CHAPTER 8 — THE ACCOUNT MY HUSBAND DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED
The door handle stopped moving.
I stood perfectly still.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it.
Richard was outside.
The man who had spent the last twenty-four hours presenting himself as my protector.
The man who had given me the documents.
The man who had helped me find the vault.
The man my father had just warned me not to trust.
And now he was standing outside my hotel room.
“I know you're inside,” Richard said.
I didn't answer.
“Emily, please.”
His voice sounded different.
Not threatening.
Desperate.
I looked at my phone.
Jonathan was still on the line.
“Don't open it,” he whispered.
“I won't.”
Richard knocked again.
“I know what Thomas told you.”
My blood ran cold.
“How?”
Silence.
Then he said,
“Because I was there when he recorded it.”
I stared at the door.
Jonathan whispered,
“What did he say?”
I didn't answer.
Richard continued.
“Emily, your father didn't disappear.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
Richard didn't answer.
“By whom?”
He finally whispered,
“Victor.”
I closed my eyes.
“You said Victor was dead.”
“He was supposed to be.”
“What happened?”
Richard's voice cracked.
“Everything went wrong.”
I looked at Jonathan.
“Can I trust him?”
Jonathan hesitated.
“I don't know.”
That answer terrified me more than anything else.
I moved toward the bathroom.
There was another door.
A connecting door to the neighboring room.
I checked it.
Locked.
I called the front desk.
“Security.”
“Ma'am?”
“There is a man outside my room who I don't want inside.”
“What's his name?”
“Richard Carter.”
The receptionist paused.
“Sir Richard Carter?”
“Yes.”
“He's listed as an authorized guest.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He has access to your floor.”
I hung up.
Richard had planned ahead.
I looked at Jonathan.
“They gave him access.”
“Then leave through the service stairs.”
I grabbed my coat.
“Where?”
“Hospital.”
“Why?”
“Because I have something you need to see.”
I opened the connecting door.
It was locked.
I looked around.
Then I noticed the emergency exit sign.
I ran.
The hallway was empty.
I pushed open the stairwell.
Cold concrete.
Fluorescent lights.
My footsteps echoed.
I descended three floors.
When I reached the lobby, I didn't stop.
I walked through the side entrance and into the freezing night.
A black SUV was parked across the street.
I stopped.
Was it Richard?
The driver's door opened.
Daniel stepped out.
“Emily.”
I almost turned around.
“What are you doing here?”
“Jonathan called me.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because he thinks you're in danger.”
I hesitated.
Daniel opened the passenger door.
“Get in.”
I didn't move.
“I'm not going to hurt you.”
“You've said that before.”
“I know.”
He looked broken.
“But this time I'm telling you the truth.”
I stared at him.
Then I got into the car.
We drove in silence.
After several minutes, Daniel spoke.
“Did you access the account?”
I turned toward him.
“How do you know?”
“Because the account sent an alert.”
“To whom?”
“Your father-in-law.”
I froze.
“Richard knew?”
Daniel nodded.
“The trust system notified all original trustees.”
I stared out the window.
“So he knows.”
“Yes.”
“What else did he know?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Almost everything.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I found something.”
He reached into the center console.
He pulled out a USB drive.
“What is it?”
“Bank records.”
“From where?”
“My mother's private office.”
I looked at him.
“How did you get them?”
“I broke into her safe.”
“You did what?”
“I needed proof.”
He handed me the drive.
I stared at it.
“What am I looking for?”
“Payments.”
“To Victor?”
“No.”
“To Richard.”
My heart stopped.
“Your father?”
Daniel nodded.
“Over the last ten years.”
I looked at the USB.
“How much?”
“Thirty-one million.”
I stared.
“Thirty-one million?”
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
“Multiple shell companies.”
“Why would anyone pay your father thirty-one million dollars?”
Daniel looked at me.
“That's what I don't know.”
I inserted the drive into my laptop.
Folders appeared.
I opened the first.
Transactions.
Dates.
Account numbers.
Then I saw it.
Thomas Carter Estate.
I froze.
“What?”
Daniel leaned closer.
“This account was active after your father's death.”
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
My hands began shaking.
“That means…”
“Yes.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Your father wasn't dead.”
I stared at the screen.
The account had received payments for seven years.
The last transaction was dated four years ago.
Recipient:
Carter Trust — Emergency Protection Fund
Amount:
$3,500,000
I whispered,
“Someone was still paying him.”
Daniel nodded.
“Or someone was paying someone pretending to be him.”
I opened another file.
This one contained surveillance photographs.
My father.
Walking through airports.
Entering hotels.
Meeting people.
Alive.
Years after his supposed death.
I covered my mouth.
One photograph was dated five years after his funeral.
My father was standing outside a hotel in Boston.
Beside him was—
Richard.
I stared.
Daniel looked at me.
“I've never seen that.”
“Neither have I.”
The photograph was followed by a report.
SUBJECTS: THOMAS CARTER / RICHARD CARTER
I read the first line.
Both subjects continue to monitor Emily Carter.
My stomach turned.
“Why was Richard monitoring me with my father?”
Daniel didn't answer.
I opened the next file.
There was a video.
I clicked it.
My father appeared on screen.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
He sat in a dark room.
Richard sat across from him.
I leaned closer.
My father's voice was clear.
“She cannot know.”
Richard replied,
“She deserves the truth.”
“No.”
“Thomas—”
“If she knows, Victor will find her.”
Richard looked angry.
“You can't hide her forever.”
“I only need twenty years.”
My heart stopped.
Twenty years.
The same period.
My father's plan had always been twenty years.
Then he said something that made me freeze.
“Once Emily turns thirty-six, the trust activates.”
Richard nodded.
“And Victoria?”
My father looked away.
“She must survive too.”
Richard asked,
“What if they find her?”
My father answered,
“Then Emily becomes the only remaining heir.”
The video ended.
I sat frozen.
Daniel whispered,
“Emily.”
I looked at him.
“My father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For years.”
“Yes.”
“Richard knew.”
“Yes.”
“And he helped him.”
“Yes.”
I didn't know whether to feel betrayed or relieved.
Maybe both.
Then another folder caught my attention.
PROJECT 36.
I opened it.
There were dozens of documents.
The first contained my name.
The second contained Victoria's.
The third contained Daniel's.
The fourth—
Margaret's.
Then I saw something that made my blood run cold.
SUBJECT PLACEMENT: DANIEL CARTER
I stared at the words.
“What is this?”
Daniel leaned closer.
His face changed.
“I don't know.”
I scrolled.
Male subject approved for proximity placement.
Target: Emily Carter.
Objective: Marriage.
My heart stopped.
I turned toward Daniel.
He looked horrified.
“No.”
The next line appeared.
Marriage expected to occur within three years.
Another line:
Subject must remain unaware of full objective.
I stared at him.
“You were assigned to me.”
Daniel shook his head violently.
“No.”
“Your name is right there.”
“I know.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can't.”
“You knew.”
“I didn't.”
“You knew!”
He slammed his hands against the steering wheel.
“I DIDN'T!”
The car went silent.
Daniel's breathing became ragged.
“I swear to you, Emily.”
He looked at me.
“When I met you, I loved you.”
I wanted to believe him.
But the document was right there.
He continued.
“I was supposed to meet you.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
“My mother introduced us.”
I remembered.
Our first meeting.
A charity event.
Margaret had invited me.
Daniel had approached me.
I thought it was fate.
It wasn't.
My mother-in-law had engineered the meeting.
I looked at Daniel.
“Did you know who I was?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about my father?”
“No.”
“Did you know about the trust?”
“No.”
“Then why did you marry me?”
He looked at me.
“Because I fell in love with you.”
I shook my head.
“You can't separate the two.”
“I know.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“But what began as something my mother arranged became the only real thing in my life.”
I looked away.
I couldn't forgive him.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
But I could see the pain on his face.
And for the first time, I realized Daniel might have been trapped too.
Then I noticed another document.
PROJECT 36 — FINAL DIRECTIVE
I opened it.
The document was signed.
Not by Margaret.
Not by Victor.
Not by Richard.
The signature belonged to—
Thomas Carter.
I read the directive.
Daniel Carter is not to be harmed.
Daniel Carter is not to be informed.
If Daniel becomes aware of Project 36, he must be removed from Emily's proximity.
I looked at Daniel.
“You weren't the enemy.”
He stared at the screen.
“No.”
I scrolled down.
The final paragraph was short.
If Emily discovers the truth before the activation date, bring her to Victoria.
I froze.
“Why Victoria?”
Daniel didn't answer.
My phone rang.
Victoria.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Her voice was shaking.
“Emily.”
“Where are you?”
“Not where I want to be.”
“What happened?”
“They found me.”
“Who?”
“Richard.”
My blood ran cold.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
I heard movement on her end.
Then she whispered,
“Listen to me.”
“I am.”
“Your father trusted Richard.”
I frowned.
“Then why did he warn me not to?”
“Because Richard betrayed him.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He betrayed your father once.”
“When?”
“The night Thomas disappeared.”
I looked at Daniel.
“What did he do?”
Victoria's voice broke.
“He was supposed to help Thomas escape.”
“And?”
“He gave Victor the location.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
“He had no choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“He owed Victor.”
My blood turned cold.
“How much?”
Victoria whispered,
“Thirty-one million dollars.”
The exact amount.
The payments in Daniel's USB drive.
I closed my eyes.
Richard hadn't been paid for protecting my father.
He had been paid for betraying him.
Then Victoria said something even worse.
“And Emily…”
“Yes?”
“Your father isn't dead.”
My heart stopped.
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice became urgent.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“I saw him yesterday.”
I froze.
“Where?”
She whispered a location.
A private airfield outside the city.
“He's leaving.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard found him.”
The call suddenly filled with static.
“Victoria?”
No answer.
“Victoria?”
Then I heard one final whisper.
“Find your father before Richard does.”
The line went dead.
I looked at Daniel.
He was already starting the engine.
“Where are we going?”
“To the airfield.”
I looked down at the screen.
The Swiss account.
The secret documents.
Project 36.
The fake death.
Richard's betrayal.
My father's survival.
Everything was finally connecting.
But as Daniel drove into the darkness, I realized one thing.
My father had spent twenty years preparing for this moment.
And if he was still alive—
then he had known all along that one day I would have to choose between two people.
The man who raised me from afar…
and the man who had been destroying my family from the shadows.
May you like
And somewhere ahead of us—
one of them was waiting.
