Chapter 8: The Price of an Heir
The hospital room erupted into activity.
Agent Collins spoke into her radio while two officers entered to secure the hallway.
Emily grabbed my hand.
"Sarah, what did she mean by that photograph?""
I couldn't answer.
I kept staring at the marriage trust agreement displayed on the tablet.
My mother had been named trustee.
The trust became active when I gave birth.
But why?
What had my baby got to do with a financial empire built on fraud?
Agent Collins ended her call.
"We're issuing an alert for Victor.""
"Did he take the ledger?""
"We recovered the physical ledger from the nursery. Celeste had a second copy.""
"Where is the second copy?""
Agent Collins looked at the screen.
Celeste was gone.
Daniel stood alone in the mansion's entrance hall.
"She left," he said.
"Where?""
"I don't know.""
Agent Collins narrowed her eyes.
"Mr. Ashford, you're going to need to come with us.""
Daniel looked toward the camera.
"Sarah, please.""
I turned my face away.
He continued.
"There's something you need to know about the trust.""
I looked back.
"What?""
"My father told me the baby would inherit everything.""
"Everything what?""
"The Ashford family holdings.""
I stared at him.
"That's impossible. The trust was created before our marriage.""
"Yes.""
"Then why would my child inherit it?""
Daniel swallowed.
"Because the trust was designed to transfer ownership to the first legitimate child born into the family.""
I felt sick.
"Your father planned my pregnancy?""
Daniel shook his head.
"No. He planned the inheritance.""
"Then why did he pressure you to have a child?""
Daniel looked down.
"Because he needed an heir.""
I almost laughed.
"An heir to what? A company under federal investigation?""
"Sarah, I didn't understand the full arrangement.""
"You understood enough to bring Celeste into my home.""
He closed his eyes.
Agent Collins stepped between us.
"Mr. Ashford, that's enough.""
But I had another question.
"Why did my mother agree to be trustee?""
Daniel hesitated.
Then he said something unexpected.
"Because she hated Victor.""
I stared.
"What?""
"My father told me your mother had been the original owner of a controlling interest in Ashford Global.""
Agent Collins immediately looked up.
"That's not in the records.""
"Because Victor changed them.""
Daniel continued.
"Before your mother died, she transferred her shares into the trust. Victor couldn't access them without her authorization.""
I remembered the handwritten note.
The trust becomes active only upon Sarah's first childbirth.
"Why didn't he just destroy the trust?""
"Because the original agreement was protected by a separate legal entity. If he interfered with it, the ownership dispute would become public.""
Agent Collins pulled out her notebook.
"Who created that legal entity?""
Daniel looked toward the camera.
"Robert Morgan.""
The name landed heavily.
My biological father.
The man I'd never known.
Agent Collins immediately made another call.
I leaned back against the pillow.
For sixteen years, I'd believed my parents were ordinary people who had died too early.
Now I was discovering that both had been involved in a battle over a company worth billions.
And I'd unknowingly married into the family they'd fought.
Emily wiped her eyes.
"Sarah, what happens now?""
I looked at my sister.
"I don't know.""
My phone rang.
An unknown number.
Agent Collins motioned for me not to answer.
But a message appeared.
*Sarah, this is Celeste. I have the second ledger. Meet me at the old Ashford Foundation building at nine tonight. Come alone.*
I showed Agent Collins.
She immediately shook her head.
"Absolutely not.""
A second message appeared.
*If you don't come, Victor will destroy the original trust agreement.*
Then a photograph arrived.
It showed a document on a desk.
The original trust.
Beside it was a silver key.
I recognized the key.
My mother had kept one exactly like it in her jewelry box.
After her funeral, I'd found it among her belongings and kept it without knowing what it opened.
I reached into my hospital bag.
The key was still there.
"Rebecca.""
She turned.
I held it up.
"Do you know what this opens?""
Agent Collins studied it.
"Where did you get that?""
"My mother's jewelry box.""
She took the key carefully.
There was a tiny inscription near its handle.
*B-17.*
Agent Collins immediately called her team.
"Check the property records for the Ashford Foundation's original archive.""
While she waited, I received another message.
This time, it wasn't from Celeste.
It was from Victor.
*Your mother made a terrible mistake trusting you with that child.*
I stared at the words.
Another message followed.
*The baby is not the only heir.*
I felt my heart begin to race.
Agent Collins read the messages over my shoulder.
"Sarah, don't respond.""
"What does he mean?""
She didn't answer.
Her phone rang.
She listened.
Then she looked at me.
"We found something in the foundation archives.""
"What?""
"A sealed adoption file.""
My mouth went dry.
Agent Collins continued.
"It lists Celeste Morgan as the biological daughter of Robert Morgan.""
I nodded slowly.
"She's my sister.""
"There's another name.""
She turned the phone screen toward me.
The file listed two children.
Celeste Morgan.
And another girl.
Born five years after me.
I stared at the name.
It was Emily's.
My sister's.
The girl sitting beside my hospital bed.
Emily slowly stood.
"That's impossible.""
Agent Collins looked between us.
"According to this document, Emily was adopted under a false identity.""
Emily shook her head.
"No. My parents raised me. I have their photographs. I have my birth certificate.""
I reached for her hand.
"Emily, look at me.""
She did.
Her face was pale.
And then she whispered something that changed everything.
"Sarah, there's something Mom told me before she died.""
"What?""
May you like
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"She said if anyone ever came asking about Robert Morgan, I should never tell them where she buried the blue key.""
