Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO STOOD BESIDE MY FATHER
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The chapel was empty when I arrived.
Candles burned along the walls.
Victor stood at the altar.
He didn't raise a weapon.
He simply waited.
“You came.”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your security team is outside.”
I stopped.
“How did you know?”
“I know everything about you.”
“You've been working against me.”
“For years.”
“Why?”
“Because your father was weak.”
“My father?”
“He believed family could be saved.”
“And you?”
“I believed family could be controlled.”
I hated the calmness in his voice.
“You helped Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Richard.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Elena's attack.”
“Yes.”
“And the baby?”
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“You tried to kill my wife.”
Victor's expression finally changed.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I tried to frighten her into signing.”
“Why?”
“So Daniel wouldn't hurt her.”
I stared.
“Daniel wanted her dead.”
“Yes.”
“So you helped him.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“I tried to bargain with him.”
“With what?”
“Your family.”
I felt sick.
“You traded lives.”
“I traded time.”
“For what?”
“To get you the trust.”
I didn't understand.
“You wanted me to inherit?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust was designed to end the Thorne empire.”
Silence.
Victor continued.
“Your father created a condition.”
“What condition?”
“If the legitimate heir refuses the criminal assets, they dissolve.”
I frowned.
“And the legitimate heir is me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why attack Elena?”
“To make the transfer happen before Daniel could stop it.”
I stared.
Victor was trying to convince me he had been helping.
I didn't believe him.
He reached into his coat.
A file.
Inside was proof.
Emails.
Bank records.
Instructions.
Daniel had ordered the assault.
Richard had carried it out.
Victor had been trying to stop the final stage.
But one document changed everything.
The original Legacy Trust.
Signed by both families.
The beneficiary was:
Elena Sterling.
Not me.
I stared.
“She is the heir.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you tell me I was?”
“Because only the spouse could activate the protection clause.”
I read the details.
If Elena's spouse assumed legal control and protected the child, the trust became immune to seizure by the Thorne family.
That was why Victor had needed me.
Not because I was wealthy.
Because I was the only person capable of standing between Elena and her father.
I looked at him.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Daniel had spies everywhere.”
I was silent.
For years, I had believed I was protecting Elena.
Maybe I had also been protecting the trust.
But there was one problem.
Victor had still lied.
“What else?”
He looked away.
“Your daughter isn't the only beneficiary.”
My blood froze.
“Who else?”
“Elena's sister.”
“What sister?”
Victor gave me another file.
A birth record.
A second child.
Sophie Thorne.
I stared.
“Elena has a sister?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“Missing.”
“Why?”
“Daniel took her.”
My stomach tightened.
He had been collecting heirs.
Controlling bloodlines.
Building a system where every child represented another piece of the inheritance.
Victor handed me a final photograph.
Sophie as a child.
Then another.
Sophie as an adult.
Standing beside Daniel.
I looked at the date.
Three months ago.
She was alive.
And apparently working with him.
I stared at Victor.
“Why show me this?”
“Because Sophie knows where Daniel is.”
“Where?”
Victor whispered:
“Your hospital.”
I froze.
“My hospital?”
“She already entered.”
My phone rang.
Marcus.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone has accessed Elena's floor.”
“Who?”
A pause.
“We identified her.”
“Who?”
Marcus whispered:
“Sophie Thorne.”
I looked at Victor.
May you like
He smiled.
And I realized the next betrayal had already begun.
