Chapter 6 - The Truth About Hannah's Birth
Hannah had spent twenty-four years believing one simple thing.
Daniel Brooks was her father.
Now everyone around her seemed to be telling her that nothing was simple.
Her mother finally confessed.
“Daniel adopted you.”
Hannah stared.
“No.”
“I was nineteen.”
Her mother sat down.
“I was terrified.”
“Who was my biological father?”
She cried.
“A man named Lucas Whitmore.”
Richard stood completely still.
“Lucas?”
“My brother.”
Hannah looked at him.
“William had another brother?”
Richard nodded.
“Lucas was younger.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died before I met you.”
Hannah's mother shook her head.
“He disappeared.”
Richard looked at her.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Lucas was dangerous.”
Hannah's mind raced.
The bloodline.
The trust fund.
The missing money.
The Whitmore family.
Everything connected.
Lucas had been named in the original trust documents.
His descendants were entitled to certain properties.
Hannah was the only living biological heir.
Richard stared at her.
“If you're Lucas's daughter, you're the legal heir to a portion of the Whitmore estate.”
Hannah laughed bitterly.
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“It sounds ridiculous.”
“But it's true.”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked at Richard.
“How much?”
Richard hesitated.
“Nearly two hundred million dollars.”
Hannah stepped back.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“No, I don't want it.”
Richard moved closer.
“You don't have to.”
“Then why are they after me?”
“Because someone else wants it.”
William.
If he were alive.
He couldn't legally inherit everything.
But he could control Hannah.
Or eliminate her.
The answer came that night.
William appeared on a video screen.
His face had changed.
Older.
Scarred.
But alive.
“Hello, Richard.”
Richard stared.
“You're dead.”
William smiled.
“That was the idea.”
Hannah watched.
“You killed my father.”
William shrugged.
“Your father made choices.”
“You killed him.”
“He betrayed me.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You murdered Daniel because he discovered the accounts.”
William smiled.
“And what did you do?”
“What?”
“You hid the truth.”
Richard went silent.
William's face hardened.
“You built your empire while pretending your hands were clean.”
Richard clenched his fists.
“I tried to stop you.”
“Too late.”
William looked at Hannah.
“Your grandmother hid the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“She didn't hide it well.”
“What do you want?”
“My inheritance.”
“You don't have one.”
William laughed.
“Through you, I do.”
He revealed the final truth.
Lucas had not disappeared.
He had been working undercover.
He had discovered William's crimes.
Then he was murdered.
Hannah was born after his death.
Daniel adopted her to protect her identity.
Rose knew.
Richard knew part of it.
But the family had buried everything.
William had spent years searching for the biological heir.
Now he had found her.
“You are the last Whitmore who can unlock the trust,” he said.
Hannah stared.
“Then I will never help you.”
William smiled.
“I don't need your cooperation.”
The screen went black.
The next morning, Hannah's brother Ethan disappeared.
Hannah received one message.
COME ALONE.
She showed it to Richard.
“No.”
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“They have Ethan.”
“We'll get him.”
“What if they hurt him?”
Richard looked at her.
“They won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they need you alive.”
Hannah shook her head.
“You're not going.”
Richard stared.
“You're not negotiating.”
“Yes, I am.”
She looked at Margaret.
“You asked me to open my purse.”
Margaret nodded.
“I was wrong.”
“You were.”
“But I'm not letting you go alone.”
Hannah looked at her.
Then Richard.
For the first time, the people she expected to be strangers had become her allies.
They went together.
The meeting place was an abandoned train station.
Ethan was tied to a chair.
William stood behind him.
Hannah approached.
“Let him go.”
William smiled.
“Open the trust.”
“No.”
William stepped closer.
“You have your father's eyes.”
Hannah stared.
“Daniel?”
“Lucas.”
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He loved you.”
Hannah's eyes filled.
“Then why did you kill him?”
William paused.
“He tried to take you away from me.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“He believed blood didn't matter.”
Hannah took another step.
“He was right.”
William's face twisted.
“You know nothing about this family.”
“I know enough.”
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out the pendant.
William's eyes widened.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
A gunshot cracked.
Richard fired first.
Chaos erupted.
William escaped.
Ethan was freed.
But before leaving, Hannah noticed something.
A photograph in William's abandoned bag.
Lucas.
Holding a baby.
Hannah.
On the back was a note.
MY DAUGHTER, HANNAH.
She looked at Richard.
“He knew me.”
Richard nodded.
“He always did.”
Then Hannah noticed another name.
Sarah Vaughn.
She turned.
“She wasn't working for William.”
Richard's expression changed.
“What?”
“She was working for Lucas.”
The entire story had been wrong.
Lucas had not been part of the conspiracy.
He had been trying to expose it.
William had murdered him.
Sarah had spent years protecting Hannah.
Even the restaurant accusation had not been an accident.
Margaret's pendant had been used to force Hannah into revealing the envelope.
The entire confrontation had been a trap.
May you like
But not for Hannah.
For William.
