Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE TRUTH
Dr. Marcus Bell was found three days later.
Alive.
Living under an assumed name in Vermont.
Hudson drove there himself.
Naomi insisted on coming.
They found Bell in a small cabin.
The moment he saw Hudson, he nearly closed the door.
"You need to leave."
Hudson held up Delilah's photograph.
"My wife is dead."
Bell looked away.
"And five children are growing up without their mother."
Silence.
Hudson continued.
"Tell me the truth."
Bell opened the door.
Inside were boxes.
Medical files.
Photographs.
Records.
Hudson's stomach turned.
Bell finally spoke.
"Your mother came to me."
"What did she want?"
"Access to the embryos."
"Why?"
"She wanted to change the donor information."
Hudson stared.
"Why?"
"Because she wanted the babies tied legally to the Vale family."
Hudson frowned.
"That makes no sense."
"It does if you understand inheritance law."
Bell explained that Vivian wanted the children to inherit Delilah's fortune but wanted control over their legal guardianship.
However, Delilah had discovered the plan.
She created the trust.
Then she threatened to expose Vivian.
Bell lowered his voice.
"That's when everything changed."
"What happened?"
"Your mother ordered me to alter the records."
"Did you?"
Bell looked ashamed.
"Yes."
Hudson's fists tightened.
"Which baby?"
Bell hesitated.
"Evelyn."
Hudson looked at Naomi.
"Then she's not my biological daughter."
Bell shook his head.
"Actually, she is."
Hudson froze.
"What?"
"The altered record wasn't the biological sample."
"What was altered?"
"The legal paperwork."
Hudson stared.
"Why?"
"To make you believe otherwise."
Bell reached into a box.
He handed Hudson the original records.
All five babies were biologically Hudson's.
Hudson's knees weakened.
Naomi covered her mouth.
Bell whispered:
"Your mother wanted you to doubt your own children."
Hudson closed his eyes.
All the fear.
All the suspicion.
All the nights he'd spent wondering whether he truly belonged in his daughters' lives.
It had been manufactured.
Someone had deliberately poisoned the one thing he still had.
His family.
Hudson turned to Naomi.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Delilah made me promise."
"What promise?"
"That I'd keep the girls safe until you were ready to be their father."
Hudson stared at her.
"And was I?"
Naomi's eyes filled.
"Not then."
He nodded slowly.
"You're right."
They returned to Foxbridge.
Hudson walked into the nursery.
All five babies were awake.
For the first time, he picked them up one after another.
Avery.
Bella.
Clara.
Daisy.
Evelyn.
He held all five.
Naomi stood in the doorway.
Hudson looked at her.
"Thank you."
She smiled.
"You don't have to thank me."
"I do."
"No."
She shook her head.
"Just don't leave them again."
Hudson looked at his daughters.
"I won't."
Then the front doors opened.
Richard rushed inside.
"Mr. Vale!"
Hudson turned.
"What?"
"Your mother is gone."
Hudson frowned.
"Where?"
"She disappeared from the hotel."
"Find her."
Richard hesitated.
"There's more."
"What?"
"We found evidence she transferred eighty million dollars."
"Where?"
Richard handed him a file.
"To an offshore account."
Hudson opened it.
The account holder's name made him freeze.
Naomi saw his face.
"What?"
Hudson slowly looked up.
"The account belongs to you."
Naomi's face went white.
"What?"
Hudson turned the document around.
Her name was there.
Naomi Brooks.
Account holder.
Eighty million dollars.
Naomi stared at it.
"I've never seen that account."
Hudson believed her.
May you like
But the evidence said otherwise.
And then the mansion alarm began screaming.
