Chapter 8 - The Uncle I Had Buried Without Ever Knowing Him Was AliveArthur Lynwood had supposedly died in a plane crash thirty years ago.
There was no body.
Only debris.
My father had been twenty-five.
Arthur had been twenty-eight.
Now we had reason to believe he had survived.
We searched Blackridge records.
One name appeared repeatedly.
A. Lynwood.
A consultant.
No photograph.
No legal identity.
But the financial trail led everywhere.
Shipping.
Insurance.
Hospitals.
Political donations.
I stared at the screen.
“He built this.”
My father nodded.
“He always wanted Lynwood.”
“Why didn't you know?”
“Because I thought he was dead.”
“How?”
“His plane disappeared.”
“Who identified the body?”
“No one.”
I shook my head.
“So he faked it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To steal the company later.”
My father's face was filled with regret.
“He started Blackridge.”
I froze.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“That means…”
“He's behind everything.”
The accident.
The shipments.
The sabotage.
The medical cover-up.
My mother's death.
Everything.
My sister was the witness.
I was the heir.
Declan was the investigator.
Arthur had been waiting.
Then the phone rang.
My father's face changed when he saw the number.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Daniel.”
I could hear it.
Calm.
Older.
Familiar.
Arthur.
“You've made this very difficult.”
My father stood.
“Where are you?”
“Watching.”
“Why?”
“Because you couldn't let the company die quietly.”
I stepped closer.
“Arthur.”
Silence.
Then:
“Harper.”
He knew my voice.
“Why did you kill Mom?”
“I didn't.”
“Then who?”
“She was going to expose me.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“She was my sister-in-law.”
“You loved her.”
“I did.”
“Then why?”
“Because she chose your father.”
The words made me sick.
Arthur was obsessed.
He believed Lynwood belonged to him.
He had spent decades destroying anyone who stood between him and the company.
Then came the worst part.
He said:
“Your father will trade himself for Chloe.”
My sister froze.
“What?”
“She's the reason I'm speaking to you.”
He wanted Chloe.
Why?
Because she had seen the accident.
But there was more.
She had been unconscious for weeks.
When she woke, she remembered something no one knew.
A license plate.
The plate on Arthur's vehicle.
That could prove everything.
Arthur wanted to erase it.
We moved Chloe to a secure hospital.
But he already knew.
His men attacked before midnight.
Declan protected Maya.
My father protected Chloe.
I grabbed the emergency files.
We escaped through the basement.
A vehicle followed us.
Three vehicles.
Then five.
We reached the highway.
A truck cut us off.
Declan swerved.
The car crashed through a barrier.
The same way Chloe's car had years earlier.
My heart stopped.
We spun.
The world blurred.
Then we stopped.
Silence.
I turned.
Everyone was alive.
Except—
my father.
He wasn't moving.
“Dad!”
I crawled toward him.
Blood covered his shirt.
His eyes opened.
“Get Chloe out.”
“No.”
“Harper.”
“No!”
He smiled weakly.
“Your mother would have been proud.”
Then his eyes closed.
I screamed.
Declan pulled me away.
“We have to move.”
I refused.
Then footsteps approached.
Arthur.
He stood outside the wreck.
He looked through the broken window.
He smiled.
“Family reunions are always complicated.”
I hated him.
I wanted to kill him.
But before he could approach, police sirens appeared.
He disappeared into the darkness.
We escaped.
My father survived.
Barely.
The hospital surgeon told me:
“He needs surgery immediately.”
I looked at Declan.
“How do we stop Arthur?”
He answered:
“We expose him.”
I nodded.
“But first, we need proof.”
Maya walked over.
She held the drawing of the five-petal flower.
“I know what Mommy meant.”
“What?”
She pointed to the missing petal.
“The missing one.”
“What missing one?”
“The fifth piece.”
I stared.
Declan's face changed.
Sara had left another clue.
The master ledger was incomplete.
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The final evidence was hidden somewhere Arthur could never reach.
And only Maya knew where.
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