Chapter 6 - MY MOTHER'S LETTER
We escaped through the underground garage.
Three SUVs surrounded Ethan's vehicle.
I sat beside him in silence.
My hands were shaking.
“Madison.”
I stared ahead.
“I don't know who I am anymore.”
“You're still Madison.”
“My mother lied to me.”
“She was protecting you.”
“She died protecting a secret I didn't even know existed.”
Ethan didn't answer.
Because he knew I was right.
We drove to a private estate outside the city.
For the first time since meeting Henry, I saw him without his billionaire mask.
He looked old.
Broken.
He handed me an envelope.
“Your mother gave this to me.”
I stared at it.
“My mother gave you this?”
“Twenty-three years ago.”
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because she told me not to.”
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Maddy,
If you're reading this, something has happened to me.
My eyes filled with tears.
There are things I never told you because knowing them would put you in danger.
I continued.
Your grandfather's name was Charles Prescott. He was not a good man. But he was not the monster everyone believed either.
Your aunt Margaret was different.
She wanted the company. All of it.
When I discovered what she was doing, she threatened me.
I ran.
I stopped reading.
Ethan sat beside me.
“You don't have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
I continued.
The most important thing you need to know is this: your father is alive.
My heart stopped.
I looked up.
“My father?”
Henry closed his eyes.
Ethan stared at him.
“Dad?”
Henry whispered:
“I don't know.”
I kept reading.
His name is Daniel Prescott.
The room went silent.
Daniel.
The uncle everyone believed had disappeared.
My father was Ethan's uncle.
I looked at Henry.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew.”
“I didn't know whether it was true.”
The letter continued.
Daniel loved me. But he was afraid of his family.
When Margaret discovered I was pregnant, she tried to make Daniel choose between me and the company.
He chose me.
My hands shook.
Then he disappeared.
I looked at Ethan.
“Daniel isn't my uncle.”
“No.”
“He's my father.”
Henry nodded.
Ethan looked devastated.
“My father…”
He stopped.
I knew what he was thinking.
Daniel wasn't just his uncle.
He was my father.
Which meant Ethan and I were cousins.
The thought hit me like ice water.
Ethan slowly stood.
“We need to talk.”
I couldn't look at him.
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“We need to talk about something else.”
“What?”
He took out another document.
“This was found in your mother's storage unit.”
I stared at it.
It was a DNA report.
My name.
Daniel Prescott's name.
Probability of paternity: 99.98%.
My knees weakened.
Ethan caught me.
For a second, neither of us moved.
Then I stepped away.
“This changes everything.”
“Yes.”
“Whatever was happening between us…”
“I know.”
“We can't.”
“I know.”
The door opened.
Henry walked in.
He looked at us.
Then at the DNA report.
“She knows?”
I nodded.
Henry closed his eyes.
Then he said the one thing that made the entire room go silent.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“Daniel isn't working against Margaret.”
May you like
I stared at him.
“He's working with her.”
