Chapter 8 - THE LAST LIE
My father looked directly at me.
"Put your hands where I can see them."
I stared at him.
"You kidnapped Savannah."
"I didn't."
Rachel laughed.
"He didn't have to."
Savannah was tied to a chair behind them.
Her face was bruised, but she was conscious.
"Don't listen to them!" she shouted.
Rachel pointed the gun toward her.
"Quiet."
I stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
Rachel smiled.
"The company."
"Take it."
Claire grabbed my arm.
"Lila, don't."
I looked at Rachel.
"You want the company? Fine."
Rachel shook her head.
"It's not that simple."
She pointed at me.
"We need you to sign the transfer."
My father pulled out a document.
I stared at it.
"You forged my signature before."
"We need a real one this time."
"And if I refuse?"
Rachel glanced at Savannah.
I understood.
I stepped toward the table.
"Give me the pen."
Claire whispered, "Don't."
I ignored her.
I picked up the pen.
But before I signed, I looked at Dad.
"Why?"
He frowned.
"Why did you do all this?"
His expression hardened.
"Because I was tired of being second."
"Second to who?"
"Daniel."
He laughed bitterly.
"Daniel had the money. The connections. The company. Everyone respected him."
"So you destroyed him."
"I tried to take what should have been mine."
"And me?"
He looked at me.
"You were supposed to be leverage."
My stomach turned.
"Leverage?"
"You were Daniel's weakness."
I looked at Claire.
She was crying silently.
Dad continued.
"When Rebecca told me the baby had survived, I knew I could use you."
I stared at him.
"Use me?"
"You were an innocent child."
His voice was almost emotionless.
"That made you valuable."
Savannah suddenly spoke.
"Dad, stop."
He turned toward her.
She shook her head.
"You promised you wouldn't tell her."
Rachel looked furious.
"Shut up."
Savannah continued.
"She deserves to know."
Then Savannah revealed the final secret.
The wedding wasn't about transferring the company.
It was about proving I was mentally unstable.
Rachel had planted stolen property in my van.
She had planned to call the police after I left.
Then the footage would show me taking the food.
The police would search my van.
They would find the planted evidence.
I would be arrested.
And my father would take control of the company.
"But you left before we could plant it," Savannah whispered.
Rachel's face changed.
"You ruined everything."
Savannah looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
I believed her.
Not because I trusted her.
Because for the first time, she looked terrified of the same people I was.
Then I noticed something.
A tiny red light beneath the table.
A recording device.
I smiled.
Rachel saw it.
She reached for the gun.
But before she could move, sirens exploded outside.
Claire had called the police before we entered.
And apparently, the entire farmhouse had been surrounded.
My father looked at me in disbelief.
"You set us up."
I shook my head.
"No."
I looked at Savannah.
"You did."
Savannah started crying.
Rachel raised the gun.
Then the front door crashed open.
Police flooded the farmhouse.
Rachel dropped the weapon.
My father fell to his knees.
For a moment, I thought it was over.
Then one officer approached me.
"Ms. Lila?"
"Yes?"
"We found something in your father's vehicle."
"What?"
He held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a passport.
The photograph belonged to a man I had never met.
But the name on the passport made my blood run cold.
Daniel Cross.
The date of birth matched.
May you like
He was alive.
And he was coming home.
