Chapter 7 - ALEXANDER'S BETRAYAL
I turned slowly.
“Alexander?”
He said nothing.
Ryan stepped between us.
“Is it true?”
Alexander looked at me.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Then tell me now.”
He sighed.
“I knew Charles was alive.”
My heart sank.
“But he died six months ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you've been working against him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Rebecca say you're controlling everything?”
“Because she doesn't know the truth.”
I looked at Rebecca.
She was crying.
“Then what is the truth?”
Alexander finally opened the last file.
Inside was a photograph.
Charles Montgomery.
Standing beside a man I had never seen before.
Except I had.
I knew that face.
I had seen it once in a newspaper.
“Who is he?”
Alexander answered:
“Your father's brother.”
I stared.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
I had never known I had an uncle.
Alexander explained that my grandfather had two sons.
My father disappeared before I was born.
His brother, Victor Hart, was believed to have died decades earlier.
But he hadn't.
He had been living overseas.
Building a private financial network.
And now he wanted the company.
“Why?”
“Because he believes it was stolen from him.”
I looked at the documents.
“So everything that's happened…”
“Was part of a struggle for control.”
Ryan shook his head.
“What about the children?”
Alexander looked at him.
“Your children are the key.”
I felt sick.
“How?”
“The trust requires a direct blood heir.”
I looked at my children.
“If anything happens to me, control passes to them.”
Ryan understood.
“That means whoever controls the children controls the company.”
“Yes.”
I suddenly understood the threats.
The photographs.
The wedding.
The pressure.
The pregnancy.
Everything.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said:
“Mariana.”
“Who is this?”
“Your uncle.”
My heart stopped.
Victor Hart.
“You've been difficult to find.”
“What do you want?”
“What's mine.”
“You'll never get it.”
He laughed.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What else could it be?”
“Your mother.”
I froze.
“What about her?”
“She knows where your father is.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My father is dead.”
“No.”
Victor's voice became cold.
“He's alive.”
The call ended.
I turned toward my mother.
She was crying.
“Mom?”
She whispered:
“Your father never died.”
I couldn't move.
Ryan looked at me.
“Mariana…”
My entire childhood had been a lie.
My mother had hidden my father.
My family had hidden my inheritance.
Ryan had hidden behind his family's lies.
And now a man I had never known existed was threatening my children.
Then my daughter walked into the room.
“Mommy?”
I turned.
Lily looked frightened.
“There is a man outside.”
We all froze.
“What man?”
She pointed toward the window.
“He looks like Grandpa.”
I looked outside.
A black car waited at the curb.
The door opened.
An elderly man stepped out.
My mother screamed.
“Daniel.”
I turned.
“Who is Daniel?”
She covered her mouth.
“My husband.”
May you like
My father.
Alive.
