Chapter 10 - The Secret Birth
James walked toward us.
Nobody spoke.
Ryan was the first.
“Where is my father?”
James stopped.
“Alive.”
Ryan's face tightened.
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“For twenty-three years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he was protecting the child.”
Ryan's eyes widened.
“Elena's son?”
James nodded.
“Where is he?”
James looked at me.
“That's complicated.”
I stepped forward.
“No more riddles.”
James sighed.
“Fine.”
He looked at all of us.
“Your grandfather didn't simply hide Elena's child.”
He paused.
“He hid the child's identity.”
“Why?”
“Because your father and Vane were searching for him.”
I frowned.
“What did they want?”
“The boy's bloodline.”
I stared.
“Bloodline?”
James nodded.
“Carter Holdings was built around a founding agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“The founder's shares could only pass to a direct male descendant.”
I looked at Emily's records.
“Elena's son.”
“Yes.”
“And if he was alive…”
“He could claim control.”
“Even now?”
“Especially now.”
“Why?”
James handed me another document.
A corporate succession agreement.
I read it.
The founding shares were divided into three categories.
Twenty-two percent in the first trust.
Twenty percent in the second.
And eight percent held by a dormant family foundation.
Fifty percent.
Controlling interest.
All connected to Elena's bloodline.
I looked at James.
“That's fifty percent.”
“Yes.”
“Who owns the other half?”
“Your father.”
My stomach tightened.
“So if Elena's son appears…”
“Your father loses control.”
“And the second trust?”
“Transfers to him.”
I stared at the document.
“Then why create Noah's trust?”
James looked at Emily.
“Because your grandfather believed the bloodline would eventually continue.”
I frowned.
“Our son.”
“Yes.”
“But Noah isn't Elena's son.”
“No.”
James paused.
“He is Elena's nephew.”
“That doesn't give him the same claim.”
“It does under the amended succession agreement.”
I stared.
“What amendment?”
James reached into his coat.
“The one your father never found.”
He handed me a document.
My grandfather's signature was at the bottom.
The clause was simple.
If the original heir cannot be located, the inheritance passes to the nearest direct descendant of the original bloodline.
I read it twice.
Then my heart stopped.
“That's Noah.”
“Yes.”
“That's why they want him.”
“Yes.”
Emily touched her stomach.
“They've been trying to get control before he's born.”
James nodded.
“Because once he's born, the succession becomes nearly impossible to challenge.”
I stared at him.
“Nearly?”
“There is one problem.”
“What?”
“The original heir may still be alive.”
I froze.
“Elena's son?”
James nodded.
“Where is he?”
“We don't know.”
“Then find him.”
James looked at me.
“We've been searching for twenty-three years.”
“Who is searching?”
“Your grandfather's network.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Your network?”
“Yes.”
“You failed.”
James looked away.
“Yes.”
“Then I'll find him.”
James studied me.
“You may already know him.”
I stopped.
“What?”
He said nothing.
“James.”
He turned toward Ryan.
“Ask your friend.”
I looked at Ryan.
He looked confused.
“What does he mean?”
James walked away.
I grabbed his arm.
“Who is Elena's son?”
He looked at me.
Then at Ryan.
Then whispered:
“His name was changed.”
“To what?”
James pulled free.
“Ryan knows.”
Ryan stood motionless.
I looked at him.
“What did he mean?”
“I don't know.”
“Your father was protecting the child.”
“Yes.”
“Your father disappeared the same year Elena did.”
“Yes.”
“You work for Carter Holdings.”
“Yes.”
“You were given access to the same records.”
“Yes.”
“And James says you know.”
Ryan shook his head.
“I swear I don't.”
I stared at him.
Then I noticed something.
His expression wasn't confusion.
It was recognition.
“Ryan.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“Why are you scared?”
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
He looked away.
I stepped closer.
“Your father left you something, didn't he?”
Silence.
“Ryan.”
He reached into his wallet.
Pulled out an old photograph.
A young woman.
Elena.
Beside her was a newborn baby.
And a man.
Thomas Mercer.
Ryan's father.
On the back was written:
MY SON.
I stared at the photograph.
“That's Elena.”
“Yes.”
“And the baby?”
Ryan's hands trembled.
“I don't know.”
I turned the photograph over.
There was another line.
His name is Daniel.
My heart stopped.
Ryan looked at me.
“My father's son.”
I stared at him.
“Your father named the baby Daniel?”
“Yes.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then Emily walked toward us.
She looked at the photograph.
Her eyes widened.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
She pointed to the baby.
“I've seen that picture.”
“Where?”
“In my mother's house.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“My mother kept a copy.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Ryan stared at Emily.
“Then your mother knew.”
Emily nodded slowly.
“She knew.”
The pieces were falling into place.
My mother.
Emily's mother.
Thomas Mercer.
James Whitaker.
Elena.
My father.
Vane.
All connected.
But one question remained.
Why was the baby named Daniel?
I looked at Ryan.
“Your father named him after me.”
Ryan nodded.
“Why?”
He whispered:
“Because my father said the child needed someone he could trust.”
I felt cold.
“Someone who wasn't part of the family.”
Ryan shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“He said the child needed someone who would one day protect him.”
I stared.
“Who?”
Ryan's answer came quietly.
“You.”
The hospital doors suddenly opened.
Police rushed inside.
One officer ran toward us.
“Mr. Carter!”
“What happened?”
“We found your wife.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“An abandoned property outside the city.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“Is the baby okay?”
“She is conscious.”
Emily covered her mouth.
“She's alive.”
I turned toward the officer.
“Take me to her.”
“There's more.”
“What?”
“We found another person with her.”
“Who?”
The officer hesitated.
“A woman.”
“Who?”
He looked at Emily.
“She says her name is Elena.”
Emily burst into tears.
We arrived at the property twenty minutes later.
The police had surrounded the building.
I ran inside.
Emily was sitting on a chair.
Her wrists had been cut free.
She looked exhausted.
But alive.
I dropped beside her.
“Emily.”
She threw her arms around me.
I held her tightly.
“I thought I'd lost you.”
“I knew you'd come.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”
She placed my hand against her stomach.
A strong kick answered.
I closed my eyes.
“Thank God.”
Then Emily whispered:
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“She's here.”
I looked toward the doorway.
A woman stood there.
Older.
Thin.
A scar across her face.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Emily's eyes.
She looked at me.
“Hello.”
Emily stood slowly.
“Elena?”
The woman began crying.
“Yes.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Then ran toward her.
The sisters embraced.
I looked away.
It felt too private.
Then I heard a voice behind me.
“You found her.”
I turned.
My father.
Standing in the doorway.
Police immediately surrounded him.
He raised his hands.
“I didn't come to fight.”
I stared.
“Then why are you here?”
He looked at Elena.
“Because she knows where the boy is.”
Elena's face went pale.
“What boy?”
My father looked at me.
“The child.”
“What child?”
He whispered:
“Your son.”
I felt the world stop.
“What are you talking about?”
My father looked at Emily.
Then at Elena.
Then at me.
“Your unborn son isn't the only child connected to the Carter inheritance.”
I shook my head.
“Explain.”
He took a breath.
“Twenty-three years ago, Elena gave birth to a boy.”
I already knew.
But hearing it from him made my blood run cold.
“That boy survived.”
I looked at Ryan.
My father continued.
“Your grandfather hid him.”
“Where?”
My father smiled.
“Closer than you think.”
I stared.
“Where?”
He looked at Ryan.
Then said:
“Ask him.”
Ryan stepped backward.
“No.”
My father nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked at Ryan.
“Tell me.”
Ryan's face had gone completely white.
“My father told me I wasn't supposed to remember.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Ryan began shaking.
“I was adopted.”
Silence.
“My father raised me.”
I stared at him.
“But he wasn't my biological father.”
Nobody moved.
Ryan looked at Elena.
She was crying.
Then he whispered:
“She is my mother.”
I felt my heart stop.
Emily looked between them.
“Ryan…”
Elena walked toward him.
Ryan couldn't move.
She reached up.
Touched his face.
“My baby.”
Ryan collapsed into her arms.
I stood there in shock.
Twenty-three years.
A missing child.
A hidden heir.
A secret trust.
And the man I had trusted more than anyone—
was Elena's son.
The original heir to Carter Holdings.
The child my grandfather had hidden.
The child my father had spent twenty-three years trying to find.
The child Alexander Vane wanted dead.
Ryan looked at me through tears.
“I never knew.”
I nodded slowly.
“I believe you.”
Then my father spoke.
“You should be more worried about something else.”
I turned.
“What?”
He looked at Emily's stomach.
“Ryan is the original heir.”
He smiled.
“But your unborn son…”
His eyes darkened.
“Is the successor.”
The room went silent.
My father continued:
“Which means if Ryan dies…”
His gaze fixed on Emily.
“Everything passes to your child.”
I felt a terrible cold spread through me.
Ryan understood too.
He looked at Elena.
Then at me.
And finally at Emily.
May you like
My father smiled.
“That is why this war has only just begun.”
