Chapter 12: The Warning
Daniel stared at the black screen.
Claire's final words echoed inside his head.
Don't trust Victoria.
He slowly turned toward the woman standing beside him.
Victoria had heard it too.
Her face drained of color.
“Daniel…”
“Don't.”
One word.
Cold.
Final.
Victoria stopped.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Why would Claire tell me not to trust you?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I swear.”
Arthur suddenly spoke from behind them.
“Daniel, listen to her.”
Daniel turned.
“You knew about the warehouse.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew my mother owned it.”
“Yes.”
“Then what else have you been hiding?”
Arthur lowered his eyes.
“Too much.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That's the first honest thing you've said tonight.”
He grabbed his keys.
“I’m going.”
Victoria followed.
“So am I.”
Daniel turned.
“You heard Claire.”
“She doesn't know what happened after the divorce.”
“And you do?”
Victoria hesitated.
“I know who took her.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Victoria looked at Arthur.
“He was there.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Victoria continued.
“Five years ago, your mother hired a private security company. Their job was to make Claire disappear until the divorce was finalized.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What happened?”
“They took Claire to the warehouse.”
His breathing stopped.
“Then?”
Victoria swallowed.
“She escaped.”
Daniel stared at her.
“How?”
“She wasn't alone.”
A terrible silence filled the room.
“Who helped her?”
Victoria whispered:
“A man named Michael Reed.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who is Michael Reed?”
Arthur finally looked up.
“Your father's former attorney.”
Daniel stared at him.
“My father?”
Arthur nodded.
“He discovered what your mother had done.”
“Where is he now?”
Arthur didn't answer.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where?”
“He disappeared six months after the divorce.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Convenient.”
Suddenly, Victoria's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Daniel held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
She hesitated.
“Now.”
Victoria handed him the phone.
Daniel answered.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
“You're looking in the wrong direction.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Where is Claire?”
“Closer than you think.”
“Who are you?”
The caller laughed softly.
“Someone your mother couldn't silence.”
Daniel's grip tightened.
“What do you want?”
“I want the Carter family exposed.”
Daniel glanced at his father.
“Why?”
“Because your father knows why your mother wanted those children dead.”
Daniel went completely still.
“What did you say?”
The call ended.
Victoria stared at him.
“Dead?”
Daniel looked at Arthur.
“Dad.”
Arthur said nothing.
“Did my mother try to kill my children?”
Arthur's silence was devastating.
Daniel grabbed him by the collar.
“ANSWER ME!”
Arthur's eyes filled with tears.
“She never wanted them alive.”
Daniel released him slowly.
“Why?”
Arthur's voice broke.
“Because those children prove everything she did was a lie.”
Daniel's mind raced.
The forged medical records.
The threats.
The warehouse.
Claire's disappearance.
The twins.
Everything was connected.
But one question remained.
Why were the children so dangerous?
Arthur walked toward the safe.
“There is one more document.”
He removed a sealed envelope.
“This is why your mother was terrified.”
Daniel took it.
The seal had already been broken.
Inside was a birth certificate.
He read the names.
His hands began to tremble.
Mother: Claire Carter.
Father: Daniel Carter.
But beneath their names was something else.
A handwritten notation from the hospital.
CONFIDENTIAL — MULTIPLE BIRTH.
Daniel looked up.
“Twins.”
Arthur nodded.
“That isn't the secret.”
Daniel continued reading.
His eyes widened.
The twins hadn't simply been born five years ago.
Their birth had been recorded under a different date.
A date nearly three months before the divorce.
Daniel looked at his father.
“That means…”
Arthur whispered:
“Your mother knew Claire was pregnant before you ever filed for divorce.”
Daniel's face went pale.
“She knew?”
“She knew everything.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Everyone froze.
Then another.
Someone was inside the mansion.
Daniel reached for his phone.
“No signal.”
Victoria looked toward the hallway.
“Someone cut the power.”
Arthur whispered:
“They found us.”
Daniel grabbed Victoria's hand.
“Stay behind me.”
They moved toward the staircase.
A shadow crossed the wall.
Then another.
Daniel stopped.
Footsteps approached.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then the front door slammed open.
A man stepped into the foyer.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
The face from the photograph.
Michael Reed.
But he wasn't alone.
Standing beside him was a woman Daniel had never expected to see again.
His mother.
Evelyn Carter.
She smiled calmly.
“You finally found the truth, Daniel.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Where is Claire?”
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
“She made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She trusted the wrong man.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where are my children?”
Evelyn looked directly into his eyes.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Exactly where I need them to be.”
