Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN BEHIND EVERYTHING
Michael drove through the mountains at nearly midnight.
Lily slept in the back seat.
Sarah sat beside her.
Michael kept checking the rearview mirror.
Three black SUVs followed them.
“They're still behind us,” Sarah whispered.
“I know.”
“Can you lose them?”
“I can try.”
Michael turned sharply onto an old service road.
The SUVs continued straight.
After ten minutes, the road disappeared into the forest.
Michael stopped.
Everyone remained silent.
Finally, Sarah spoke.
“There is someone you need to meet.”
“Who?”
“Emily's doctor.”
Michael frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Emily wasn't simply pregnant.”
Michael turned.
“What are you talking about?”
Sarah looked at Lily.
“She was carrying twins.”
Michael's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“What?”
Sarah nodded.
“Emily was pregnant with twins.”
Michael felt his chest tighten.
“The accident…”
“She lost one baby immediately.”
Michael couldn't breathe.
“And the other?”
Sarah looked at Lily.
“She survived.”
Michael stared at his daughter.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Lily?”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
Michael turned slowly.
“Then who?”
Sarah whispered:
“Your son.”
Michael's mind went blank.
Emily had given birth to twins?
One survived?
Where was he?
Sarah looked down.
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
“The same people who took Lily.”
Michael slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
“Where is my son?”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“We don't know.”
The next morning, Michael met Emily's doctor.
Dr. Rebecca Moore had aged visibly since Michael last saw her.
She handed him a file.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Why didn't you?”
“I was threatened.”
“By Daniel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked at him.
“Your father.”
Michael froze.
“My father died ten years ago.”
Rebecca nodded.
“I know.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“Your father left instructions.”
Michael opened the file.
Inside was an old trust agreement.
Hartman family trust.
He read the names.
His father.
Daniel.
Michael.
And a fourth beneficiary.
A child.
Michael's child.
The document had been created years before Lily was born.
Michael stared.
“Why would my father create a trust for a child I didn't have?”
Rebecca answered quietly.
“Because he knew something about your family that you didn't.”
Michael looked up.
“What?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Your father had another son.”
Michael felt the room spin.
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
Michael frowned.
“That's impossible.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“Daniel wasn't your biological brother.”
Silence.
Michael stared at the document.
“Then who was he?”
Rebecca said:
“Your father's illegitimate son.”
Michael's entire understanding of his family shattered.
Daniel wasn't his brother by blood.
But there was more.
Rebecca continued.
“Your father promised Daniel control of the company if he protected the family.”
“Protected them from what?”
Rebecca looked terrified.
“From a scandal.”
“What scandal?”
“Your father had stolen millions from the company.”
Michael stared.
“And Daniel inherited the secret.”
Rebecca lowered her voice.
“Emily found the records.”
Michael finally understood.
Emily had discovered everything.
Daniel wasn't simply stealing from Hartman Mining.
He was covering up his father's crimes.
But why kill Emily?
Rebecca handed him one final document.
Michael read it.
Then his face went white.
It was an adoption record.
A baby boy.
Born six months ago.
Mother:
Emily Hartman.
Father:
Michael Hartman.
Status:
Missing.
Michael's hands trembled.
“My son is alive.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Somewhere.”
Michael stood.
“I'll find him.”
Then Lily walked into the room.
She was holding Hope.
“Daddy?”
Michael turned.
It was the first time she had called him that.
His heart broke open.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to find my brother?”
Michael knelt.
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
He pulled her into his arms.
“I promise.”
Outside the window, a black SUV slowly passed the building.
Someone inside was watching them.
And the driver made a phone call.
“He knows about the boy.”
May you like
A voice answered:
“Then we have to move tonight.”
