Chapter 6 — The Daughter They Thought Was Dead
Chapter 6 — The Daughter They Thought Was Dead
The gunshot shattered the window.
Clara screamed.
Daniel pulled Emily down.
“Stay behind me!”
Marcus moved across the room and fired toward the doorway.
The shadow outside disappeared.
For several seconds, nobody breathed.
Then another shot struck the wall.
Plaster exploded across the room.
“Back door!” Marcus shouted.
Daniel grabbed Emily's hand.
Clara followed.
They ran through the kitchen as another bullet tore through the hallway.
Marcus remained behind them, covering their escape.
The back door opened into a narrow alley.
Rain poured down.
Daniel pushed Emily into the waiting vehicle.
Clara climbed in beside her.
Marcus jumped behind the wheel.
“Go!”
The car accelerated.
Another vehicle appeared at the end of the street.
Black.
No license plate.
Following them.
Daniel looked through the rear window.
“They're coming.”
Marcus accelerated.
“They won't catch us.”
Clara sat beside Emily, trembling.
Emily held her hand.
“Mom.”
Clara looked at her.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you were.”
“I tried to find you.”
“Why didn't you?”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was told you were dead too.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
Clara swallowed.
“They told me you died.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Who?”
“Eleanor.”
Silence.
Daniel stared ahead.
“My mother told you Emily was dead?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed her?”
“She showed me a death certificate.”
Daniel's hands tightened.
“Forged?”
Clara nodded.
“She said the baby had died during surgery.”
Emily began crying.
“All these years…”
Clara pulled her close.
“I never stopped loving you.”
Emily buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
Daniel watched them.
He had never imagined his family could contain so much cruelty.
Then Marcus spoke.
“We lost the car.”
Daniel looked behind them.
The black vehicle was gone.
But Marcus didn't relax.
“This isn't over.”
They returned to the mansion through the underground entrance.
Clara refused to step inside.
“This place…”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“It was where everything started.”
He nodded.
“Then maybe it's where everything ends.”
They entered the security room.
Marcus locked the doors.
Clara sat down.
Daniel placed a cup of water in front of her.
“Tell me everything.”
Clara stared at him.
“I don't know where to begin.”
“Begin with my father.”
She looked at Emily.
Then Daniel.
“Your father loved both of you.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Then why did he leave me?”
“He didn't.”
“What?”
“He planned to take you with him.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“When?”
“Before he died.”
“Why didn't he?”
“Because someone betrayed him.”
“Peter?”
Clara nodded.
“Peter was working for Eleanor.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
Marcus pulled up the financial records.
“The twenty-million-dollar payment.”
Clara stared at the screen.
“Yes.”
“What was it for?”
“To make David disappear.”
Daniel's voice became cold.
“My father wasn't killed in an accident.”
“No.”
“Eleanor killed him?”
Clara shook her head.
“Not directly.”
“Then who?”
Clara hesitated.
“Your grandmother.”
Daniel stared.
“My grandmother?”
“She ordered it.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
He couldn't speak.
Clara continued.
“David had decided to expose everything.”
“What everything?”
“The company.”
“The trust.”
“The hidden accounts.”
“And the existence of his daughter.”
She looked at Emily.
“He was going to publicly acknowledge her.”
Daniel sat down.
“And Eleanor stopped him.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She threatened to destroy him.”
“And when that didn't work?”
Clara's voice broke.
“She had him killed.”
The room was silent.
Emily stared at her mother.
“Why did you survive?”
Clara looked down.
“I didn't.”
Emily frowned.
“What?”
“I survived physically.”
She touched her chest.
“But after David died, I disappeared.”
“Where?”
“Canada.”
“Why?”
“Because Peter helped me escape.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You said Peter worked for Eleanor.”
“He did.”
“Then why help you?”
Clara smiled bitterly.
“Because guilt can make cowards do strange things.”
“What happened?”
“He took the money Eleanor gave him.”
“But later he helped us.”
Daniel shook his head.
“This makes no sense.”
“It doesn't.”
Clara looked at him.
“Because Peter wasn't the mastermind.”
“Who was?”
Clara whispered:
“Eleanor.”
Later that evening, Daniel received a call.
The number was blocked.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice spoke.
His mother.
“Daniel.”
His blood ran cold.
“Where are you?”
“You know where.”
“Come home.”
“I am home.”
He looked around the mansion.
“No.”
She laughed softly.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
“You think this is about Emily.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“It's about you.”
“No.”
A pause.
“It's about what Emily represents.”
“What?”
“The end of everything.”
Daniel's voice became colder.
“You've already lost.”
“Have I?”
“You failed to destroy Emily.”
“Did I?”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
His mother said:
“Ask her.”
“Ask Emily what?”
“Who her father really was.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Emily was standing in the doorway.
“What did she say?”
Daniel looked at her.
“She said I should ask you who your father really was.”
Emily's face went pale.
“My father was David.”
“Yes.”
“But…”
She hesitated.
“I don't remember him.”
Clara looked at her daughter.
“You were too young.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then what is she talking about?”
Clara looked terrified.
“Because there is another secret.”
Clara led them to the old library.
She opened a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Inside was a small metal box.
She removed it.
“This belonged to David.”
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a letter.
A DNA test.
And a photograph.
The DNA report stated:
David Carter — Biological Father: Confirmed.
Daniel frowned.
“Why would he need a DNA test?”
Clara looked at him.
“Because Eleanor claimed Emily wasn't his.”
Daniel stared.
“She knew Emily was his.”
“Yes.”
“But she wanted to convince David otherwise.”
“Why?”
“Because if David believed Emily wasn't his daughter, he would never challenge the trust.”
Daniel looked at the report.
“So this proves Emily was his.”
Clara nodded.
“There's more.”
She handed him the letter.
Daniel read.
David,
If you are reading this, then you finally know the truth.
Emily is not the danger.
She is the heir.
But there is another child.
Daniel stopped.
His heart pounded.
He looked at Clara.
“Another child?”
Clara nodded.
“You had another baby?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Clara pointed at the photograph.
Daniel stared.
It showed David Carter.
Clara.
Emily.
And another baby.
A boy.
Daniel's face went blank.
“Who is that?”
Clara whispered:
“Your brother.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
“A brother?”
Clara nodded.
“David had two children besides you.”
Daniel stared.
“Three children.”
“Yes.”
“Why did I never know?”
“Because Eleanor made sure you didn't.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“And where is he?”
Clara's expression became haunted.
“I don't know.”
“Dead?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
“We thought he was dead.”
Daniel stood.
“What do you mean?”
Clara looked at the door.
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
“We never found out.”
Daniel's mind raced.
“How old would he be?”
“Twenty-one.”
Daniel stared.
Twenty-one.
Only two years younger than Emily.
He looked at the photograph.
The baby had a small birthmark beneath his left eye.
Clara noticed his expression.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“I've seen him.”
Clara froze.
“Where?”
Daniel couldn't answer.
Because he had seen that birthmark before.
In a photograph.
A recent photograph.
One of the surveillance images found in the hotel room.
A young man standing beside Vanessa.
Daniel rushed to the security office.
Marcus followed.
He opened the surveillance folder.
There.
The young man.
Twenty-one.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
And beneath his left eye—
the birthmark.
Daniel pointed.
“This is him.”
Clara stared at the screen.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“My son.”
Emily stood beside her.
“Who is he?”
Marcus zoomed in.
A name appeared in the metadata.
Ethan Rossi.
Daniel's face hardened.
“Rossi.”
Emily looked at him.
“Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
Clara whispered:
“Who is Vanessa Rossi?”
Daniel turned toward her.
“She's the woman who framed you.”
Clara's expression changed.
“Then we have a problem.”
“What?”
“She may know exactly where your brother is.”
Daniel called Vanessa.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Then her phone switched off.
Marcus traced the last location.
“Downtown.”
“Where?”
“A private club.”
Daniel grabbed his coat.
Emily stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“She knows about my brother.”
“Exactly.”
“You can't keep me away.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You're my sister.”
Emily nodded.
“And he's my brother.”
Daniel couldn't argue.
They left together.
The club was nearly empty.
Daniel entered through the rear entrance.
Marcus followed.
Emily stayed close.
They found Vanessa upstairs.
She was sitting alone.
She looked exhausted.
When she saw Daniel, she didn't run.
Instead, she smiled sadly.
“You found out.”
Daniel stared.
“Where is he?”
Vanessa's eyes moved toward Emily.
“You found her too.”
“Where is my brother?”
Vanessa looked down.
“His name isn't Ethan Rossi.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where is he?”
“His name is Michael Carter.”
Emily's breath caught.
“Why was he called Rossi?”
“Because my father raised him.”
Daniel frowned.
“Your father?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Robert Rossi.”
“The man who died?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor paid him.”
“To raise my brother?”
“Yes.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What did she want?”
Vanessa whispered:
“A replacement.”
“For who?”
She looked at Emily.
“For the daughter she thought she had lost.”
Emily's face went pale.
Daniel's voice became cold.
“What are you saying?”
Vanessa stood.
“Eleanor didn't just hide Emily.”
“She created another heir.”
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted a child she could control.”
Vanessa reached into her bag.
She pulled out another photograph.
A young man.
Older now.
The same birthmark.
“Michael was raised believing the Carter fortune belonged to him.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“And Vanessa?”
“She planned to marry you.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“You wanted the company.”
“No.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I wanted Michael to have it.”
Daniel stared.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“Because he's my brother.”
Silence.
Emily looked between them.
“So Vanessa is his sister too?”
Vanessa nodded.
“My father raised Michael.”
“My mother raised me.”
“And Eleanor controlled both of us.”
Daniel finally understood.
This was bigger than a necklace.
Bigger than Emily.
Bigger than the Carter fortune.
For twenty-three years, Eleanor had been moving children around like pieces on a chessboard.
And now every piece was coming back to the same table.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“Where is Michael?”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“He's already here.”
Daniel turned.
The lights in the club went out.
A man's voice came from the darkness.
“Daniel.”
Everyone froze.
The lights flickered back on.
A young man stood at the end of the hallway.
Twenty-one years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
Birthmark beneath his left eye.
He looked directly at Daniel.
Then at Emily.
And finally at Vanessa.
“It's time you all learned why Eleanor kept us apart.”
Daniel stared at his brother.
Michael smiled without warmth.
“Because she was never afraid of us.”
May you like
He took one step forward.
“She was afraid of what would happen when we found each other.”
