Chapter 9 - ROBERT’S OTHER HEIR
Julian’s expression emptied.
For the first time since Karen had known him, he had no prepared response.
“You are lying,” he said.
Patricia kept the gun aimed at his chest.
“Robert had an affair with your mother, Elena Voss.”
Nathan looked at Karen.
That would make Julian another of Robert’s children.
Karen’s half brother.
The man she had married.
Karen felt physically ill.
Julian shook his head.
“Robert investigated my family.”
“He investigated you because Elena threatened to reveal the truth.”
“You told me my father was a factory worker.”
“He was convenient.”
“Why would Robert abandon me?”
“For the same reason he abandoned Nathan.”
Patricia glanced toward Karen.
“To preserve the daughter he had publicly chosen.”
Flames moved closer through the archive.
Rebecca found an emergency control panel.
The system required two Hale family fingerprints.
Robert had designed it to prevent one heir from controlling the archive alone.
Karen pressed her hand to the first scanner.
Nathan used the second.
The fire doors began opening.
Julian watched them.
“I am a Hale.”
“That changes nothing,” Karen said.
“It changes everything.”
“You hurt Lily.”
“You stole from the company.”
“You tried to destroy me.”
“Blood does not excuse any of it.”
Julian looked toward Patricia.
“You knew when I married Karen.”
“Yes.”
“And you allowed it.”
“You were already useful.”
Julian moved so quickly that Patricia barely reacted.
He struck her wrist.
The gun fired.
The bullet entered Rebecca’s shoulder.
Nathan tackled Julian.
Karen ran to Rebecca.
Blood soaked her coat.
“I’m all right,” Rebecca said through clenched teeth.
“You were shot.”
“I have survived worse family meetings.”
Patricia and Julian struggled near the furnace.
Julian seized the black archive case.
He pushed Patricia toward the flames.
Karen left Rebecca with Nathan and intercepted him.
Julian grabbed her throat.
“You should have shared it.”
“Shared what?”
“Our father.”
“I did not know you existed.”
“He did.”
“Then hate him.”
Julian’s grip tightened.
“Do not punish my daughter for his cowardice.”
For one second, his expression softened.
Then Patricia struck him from behind.
The archive case fell open.
A hard drive slid across the floor.
Nathan picked it up.
Julian lunged toward him.
A burning support beam collapsed between them.
Smoke filled the chamber.
Karen and Nathan carried Rebecca toward the exit.
Patricia followed.
Julian remained trapped behind the beam.
Karen turned back.
He stood amid the flames, holding the silver drive.
“Julian!”
“Go,” he shouted.
Karen hesitated.
Despite everything, she could not watch another person die in a fire created by the Hale family’s secrets.
She returned with a steel pole.
Nathan helped her lift the beam.
Julian crawled beneath it.
They escaped seconds before the archive ceiling collapsed.
Outside, Karen placed Rebecca into an ambulance.
Federal agents surrounded Patricia.
This time, she did not resist.
Julian sat on the frozen ground, coughing.
Karen took the silver drive from his hand.
“You saved me,” he said.
“I saved myself from becoming you.”
He looked toward the burning farmhouse.
“Robert was my father.”
“Probably.”
“I need proof.”
“You need to face what you did before any new truth becomes another excuse.”
Police approached him.
Julian did not run.
Then Nathan opened the digital archive.
The master drive contained Robert’s private journals.
One entry confirmed Julian’s paternity.
Another revealed why Robert had hidden him.
Elena Voss had not threatened Robert.
She had tried to surrender Julian to him.
Robert refused.
He paid Patricia to place the infant with another family.
Patricia kept the child instead.
She raised him within the Circle.
Julian read the entry from the police vehicle.
Tears appeared in his eyes, but he wiped them away before anyone could see.
Officers transported him to the city.
Karen believed the nightmare was ending.
At dawn, the board voted unanimously to remove Julian from Hale Meridian.
Karen became interim chief executive.
Nathan received a seat as Robert’s recognized son.
The custody case was dismissed.
Karen brought Lily home to a secure apartment.
They slept for six hours.
When Karen woke, Lily was gone.
A handwritten note lay on the kitchen table.
Mom,
Julian sent me a message.
He says Dad’s death was not an accident.
I need to know the truth.
Please do not follow me.
Karen ran to the window.
A black car disappeared around the corner.
Julian had been arrested hours earlier.
There was only one person who could have sent the message from his account.
Karen called Nathan.
He did not answer.
Then security footage appeared on her phone.
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It showed Lily entering Nathan’s car willingly.
As the video ended, Nathan looked directly into the camera and smiled:
