Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The arrest should have ended everything.
Instead, it opened another door.
Margaret was taken into custody.
Julian disappeared.
Victoria surrendered.
And I was left with one question.
Where was my father?
Daniel Cross called me the next morning.
“Don't go anywhere.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wants to meet you.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
I stopped breathing.
Two hours later, I was driven to a small ranch outside San Antonio.
An old man stood beneath a pecan tree.
His hair was gray.
His shoulders were thinner.
But I knew him immediately.
“Dad?”
He turned.
“Elena.”
I ran to him.
He held me so tightly I couldn't breathe.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then I cried.
“You're alive.”
“I had to disappear.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because they would have killed you.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the house.
“The people who killed your mother.”
My mother?
I stepped back.
“What?”
My father explained everything.
His heart attack had been staged.
He had discovered that Margaret was laundering money through Sterling Meridian.
When he threatened to expose her, she arranged for him to be killed.
But someone inside the hospital helped him escape.
He disappeared.
And from the shadows, he continued protecting me.
“Then why did you let me marry Julian?”
“I tried to stop it.”
“You didn't.”
“I thought I had more time.”
I looked away.
“Did you know he was your son?”
My father nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Julian's birth records were falsified.”
I shook my head.
“But Margaret said—”
“She lied.”
My father placed a folder in my hands.
Inside was Julian's original birth certificate.
His father was Charles Sterling.
Not Thomas.
I stared at the document.
“So Margaret lied about everything.”
“Yes.”
My father looked at me.
“Julian is not your brother.”
Relief and anger collided inside me.
“Then why did she say he was?”
“To destroy your trust in your own family.”
My father continued.
“The twins are not Julian's either.”
I already knew.
“But who is their father?”
My father looked at me.
“Daniel Cross.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Victoria had an affair with Daniel's son.”
I stared at him.
Then I understood.
The twins weren't the center of the conspiracy.
They were a distraction.
The real goal was the trust.
My father took my hand.
“Margaret wanted you to believe the children were heirs.”
“But they're not.”
“No.”
He looked toward the horizon.
“And Julian knows.”
My phone rang.
It was Julian.
His voice was barely audible.
“Elena…”
“Where are you?”
“I need to tell you the truth.”
“What truth?”
He whispered:
“Margaret wasn't the one who ordered your father's death.”
My blood ran cold.
“Then who?”
May you like
Julian answered:
“Your father did.”
