Chapter 4 — My Mother Was Alive, But Richard Had One Final Demand
Chapter 4 — My Mother Was Alive, But Richard Had One Final Demand
I stared at the photograph until my eyes began to hurt.
My mother was sitting in a gray room, older than I remembered, but unmistakably alive.
For eleven years, I had believed I had lost both parents.
My father was supposedly killed in a warehouse accident.
My mother had supposedly died two years later from complications after a long illness.
I had attended her funeral.
I had stood beside a closed coffin.
I had watched dirt fall onto the grave.
And now she was staring at a camera somewhere, apparently waiting for me to find her.
Lauren touched my arm.
“Daniel, we can’t go.”
I looked at her.
“I know.”
“You can’t meet Richard alone.”
“He specifically told me to.”
“That doesn’t mean you should.”
I looked back at the SUV across the street.
It was gone.
“They’re already watching us.”
Lauren’s face went pale.
I closed the curtains.
“Then we stop reacting.”
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we find out what Richard is afraid of.”
I opened the laptop.
The documents Evelyn had sent me were still there.
I searched through the folders again.
One file caught my attention.
CARTER HOLDINGS — SUCCESSION TRUST
I opened it.
The first page contained my father’s signature.
The second contained the names of several companies I had never heard of.
The third contained a clause that made me sit back.
Upon Daniel Carter reaching thirty years of age, all controlling shares held in trust shall become transferable at the beneficiary’s discretion, provided the beneficiary has not entered into a marriage created or maintained under coercion, deception, or financial arrangement.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Lauren.
She understood immediately.
“They were waiting for your thirtieth birthday.”
“My birthday was six months ago.”
She nodded.
“And we got married two years ago.”
I felt something click into place.
“That’s why Richard needed you.”
Lauren’s eyes filled with tears.
“He needed proof that my marriage to you was real.”
“And if it wasn’t?”
“He could challenge the trust.”
I leaned back.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Lauren hadn’t been sent into my life to steal money.
She had been sent to make sure Richard could control what happened to the inheritance.
But then another question remained.
“Why the pregnancy?”
Lauren looked down at her stomach.
“I don’t know.”
“Richard knew before you did.”
She nodded slowly.
“Mason knew too.”
I remembered the document.
Do not allow Daniel to discover the pregnancy until Mason confirms paternity.
There was something wrong with that sentence.
I turned to Lauren.
“When did you first take a pregnancy test?”
“Eight weeks ago.”
“Where?”
“At home.”
“Who knew?”
“I told Mason.”
“Before me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lauren looked ashamed.
“Because I was terrified.”
“Of what?”
She hesitated.
“That the baby would be used against you.”
I stared at her.
“Used how?”
“Richard knew about the trust clause.”
She took a breath.
“He thought if the baby was Mason’s, you would lose control of the inheritance because our marriage would become part of his argument that you had been deceived.”
“But if the baby is mine?”
“Then the trust stays intact.”
I looked at the medical records.
“That’s why Mason needed the paternity test.”
Lauren nodded.
“He wasn’t trying to prove you weren’t the father.”
“He was trying to prove that I was.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
For months, I had believed my wife was cheating on me.
The truth was somehow worse.
Our marriage had been turned into a legal battlefield before I even knew there was a war.
Then my phone rang.
Evelyn.
I answered.
“Richard has my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew she was alive.”
“I suspected.”
“You sent me into that office knowing someone was watching.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
She paused.
“Marcus.”
I stood.
“Where is he?”
“Not far from you.”
The line went silent.
Then Evelyn said something I wasn’t prepared for.
“Daniel, there’s something else you need to know about your father.”
“What?”
“He didn’t disappear alone.”
I waited.
“He took your mother with him.”
My eyes went to the photograph.
“Why?”
“Because Richard wasn’t the only person inside the company.”
“Who else?”
“Your father discovered that the financial theft was only the surface.”
“What was underneath it?”
“Blackmail.”
I frowned.
“Against whom?”
“Politicians. Judges. Business owners. Executives.”
I said nothing.
Evelyn continued.
“Carter Holdings had been collecting confidential information on powerful people for years. Richard used it to control contracts, settle disputes, and silence anyone who threatened the company.”
“So my father tried to expose him.”
“Yes.”
“And Richard killed him?”
“No.”
Her answer surprised me.
“Then what happened?”
“Your father staged his death because he knew Richard would come after you next.”
I looked at Lauren.
“Why didn’t he contact me?”
“Because he believed you were safer believing he was dead.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It did to him.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Evelyn.”
“I told you. I haven’t seen him in eleven years.”
Before I could respond, another call came through.
Marcus.
I answered.
His voice was low.
“Daniel, don’t trust the photograph.”
“What?”
“Your mother is alive.”
“I know.”
“But that’s not where she is.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“The photograph was taken months ago.”
I looked at the timestamp.
It was impossible.
“Then where is she now?”
Marcus exhaled.
“That’s what Richard wants you to find out.”
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone.
Lauren whispered, “What did he say?”
I told her.
Then we heard a knock at the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Lauren grabbed my hand.
Another three.
I walked toward the entryway.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
The knocking stopped.
A piece of paper slid underneath the door.
I picked it up.
There were only six words.
You have until midnight, Daniel.
Then my phone buzzed again.
This time it wasn’t Richard.
It was my father.
A single text.
Do not go to the meeting.
I stared at the screen.
A second message appeared.
Richard doesn’t have your mother.
Then a third.
I do.
Lauren read over my shoulder.
She stepped backward.
“What does that mean?”
I couldn’t answer.
Because another photograph had arrived.
My mother was sitting at a table.
My father was sitting across from her.
And between them was a folder.
On the front was my name.
DANIEL CARTER — ORIGINAL INHERITANCE AGREEMENT
At the bottom of the photograph, someone had written:
Your father has been lying to you too.
Lauren looked at me.
“Daniel…”
I slowly closed my eyes.
For the first time, I realized I had been asking the wrong question.
It wasn’t Who was lying to me?
It was Which lie was protecting me?
I opened my eyes.
“We’re going to the meeting.”
Lauren shook her head.
“You just got a message from your father telling you not to.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because if Richard thinks he’s controlling the meeting, he’ll show us where my mother is.”
“And your father?”
I looked at the photograph again.
“I think he’s going to be there too.”
Lauren grabbed my arm.
“Daniel, what if that’s exactly what they want?”
I looked at her.
“Then we make sure we’re not the only ones walking into the trap.”
I picked up my phone and called Evelyn.
She answered immediately.
“I need one thing from you.”
“What?”
“Every file you have on Richard.”
A pause.
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow night, I’m going to meet the man who destroyed my family.”
Evelyn’s voice dropped.
“Daniel…”
“What?”
“Tomorrow night isn’t the meeting.”
I froze.
“The meeting is tonight.”
I looked at the clock.
11:37 p.m.
Twenty-three minutes remained.
And suddenly, somewhere outside our house, a car engine started.