
I felt my stomach drop.
Agent Collins looked between us.
"According to these records, Daniel and Emily share the same biological father.""
Emily covered her mouth.
Daniel wasn't related to me.
But he was related to my sister.
I leaned back.
The entire room seemed to spin.
"Did Daniel know?""
Agent Collins shook her head.
"We don't know.""
My phone vibrated.
A message from Daniel.
*Sarah, I need to see you. I know what my father did.*
I stared at it.
Then another message appeared.
*I found the original adoption file.*
I typed one question.
*Did you know Thomas Reed was your father?*
The reply came immediately.
*No.*
Then:
*But I know why Victor adopted me.*
I called him.
He answered after one ring.
"Sarah?""
"Tell me.""
Daniel's breathing was uneven.
"My biological father discovered that Victor had stolen the original company shares. He was going to expose him.""
"Thomas Reed?""
"Yes.""
"What happened?""
"Victor arranged for him to disappear. He then adopted me because he wanted to keep the Reed family under his control.""
I closed my eyes.
"Emily is your sister.""
"I know.""
"Did you ever know?""
"No. I swear.""
I believed that he hadn't known.
But I couldn't forgive everything else.
"Why are you telling me now?""
"Because I found something in the adoption file. Victor didn't just choose me because I was a boy.""
"Then why?""
"Because my biological father was the original trustee of the Ashford inheritance.""
I looked at Agent Collins.
She motioned for me to put the call on speaker.
Daniel continued.
"Thomas created the trust. He made sure the shares couldn't be transferred without the consent of the three daughters.""
"Why did Victor adopt you?""
"Because he thought he could use me to challenge the trust from inside the family.""
Agent Collins interrupted.
"Where is the original agreement?""
"At the mansion.""
"We already searched it.""
"Not the main house.""
"Where?""
Daniel took a breath.
"Under the old greenhouse.""
I looked at Emily.
The Ashford estate had a greenhouse behind the east wing.
I'd visited it countless times.
Daniel used to grow orchids there.
Agent Collins immediately contacted her team.
"Send a unit to the greenhouse. Secure the property.""
Daniel continued.
"There's one more thing.""
"What?""
"My father has been keeping a second identity for years.""
"What do you mean?""
"He has a passport under Thomas Reed's name.""
I felt my blood run cold.
"Why would he use Thomas's identity?""
"Because Thomas isn't dead.""
I stared at the phone.
"That's impossible. You said Victor made him disappear.""
"I thought he did.""
Daniel's voice cracked.
"But I found a recent photograph.""
"Of Thomas?""
"Yes.""
"Where?""
"In Victor's private office.""
Agent Collins stepped closer.
"Can you send it?""
"I already did.""
Her tablet chimed.
She opened the photograph.
A man stood outside a marina.
Older now.
Gray-haired.
But unmistakably the same man from the cemetery photograph.
Thomas Reed.
Alive.
And standing beside him was Victor Ashford.
Agent Collins zoomed in.
There was a date printed on the photograph.
Three days earlier.
Emily began crying.
"My father is alive?""
I took her hand.
"I don't know.""
Then Daniel spoke again.
"Sarah, there's something I haven't told you.""
I looked at the screen.
"What?""
"The man who called himself Thomas Reed at your wedding wasn't a fake minister.""
I frowned.
"What?""
"He was my biological father.""
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel continued.
"Thomas performed our wedding ceremony. Victor paid him to do it.""
Agent Collins went completely still.
"Mr. Ashford, are you certain?""
"Yes. I have his confession.""
Then Daniel whispered:
"And Thomas is the person who just withdrew the arrest warrant against Victor.""
The call disconnected.
Agent Collins stared at the photograph.
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
And slowly lowered it.
"Thomas Reed has just requested a meeting with Sarah.""
I felt my baby move beneath my hand.
"Why?""
Agent Collins looked at me.
"Because he claims he's the only person who can prove that Victor never legally owned Ashford Global.""
May you like
She paused.
"And he says he has been waiting twenty years for you to give birth.""
