Chapter 7: The Secret Account
The engine outside roared once.
Then stopped.
I didn't move.
My father's voice was still echoing inside my head.
Bring Lily to me tonight.
Twenty years.
Twenty years since I had heard that voice.
Twenty years since the car accident that supposedly killed him.
Twenty years since I stood beside a closed coffin while people told me I was now the head of the Carter family.
And now he was alive.
Somewhere outside my house.
Waiting.
For my daughter.
I looked at Sarah.
She had heard the entire call.
“Was that him?”
I nodded.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
Sarah immediately reached for her weapon.
“Then we're not taking Lily anywhere.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
Robert was standing near the desk.
His face had lost all color.
“You need to leave this house.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“Your father is alive.”
“I know.”
“And he just demanded that you bring Lily to him.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you standing here?”
“Because I'm done running.”
I looked toward the window.
The Malibu coastline stretched beneath the moon.
Somewhere beyond it, my father was alive.
Somewhere, Emma was alive.
Somewhere, Lily's twin was waiting.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it was Victoria.
I turned to Sarah.
“Can you trace the call?”
“We're trying.”
“Can you find the car outside?”
“The plate is obscured.”
“Then find the vehicle.”
She nodded.
I looked at Robert.
“You said there was an original trust document.”
“Yes.”
“Find it.”
“Daniel…”
“Tonight.”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
I turned toward the stairs.
“I'm going upstairs.”
Sarah followed.
Lily was sitting on her bed.
She looked up when I entered.
“Daddy?”
I smiled.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Was that Mommy Victoria?”
“No.”
“Who was it?”
I sat beside her.
“Someone from Daddy's past.”
“Are they bad?”
I looked at her.
“I don't know yet.”
Lily thought for a moment.
“Is it the man with the black ring?”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
She nodded.
“The man Thomas.”
“You saw his ring?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Christmas.”
“What happened?”
She hugged Bunny tighter.
“He came into the room.”
“Which room?”
“Mommy Victoria's.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I had Daddy's eyes.”
I swallowed.
“What else?”
“He said…”
She paused.
“It's okay.”
“He said I was the wrong girl.”
The room went silent.
“Wrong girl for what?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he say Anna's name?”
Lily nodded.
“He said Anna was the right one.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because she had something I didn't.”
“What?”
Lily shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I pulled her into my arms.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did Victoria?”
Lily nodded.
I closed my eyes.
The anger was there.
But beneath it was something worse.
Fear.
Not for myself.
For Lily.
For the other little girl.
For Emma.
I had spent years thinking money could protect my family.
Security systems.
Private drivers.
Guards.
Cameras.
Gates.
None of it had protected Lily.
Because the danger had been inside the house.
I kissed her forehead.
“Daddy needs to check something.”
“Are you leaving?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She held up her pinky.
I hooked mine around it.
“Promise.”
At midnight, Robert called.
“I found the account.”
“What account?”
“The Carter Foundation Trust.”
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
My stomach tightened.
“How much?”
“Daniel…”
“How much?”
He hesitated.
“Forty-eight million dollars.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Forty-eight million.”
“Who owns it?”
“Technically, the beneficiaries are the children.”
“Lily and Anna?”
“Yes.”
“Who controls it?”
Robert's voice became quieter.
“Victoria.”
My hands curled into fists.
“Why?”
“She was appointed guardian trustee.”
“By my father.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before you married her.”
That sentence hit harder than anything else.
Victoria hadn't become connected to my family after meeting me.
She had been connected before I knew her.
I walked downstairs.
“Show me.”
Robert opened his laptop.
The trust documents appeared.
There were several names.
My father's.
Emma's.
Mine.
Victoria's.
And two beneficiary entries.
Child A.
Child B.
No names.
No birth dates.
Only identification numbers.
I stared.
“Why are they anonymous?”
“Because the original agreement was created before the children were born.”
“What was the purpose?”
Robert scrolled.
“Protection.”
“From what?”
He looked at me.
“Kidnapping.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why would my father create a trust to protect unborn children?”
“Because he expected a threat.”
“What threat?”
“I don't know.”
I pointed at the screen.
“Find out.”
“I've been trying.”
“How long has Victoria controlled this account?”
“Three years.”
“Since she married me.”
“Yes.”
“How much has she taken?”
Robert looked uncomfortable.
“Daniel…”
“How much?”
“Twenty-six million.”
I stared.
“Twenty-six?”
“Transferred through shell companies.”
“Where did it go?”
“Several places.”
“Names.”
Robert displayed them.
Real estate companies.
Consulting firms.
Private security agencies.
Offshore accounts.
Then one name appeared.
Vale Strategic Consulting.
Thomas.
My stomach tightened.
“How much to him?”
“Seven-point-eight million.”
I sat down.
“Seven million?”
“Eight million, almost.”
“What did she pay him for?”
“We don't know.”
“Find out.”
Robert nodded.
I stared at the account.
Forty-eight million.
Twenty-six million stolen.
Seven-point-eight million to Thomas.
And Victoria had spent years telling me she wanted nothing from my money.
She had always said:
“I married you because I love you.”
I suddenly wondered if she had ever loved me at all.
Sarah entered.
“We found the SUV.”
“Where?”
“Eight miles away.”
“Driver?”
“Gone.”
“Cameras?”
“We're checking.”
She handed me a photograph.
The SUV had been abandoned near a private marina.
I stared.
“Why a marina?”
“Because whoever drove it knew exactly where to disappear.”
I looked at the photograph.
Then noticed something on the passenger seat.
A child's backpack.
Pink.
Small.
I felt my chest tighten.
“That's Lily's.”
Sarah looked at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I bought it.”
She turned the photograph around.
A tiny rabbit keychain hung from the zipper.
Lily's.
I looked toward the stairs.
She was upstairs.
Safe.
But someone had been inside the car with her belongings.
That meant someone had been planning something.
Sarah spoke quietly.
“They may have intended to take her.”
My jaw tightened.
“Then why leave the backpack?”
“Maybe they didn't have time.”
“Or maybe they wanted us to find it.”
Sarah looked at me.
“To scare you.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Not scare me.”
I pointed at the backpack.
“Send a message.”
“What message?”
“That they can get close.”
Sarah went silent.
I looked at Robert.
“Call the bank.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
“What are you doing?”
“Freezing every account Victoria can access.”
Robert stared.
“You can't do that without triggering alerts.”
“I want her to know.”
“Why?”
“Because I want her to make a mistake.”
At 1:14 a.m., the first account was frozen.
At 1:16, the second.
At 1:21, the offshore trust account was locked.
At 1:24, a notification appeared.
Unauthorized access attempt.
Victoria was trying to log in.
I smiled.
“She's awake.”
Sarah leaned over the screen.
“Can we trace her?”
“Not yet.”
“Then let her keep trying.”
At 1:27, another attempt.
At 1:31, another.
Then the system sent a security alert to the registered email.
The account owner was listed as:
Victoria Hale Carter.
She had used her maiden name.
I stared at it.
Victoria Hale.
The name from the hospital.
The name connected to Anna.
I searched it.
Nothing.
Robert searched court records.
Then froze.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
He turned the screen.
A marriage certificate.
Victoria Hale.
Married.
Before me.
To whom?
The name was blacked out.
“Why is it sealed?”
“Because the marriage was annulled.”
“When?”
“Four years before she met you.”
“Why?”
Robert opened another file.
A divorce record.
No details.
Just one line.
Marriage terminated due to undisclosed identity fraud.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means she wasn't who she claimed to be.”
I looked at Sarah.
“Can we find the original identity?”
“We can try.”
“Do it.”
At 2:03 a.m., my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Victoria.
“Daniel.”
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You froze the accounts.”
“Yes.”
“You had no right.”
“Neither did you.”
Silence.
Then:
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
“I understand that you stole twenty-six million dollars.”
“I borrowed it.”
“You paid Thomas Vale almost eight million.”
“He was helping me.”
“With what?”
Silence.
“Where is Emma?”
Victoria's breathing changed.
“You've been talking to Robert.”
“Where is she?”
“Daniel…”
“Where is Lily's twin?”
Silence.
Then Victoria said:
“You need to stop asking questions.”
“Why?”
“Because you won't like the answers.”
“I already know about the twins.”
She went quiet.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Then she whispered:
“Then you know why Lily can't stay with you.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because she isn't safe.”
“She wasn't safe with you.”
“That isn't true.”
“I saw the footage.”
“That's not what you think.”
“You put her hands under boiling water.”
Victoria's voice cracked.
“I was trying to protect her.”
“From what?”
“You.”
I laughed bitterly.
“From me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if they find out what Lily is…”
She stopped.
“What is Lily?”
Victoria said nothing.
“Answer me.”
A long pause.
Then:
“She is the key.”
“To what?”
“The trust.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Your father built everything around those two girls.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what was coming.”
“What?”
Victoria's breathing became uneven.
“Daniel, you have to believe me.”
“I don't believe you.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because I was never trying to steal your money.”
“Then what were you doing?”
Her voice dropped.
“Keeping you alive.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Sarah asked:
“Do you believe her?”
“No.”
But somewhere deep inside me, I wasn't sure.
Because every answer created another question.
And every question led back to my father.
At 3:40 a.m., Robert discovered something.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“The trust has a secondary beneficiary.”
“Who?”
He turned the screen.
A name appeared.
Anna Carter.
I stared.
“She exists.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“That's the problem.”
He opened the file.
Anna's name appeared beside a date of birth.
The same date as Lily.
But the address was blank.
No social security number.
No medical record.
No school record.
Nothing.
She existed on paper.
But nowhere else.
I whispered:
“She was erased.”
Robert nodded.
“Someone deliberately removed her from the system.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at Sarah.
“Can the government records be altered?”
“Not easily.”
“Then someone with access did it.”
“Hospital?”
“Maybe.”
“Government?”
“Possibly.”
“Your father's people?”
I nodded.
“Probably.”
Sarah stared at the screen.
“There is one thing.”
“What?”
“Anna's trust account received a deposit yesterday.”
I froze.
“How much?”
“Five million dollars.”
“From where?”
She traced it.
The source was another trust.
The name:
Emma Carter Preservation Fund.
My heart stopped.
“Emma is alive.”
Sarah nodded.
“Looks like it.”
I stared at the account.
Five million dollars deposited yesterday.
That meant Emma was still moving money.
Still protecting Anna.
Still alive.
I grabbed my coat.
“Where are you going?” Sarah asked.
“To find her.”
“You don't know where she is.”
“I know someone who might.”
“Who?”
I looked toward the locked room.
“Victoria.”
I returned to the hidden room.
The police had sealed it.
I broke the seal.
Sarah protested.
“Daniel.”
“I'll take responsibility.”
I entered.
The room smelled like dust and old paper.
I opened the VICTORIA drawer.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Passport copies.
Bank records.
Photographs.
I found her old passport.
The name wasn't Victoria Carter.
It wasn't Victoria Hale either.
It was:
Rebecca Vale.
I froze.
Vale.
Thomas Vale.
I searched the documents.
A birth certificate.
Father:
Thomas Vale.
Mother:
Unknown.
I stared.
Victoria was Thomas's daughter.
The man who had been paying her.
The man who had been meeting her.
The man who had access to my house.
My wife's real name was Rebecca Vale.
And suddenly, another document caught my attention.
A hospital photograph.
Thomas holding a newborn baby.
The date was June 18.
Four years earlier.
The baby's bracelet read:
Anna.
I stared.
Victoria hadn't simply been watching Lily.
She had been involved from the moment the twins were born.
I turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten message.
Not from Emma.
Not from Victoria.
From Thomas.
One child belongs to Carter.
The other belongs to me.
My blood ran cold.
I looked at the photograph again.
Then at the DNA records.
Two girls.
One father?
I opened another document.
A genetic test.
Thomas Vale.
Anna.
99.99% probability of biological fatherhood.
I stepped backward.
Anna wasn't Lily's twin.
Not biologically.
They looked identical.
But they had different fathers.
Then why had Emma called them twins?
Why did the hospital DNA say siblings?
I searched frantically through the files.
And finally found it.
A document dated three months before Emma died.
Embryonic transfer procedure.
My hands went numb.
Emma had undergone IVF.
The children had been created from the same embryo.
One embryo.
Split.
Implanted into two women.
One into Emma.
One into another woman.
That meant Lily and Anna were genetically identical.
But one had been carried by Emma.
The other by a woman connected to Thomas.
And someone had planned it.
Before they were born.
I stared at the final page.
The mother's name had been blacked out.
But one word remained.
Rebecca.
Victoria.
My wife.
She had carried Lily's identical sister.
Then I found the date.
She had given birth the same night as Emma.
I felt sick.
Victoria had never simply become Lily's stepmother.
She had been part of the children's story from the beginning.
The door behind me slammed.
I turned.
Victoria stood there.
Her face was wet with tears.
She looked at the document in my hand.
Then at me.
“Now you know.”
I couldn't speak.
She stepped forward.
“I never wanted to hurt Lily.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about everything.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Emma was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Anna.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about my father.”
Her voice broke.
“Yes.”
I stepped toward her.
“Why?”
Victoria looked at me.
And for the first time, there was no polished mask.
No socialite smile.
No controlled voice.
Only fear.
“Because your father ordered me to.”
I stared.
“Ordered you to do what?”
She wiped her tears.
“To make sure you never remembered what happened the night you were born.”
I froze.
“My birth?”
She nodded.
“Daniel…”
Her voice trembled.
“You've spent your whole life believing your father was protecting you.”
She looked at the file.
“He wasn't.”
I swallowed.
“What was he protecting me from?”
Victoria whispered:
“Your real identity.”
Before I could ask another question, the lights in the room went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere upstairs.
May you like
Lily screamed.
I ran.
