CHAPTER 13 — THE MAN WHO STOOD BESIDE MY FATHER’S GRAVE
I knew that voice.
Eight years ago, I had heard it through the rain.
At my father's funeral.
A stranger had stood beneath a black umbrella, watching from across the cemetery.
I had been too broken to remember his face.
But I remembered his voice.
Calm.
Deep.
Almost gentle.
Now it came from the darkness beneath the cemetery.
“That's enough.”
Dominic stepped in front of me.
My father raised his gun.
“Richard.”
A man slowly emerged from the tunnel.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
One hand resting casually inside his coat.
Richard Cole.
The man who was supposed to have died six years ago.
The man who had been standing beside my father's grave.
The man whose signature appeared beside Charles Whitmore's on the document labeled:
PROJECT HEIR.
I stared at him.
“You watched me.”
Richard smiled.
“Of course.”
“For eight years.”
“For twenty-seven.”
My stomach dropped.
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Drop yours.”
Richard laughed.
“You still think this is about guns.”
He looked at Dominic.
“It never was.”
My father stepped forward.
“What did you do with Linda?”
Richard's expression barely changed.
“She is alive.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“You kidnapped her.”
“I protected her.”
My father almost laughed.
“You call kidnapping protection?”
“I call it keeping her away from people who would have killed her.”
I stepped forward.
“Who?”
Richard looked at me.
“You.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You are the reason your mother has been in danger for twenty-seven years.”
My father's face hardened.
“Don't you dare put this on her.”
Richard ignored him.
“Avery, do you know why your mother received anonymous payments for three years?”
“The dialysis bills.”
“Yes.”
“Anthony paid them.”
Richard nodded.
“Anthony started the payments.”
“Why?”
“Because he regretted what happened.”
“What happened?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“He realized too late that Isabella had made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Keeping both children alive.”
I felt Dominic beside me.
He was silent.
Richard continued.
“Anthony wanted to take you and Dominic away from Isabella.”
“And you stopped him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed the Moretti family should remain intact.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“You're lying.”
Richard looked at him.
“You were raised to believe power was your birthright.”
“It isn't.”
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“You were raised to believe you were Anthony's son.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“I am.”
“Perhaps.”
Richard shrugged.
“But blood isn't what determines an heir.”
He reached into his coat.
Dominic raised his gun.
Richard slowly pulled out a photograph.
He threw it onto the floor.
I picked it up.
It showed Anthony Moretti standing beside a woman.
Isabella.
And between them—
a newborn baby.
Dominic.
On the back was a handwritten note.
FIRSTBORN MALE — ACCEPTED.
I turned the photograph over.
Another picture.
Me.
Same hospital.
Same night.
But the note was different.
SECOND CHILD — REMOVE FROM RECORD.
My hands trembled.
“Why?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because Isabella had discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Anthony wasn't the father of both children.”
Dominic froze.
Richard smiled.
“One child was Anthony's.”
He looked at me.
“The other wasn't.”
I felt the world disappear.
“Who is my father?”
Richard said nothing.
My father stepped forward.
“I am.”
Silence.
Dominic looked at Michael.
I couldn't breathe.
My father looked at me.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“You're my father.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Richard say Anthony wasn't the father?”
“Because Anthony was Dominic's biological father.”
I looked at Dominic.
My twin.
My brother.
Then at Michael.
My father.
The pieces were finally falling into place.
But one piece still didn't fit.
“Then who is Isabella to me?”
Michael's eyes filled with pain.
“Your mother.”
“Why did she abandon me?”
“She didn't.”
Richard interrupted.
“She tried to get you back.”
Michael turned on him.
“And you stopped her.”
Richard smiled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to expose the network.”
“And you couldn't let her.”
“No.”
Richard looked at Dominic.
“She wanted to destroy everything.”
Dominic's voice was quiet.
“Then why didn't you kill her?”
Richard's smile vanished.
“Because Isabella had something I needed.”
“What?”
Richard looked at me.
“Her daughter.”
I felt cold.
“What do you mean?”
“You were never just a child.”
Richard took a step toward me.
“You were the key to an account containing nearly half a billion dollars.”
I stared.
“The $480 million.”
“Yes.”
“It's mine?”
“Not exactly.”
He smiled.
“It's your inheritance.”
My father's voice became sharp.
“Don't listen to him.”
Richard continued.
“Anthony hid the money under a trust created in your name.”
Dominic looked at me.
“That's why the medical account existed.”
“Yes.”
“Anthony was protecting her.”
Richard nodded.
“And monitoring her.”
I looked at him.
“You were the one paying the bills.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Anthony was.”
“Then why do you have access?”
“Because Anthony is dead.”
My father stepped forward.
“He isn't.”
Richard's expression changed for the first time.
A tiny flicker of fear.
Dominic noticed.
“You know where he is.”
Richard said nothing.
“You know where my father is.”
Still nothing.
Dominic moved closer.
“Tell me.”
Richard smiled.
“Ask your sister.”
My heart stopped.
Dominic looked at me.
Richard suddenly pulled his hand from his coat.
A flash.
A small metal device hit the ground.
Smoke exploded through the tunnel.
I coughed.
My eyes burned.
Dominic grabbed me.
“Move!”
We ran.
Behind us, my father's voice shouted:
“Avery!”
I turned.
He was still standing there.
Richard was gone.
And Michael was surrounded by smoke.
“Dad!”
“I'll find you!”
“Dad!”
He disappeared into the darkness.
Dominic dragged me forward.
We reached the exit.
Rain poured over us.
I collapsed against a stone wall.
My hands were shaking.
Dominic crouched in front of me.
“You're okay.”
“My father…”
“We'll find him.”
“Richard knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about me.”
“Yes.”
“And he called me his inheritance.”
Dominic stared at me.
“Avery.”
“What?”
“There is something I haven't told you.”
My heart sank.
“What now?”
He reached into his jacket.
Pulled out his phone.
And showed me an encrypted message.
It had arrived thirty seconds earlier.
From an unknown number.
DOMINIC, IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR FATHER AGAIN, BRING AVERY TO THE LAKE HOUSE.
Below it was another sentence.
COME WITHOUT YOUR MEN.
Then a final line.
AND DON'T TELL LINDA.
I stared at the screen.
My voice dropped.
“Why would they say not to tell my mother?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Because they know something about her.”
The realization hit me.
Linda hadn't just been protecting me.
Someone had been protecting Linda too.
And suddenly—
I remembered Gabriel's final words.
Find the man who has been paying for your mother's dialysis.
He's the only one who knows where your real mother is.
I looked at Dominic.
“We're going to the lake house.”
He nodded.
“But we're taking a different route.”
“Why?”
“Because if Richard is watching us…”
Dominic looked toward the dark road.
“…I want him to think we're going exactly where he expects.”
I understood.
For the first time—
May you like
we weren't running from the trap.
We were setting one.
