Chapter 13 - THE LAST ACCOUNT
Grace couldn't breathe.
Her mother was alive.
But every answer created another question.
Daniel took her to a private attorney.
They traced old records.
Nothing.
Her mother had disappeared twenty-nine years earlier.
Then Marcus found an old passport.
A woman named Emily Parker had entered Canada.
Later, she disappeared again.
A new identity.
Evelyn Cross.
Daniel stared.
“Cross?”
Grace nodded.
“Samuel's wife.”
Silence.
Her mother had married the enemy.
Daniel felt sick.
They found her in a small coastal town.
She opened the door.
Grace stopped breathing.
The woman was older.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
But the face was unmistakable.
“Mom?”
The woman began crying.
Grace stepped forward.
“You're alive.”
Her mother covered her mouth.
“I couldn't come back.”
“Why?”
“Because Samuel would kill you.”
Grace's voice broke.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Her mother cried.
“I thought distance would keep you safe.”
Daniel watched silently.
Then Evelyn looked at him.
“You look like your father.”
Daniel stiffened.
“Did you love him?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did you betray him?”
She looked away.
“Yes.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Samuel had my brother.”
“What?”
“He threatened to kill him.”
Daniel understood.
Everyone had been controlled by someone.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone had made terrible choices.
But someone had started it.
“Where is the money?” Daniel asked.
Evelyn stared at him.
“What money?”
“The trust.”
She hesitated.
Then whispered,
“It's not money.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“It's evidence.”
She walked into another room.
Returned with a small metal box.
Inside were original contracts.
Names.
Payments.
Bribes.
Murder orders.
Everything.
Daniel understood why everyone wanted it.
The money didn't matter.
The evidence could destroy powerful people.
Evelyn looked at Grace.
“Your father died protecting this.”
Grace cried.
“And you?”
“I ran.”
Daniel said softly,
“Because you were afraid.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“But people died.”
Evelyn lowered her head.
“I know.”
Daniel looked at the documents.
There was one final signature.
His father's.
But beneath it was another.
Daniel stared.
The signature belonged to someone unexpected.
His own.
Impossible.
The document was dated when Daniel was sixteen.
He hadn't signed it.
Someone had forged his name.
The beneficiary clause named Grace.
And another person.
Vanessa.
Daniel looked at Grace.
“The trust was designed to bring all of us together.”
Grace whispered,
“Why?”
“Because your father knew the people responsible would eventually come for it.”
Daniel looked at the final page.
A handwritten note appeared.
When they come, expose everything.
He closed the box.
“We end this today.”
But outside the window, a car stopped.
Vanessa looked outside.
Her face changed.
“Samuel.”
Daniel turned.
Samuel stood across the street.
Holding a detonator.
He smiled.
Then every phone in the room received the same message.
ONE HOUR.
May you like
Underneath:
OR CHARLOTTE BURNS.
