Chapter 5 - The Men OutsideConnor pushed me through the apartment door.
“Lock it.”
I did.
He moved toward the windows.
“Stay away from the glass.”
“Who are they?”
“People who want the donor dead.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows something.”
“What?”
Connor looked at me.
“The twins weren't created for inheritance.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then why?”
“Because Paige was recruited.”
“By whom?”
He hesitated.
“Someone who wanted access to my family.”
The sound of a gunshot echoed outside.
I froze.
Connor grabbed my hand.
“Down.”
Another shot.
The police arrived minutes later.
The men fled.
But one was caught.
The police identified him as a former employee of Marcus Albright.
He refused to speak.
Connor looked at me.
“This is why I didn't tell you.”
I stared at him.
“You still lied.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
“But you were trying to protect the babies?”
His expression softened.
“They're innocent.”
I looked away.
For the first time, I realized Connor wasn't fighting for Paige.
He was fighting for two children who had been dragged into a war they didn't understand.
“Where is Paige?”
“I don't know.”
“She's missing?”
“Yes.”
“Then we find her.”
We searched Atlanta.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived.
Paige wants to meet Gwen.
I went alone.
The meeting was at an old church.
Paige stood inside holding the twins.
She looked terrified.
“I didn't know what they were planning.”
“Who?”
“Marcus.”
“What did he want?”
She looked at the babies.
“They were leverage.”
“Against Connor?”
“Against everyone.”
She started crying.
“Marcus wanted control of Albright Apex.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“By creating heirs.”
“But the babies aren't Connor's.”
“Exactly.”
She handed me a file.
Inside was a genetic report.
The biological father was listed as an anonymous donor.
But attached to it was a DNA profile.
I looked at the name.
My hands went cold.
The donor was Connor's father.
The twins were his biological half-siblings' children.
They were technically connected to the Albright bloodline.
But there was another problem.
Connor's father had died years earlier.
Which meant someone had secretly preserved his genetic material.
Paige whispered:
“Marcus stole it from the family medical archive.”
I looked at the babies.
This wasn't an affair anymore.
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It was a succession conspiracy.
And someone had gone to extraordinary lengths to manufacture heirs.
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