Chapter 10 — The Will They Tried to Destroy
Chapter 10 — The Will They Tried to Destroy
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
The room seemed to tilt beneath me.
Laura's words kept repeating inside my head.
The man who gave you the engagement ring.
Ethan.
My fiancé.
The man I had loved for three years.
The man who had held my hand when my mother slapped me.
The man who had promised to build a future with me.
The man my father supposedly knew.
I looked at Laura.
“You're saying my father met Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After the accident.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It happened.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“You saw them together?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At St. Mary's.”
I felt sick.
“And Ethan knew who he was?”
Laura hesitated.
“Yes.”
My heart cracked.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Laura.”
“I only know what I saw.”
“What did you see?”
“Your father was sitting in a wheelchair.”
“Alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan was with him.”
“Yes.”
“What were they doing?”
“Talking.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
Laura closed her eyes.
“I couldn't hear everything.”
“Then what did you hear?”
She swallowed.
“Your father said, ‘She must never know.’”
I stared at her.
“Know what?”
“I don't know.”
“And Ethan?”
“He said he understood.”
I felt my hands go numb.
“What else?”
Laura whispered:
“Your father gave him something.”
“What?”
“A document.”
“Which document?”
“The will.”
My breath stopped.
“My father's will?”
“Yes.”
“Ethan had it?”
“For a while.”
“How long?”
“I don't know.”
“Why?”
“Your father trusted him.”
I stood.
“No.”
Laura looked at me.
“You don't believe me.”
“I don't know what to believe.”
“Then look for the will.”
“Where?”
“Your father told me he hid it.”
“Where?”
She closed her eyes.
“Inside the second trust.”
I stared at her.
“Then why did my mother say there was only sixty thousand dollars?”
“Because she never knew the full inheritance.”
“And the first trust?”
“Bait.”
“The second?”
“Protection.”
“And the third?”
Laura looked frightened.
“Revenge.”
I left the hospital alone.
Ethan was waiting outside.
He stood when he saw me.
“What did Laura say?”
I looked at him.
“You knew my father.”
His face changed.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But I saw it.
“You knew him.”
“Natalie…”
“Don't lie.”
He looked away.
“I didn't know how to tell you.”
“How long?”
He said nothing.
“How long have you known my father was alive?”
“Since before I met you.”
My heart broke.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he survived.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he was hiding.”
“Yes.”
“And you still proposed to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved you.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only answer that matters.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Not anymore.”
He stepped toward me.
“I never used you.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my family was lying.”
“Yes.”
“You knew there was money.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the trusts.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the will.”
He stopped.
I saw the answer in his eyes.
“You had it.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me collapse.
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
“Who destroyed it?”
“I don't know.”
“Ethan.”
“I swear.”
“You're lying.”
“I didn't destroy it.”
“Then who did?”
He looked at me.
“Your mother.”
My mother was waiting at home.
When I entered, she was sitting in the living room.
She didn't look surprised.
“You know.”
It wasn't a question.
“Yes.”
“About your father?”
“Yes.”
Her face fell.
“You weren't supposed to know.”
“About the will.”
She looked away.
“Where is it?”
“I don't have it.”
“Where is it?”
“I destroyed it.”
The words hit harder than a slap.
“You destroyed my father's will?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“They were going to kill Chloe.”
“You keep using her.”
“Because they threatened her!”
“And Dad?”
She started crying.
“I couldn't save him.”
“You didn't even try.”
“I was afraid.”
“You let them take everything.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were protecting yourself.”
She looked at me.
“I know.”
That admission silenced me.
“Tell me what happened to the will.”
She wiped her face.
“Your father left three versions.”
“Three?”
“The first was the public will.”
“The one leaving me sixty thousand.”
“Yes.”
“The second?”
“A private will.”
“What did it say?”
“That you inherited everything.”
I stared at her.
“How much?”
“All legitimate assets.”
“Then why did you destroy it?”
“Because Laura had already found the third.”
“What did the third say?”
My mother went pale.
“It changed everything.”
“How?”
“It named the people who betrayed him.”
I stepped closer.
“Names.”
She shook her head.
“Your father made me promise.”
“He's dead.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked at me.
“Richard.”
I nodded.
“Thomas.”
Another nod.
“Laura?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She whispered:
“Victor.”
I froze.
“Ethan's father.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he do?”
“He ordered the transfers.”
“Seven million?”
“More.”
“And Dad knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he expose him?”
“Because Victor threatened you.”
I closed my eyes.
Again.
Always me.
Always the same excuse.
“You all used me as an excuse.”
My mother didn't answer.
“You told yourselves you were protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“But you were protecting the family.”
“Yes.”
“And the money.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
I went into my father's old study.
Everything had been untouched.
Or so I thought.
His desk.
His books.
His chair.
The old clock.
I remembered sitting there when I was a child.
Dad would pretend to be working.
I'd climb onto his lap.
He would close his papers.
“Family first,” he used to say.
I opened the desk.
Nothing.
I checked the drawers.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
His handwriting.
He had once told me:
When people destroy the obvious hiding place, look where nobody thinks to look.
I looked at the clock.
The hands were stopped.
10:43.
The exact time my father had written in his notebook.
I removed the back panel.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a key.
And a note.
The will was never destroyed.
My heart raced.
Underneath:
They destroyed the copy.
Then another line.
The original is waiting for Natalie.
I grabbed the key.
A small number was engraved on it.
317.
I knew that number.
St. Mary's Clinic.
Room 317.
The room where Laura said my father had been hidden.
I called Ethan.
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“St. Mary's.”
He went silent.
“You knew I'd find it.”
“Yes.”
“You're coming.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I owe you the truth.”
St. Mary's had been abandoned for years.
Broken windows.
Peeling walls.
Dust everywhere.
But room 317 was different.
The lock had been replaced recently.
I inserted the key.
It opened.
Inside was a small desk.
A chair.
A medical cabinet.
And a photograph.
My father.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably him.
I touched the photograph.
On the back was a date.
Six months after the accident.
My hands trembled.
“He was alive.”
Ethan stood behind me.
“Yes.”
“Why did he disappear?”
“To protect you.”
“Stop saying that.”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
I opened the cabinet.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
My name was written across it.
NATALIE.
My heart pounded.
I opened it.
Inside was a legal document.
The original will.
I read the first page.
My father had left me everything.
Every legitimate asset.
Every property.
Every account.
Every share.
Every trust.
Except one.
The third trust.
That had been placed under independent control.
I turned the page.
Then froze.
The beneficiary of the third trust wasn't me.
It was Sophie Bennett.
A name I didn't recognize.
I looked at Ethan.
“Who is Sophie Bennett?”
He stared at the document.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear I don't.”
Then I saw another page.
A birth certificate.
My heart stopped.
Sophie Bennett.
Mother:
Laura Carter.
Father:
Daniel Carter.
I looked at Ethan.
“Laura had a child with my father?”
He didn't answer.
The door behind us slammed shut.
We both turned.
A voice came from the hallway.
“You finally found it.”
My mother.
She stepped into the room.
Behind her stood Richard.
And Thomas.
My mother looked at the will in my hands.
“You shouldn't have opened that.”
Richard raised a gun.
“Give it to us.”
I held it tighter.
“No.”
Thomas smiled.
“You don't understand what that document means.”
“I know exactly what it means.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“It means the entire family loses everything.”
My mother stepped closer.
“Natalie, please.”
“Don't.”
She stopped.
“You lied to me for nineteen years.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You destroyed Dad's will.”
“I destroyed a copy.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“You watched him die.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Yes.”
“You knew he survived.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he had another child.”
My mother froze.
Richard looked at her.
Thomas turned pale.
I understood.
They hadn't known.
Laura had hidden it.
My father had hidden it.
And suddenly the entire structure of the family began to collapse.
“You didn't know about Sophie.”
My mother whispered:
“No.”
I held up the birth certificate.
“Dad had another daughter.”
Richard's face hardened.
“Give me the document.”
“No.”
He raised the gun.
Ethan stepped in front of me.
“Don't.”
Richard smiled.
“You still think you can protect her?”
“Yes.”
Thomas moved toward us.
“There's something else.”
He pointed at the will.
“The third trust wasn't created for Sophie.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“It was created for whoever could prove the truth.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the inheritance isn't automatic.”
“Then who receives it?”
Thomas smiled.
“The person named in the final clause.”
I looked at the last page.
My father's handwriting appeared beneath the legal language.
To my daughter Natalie:
If you are reading this, then they have failed to destroy the truth.
My eyes filled with tears.
Do not seek revenge.
I swallowed.
Seek justice.
Then:
The person who betrayed me most is not the person you think.
My heart pounded.
The one who knows everything is the person who has been closest to you since the beginning.
I looked at Ethan.
Then at my mother.
Then at Thomas.
Then Richard.
No.
The words continued.
And when you discover her identity, do not confront her.
A final sentence.
She will come to you.
The room went silent.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Natalie.”
I froze.
“Who is this?”
“You have the will.”
“Yes.”
“You have the recording.”
“Yes.”
“You have the truth.”
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Then you have everything you need.”
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed softly.
“You really don't recognize my voice?”
My blood turned cold.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it my entire life.
But it couldn't be.
It was impossible.
I looked at my mother.
She was staring at me.
Her face had gone completely white.
The woman whispered:
“Your father didn't die because of the money.”
I couldn't breathe.
“He died because he discovered what I had done.”
“Who are you?”
The answer came quietly.
“I'm your sister.”
My heart stopped.
The line went dead.
I looked at the birth certificate in my hands.
Sophie Bennett.
Laura's daughter.
Dad's daughter.
But the voice on the phone hadn't sounded like a stranger.
It sounded like someone who knew me.
Someone who had watched me grow up.
Someone who had been near me for years.
Then my mother whispered the words that shattered the room.
“That's not Sophie.”
I turned toward her.
“Then who is it?”
My mother looked at me with pure terror.
“The woman who called you…”
May you like
She swallowed.
“…is your other sister.”
