Chapter 17 - THE FOURTH HEIR
We returned to New York under federal protection.
The trust attack continued for six hours.
Every time Daniel blocked one transfer, another appeared.
Someone knew the architecture of the trust.
Someone knew my mother's security codes.
Someone knew how the final succession worked.
And that meant one thing.
The fourth heir wasn't simply a beneficiary.
They were inside the system.
Daniel finally found a name.
Rebecca.
I stared at him.
"Rebecca?"
"The teenager we found."
Cassandra's face went pale.
"But Rebecca is already protected."
"Her identity was hidden from the network."
Daniel shook his head.
"That's exactly why she matters."
We met Rebecca at a secure facility.
She was seventeen.
Quiet.
Suspicious.
She looked at Cassandra and then at me.
"Why did you bring me here?"
I sat across from her.
"Because someone is trying to use your identity to take control of a trust."
She stared at me.
"I don't want anything."
"This isn't about money."
"I don't believe you."
"I don't blame you."
She looked toward Cassandra.
"Does she know?"
"Know what?"
Rebecca swallowed.
"My mother didn't disappear because she abandoned me."
Cassandra leaned forward.
"What happened?"
Rebecca looked at me.
"She was hiding me from Samuel."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Because she knew what he planned."
"What did he plan?"
Rebecca whispered:
"He wanted all the heirs in one place."
"For what?"
"To force the final succession."
Daniel's face changed.
"That's impossible."
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not if the heirs voluntarily sign."
Silence.
Someone had been trying to gather us.
Not kill us.
Gather us.
Because the trust required all heirs to appear together.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
"Your children are not safe."
"Who is this?"
"You don't have much time."
"Where are you?"
"At the foundation."
I looked at Cassandra.
She understood immediately.
The foundation building.
The place we had created to help families escape the network.
The woman continued.
"Someone inside your organization has been working for Samuel."
"Who?"
"I'll show you."
The call ended.
We rushed there.
The building was nearly empty.
Then we found the conference room.
Every chair was arranged in a circle.
In the center was a photograph.
My mother.
Beside her was a young woman.
Cassandra picked it up.
"That's my mother."
But the date was recent.
Three years ago.
Impossible.
Cassandra stared at the photograph.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"My mother is alive."
