Chapter 7 - CHLOE'S REAL NAME
Chloe wasn't Chloe.
Her real name was Vanessa Mercer.
She had been planted beside Julian for eighteen months.
Her job was simple.
Destroy our marriage.
Monitor my pregnancy.
Gain access to our home.
And make sure I never discovered the truth.
But she made one mistake.
She fell in love with Julian.
That was why Arthur had begun threatening her.
When agents found her, she was hiding in a motel.
She surrendered without resistance.
I met her in a federal interrogation room.
She looked nothing like the confident young woman from the baby shower.
She looked exhausted.
“Why did you do it?”
She stared at the table.
“I needed the money.”
“You nearly got me killed.”
“I know.”
“You brought a fake pregnancy into my home.”
“I know.”
“You helped Arthur.”
She began crying.
“I didn't know he would hurt you.”
I leaned forward.
“You knew enough.”
She nodded.
Then she said:
“There's something you don't know.”
“What?”
“Arthur isn't the real leader.”
Silence.
“Who is?”
Chloe looked toward the camera.
Then whispered:
“Beatrice.”
Julian's mother.
I felt a chill.
“His wife?”
Chloe nodded.
“Arthur thinks he's in charge.”
“Who does Beatrice answer to?”
Chloe's lips trembled.
“No one.”
Then she placed a photograph on the table.
An old photograph.
A young Beatrice.
Standing beside a man I had never seen.
I stared.
“Who is that?”
Chloe whispered:
“The founder of the Vance empire.”
“Arthur's father?”
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“Your father.”
My entire world stopped.
“My father died when I was three.”
May you like
Chloe shook her head.
“He didn't.”
