Chapter 14 - THE LAST LIE IN THE CARTER FAMILY
Marcus Halpern was arrested at 6:07 p.m.
Richard surrendered without resistance.
Federal agents seized documents from the building.
By 7:30, news stations were already reporting that a billionaire developer long believed dead had been taken into custody in connection with decades-old financial crimes.
Emily heard none of it.
She was staring at her mother.
Susan sat in Daniel’s penthouse living room.
Tyler had arrived an hour earlier.
Nobody had told him why.
He knew only that something was wrong.
“What did Marcus mean?” Emily asked.
Susan said nothing.
Tyler looked between them.
“Someone want to explain why I’m missing class?”
Emily sat beside him.
“Mom is alive.”
Tyler laughed.
Then saw Susan.
His face emptied.
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
Susan stood.
“Tyler.”
He backed away.
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
Emily understood.
She had already had hours to process it.
Tyler had seconds.
Susan began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Tyler looked at Emily.
“You knew?”
“Since yesterday.”
“And didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know how.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Great family.”
He walked toward the door.
Susan spoke.
“Marcus said something to Emily.”
Tyler stopped.
Emily wished she could delay it.
She couldn’t.
“He said Dad wasn’t Tyler’s biological father.”
Silence.
Tyler slowly turned.
Susan closed her eyes.
“It’s true.”
Tyler stared.
“Who?”
Susan’s voice broke.
“Daniel.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel Reeves stood near the window.
His face went white.
“What?”
Susan began shaking her head.
“Not you.”
Daniel exhaled.
Then Susan looked at Tyler.
“Daniel Carter.”
Emily frowned.
“Dad’s brother?”
She remembered almost nothing about Uncle Danny.
He had died before Tyler was born.
Or so she had been told.
Susan nodded.
“Robert’s younger brother.”
Tyler stared.
“You cheated on Dad with his brother?”
“No.”
Susan shook her head violently.
“No. Daniel was your biological father before Robert and I married.”
Emily stopped.
“What?”
Susan explained.
She had dated Daniel Carter first.
He died in a motorcycle accident before learning she was pregnant.
Robert, his older brother, loved Susan.
Loved the unborn child.
And married her.
“Dad knew?”
Susan smiled through tears.
“Robert was there when you were born.”
She looked at Tyler.
“He never called you anything except his son.”
Tyler’s eyes filled.
“So why hide it?”
“Robert wanted you to choose when you were older. Then he died before we could tell you.”
Tyler sat down.
His anger broke into grief.
Emily took his hand.
Susan moved closer.
This time Tyler did not step away.
Hours later, after Tyler finally fell asleep on the couch, Emily stood on Daniel Reeves’s balcony.
Cincinnati glittered beneath them.
“You okay?” Daniel asked.
“No.”
“Reasonable.”
Emily smiled faintly.
“What happens now?”
“Marcus goes to trial.”
“The property?”
“The Carter trust will likely be validated.”
“Likely?”
“Lawyers fear certainty.”
She laughed.
“And the Golden Spoon?”
Daniel looked at her.
“That depends on you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Technically, within weeks, you may own it.”
Emily stared toward Walnut Street.
Yesterday she had almost been fired from that restaurant.
Soon she might own the building.
Daniel continued.
“I have one more thing.”
“Please tell me nobody else is alive.”
He laughed.
“No.”
He handed her an envelope.
Inside was a letter from Robert.
Not a copy.
The original.
Emily unfolded it.
At the bottom were his final instructions.
If Emily ever finds this, let her decide what Walnut Street becomes.
Not Daniel.
Not the lawyers.
Not anyone else.
Emily looked up.
“What if I don’t want nineteen million dollars?”
Daniel smiled.
“Then don’t keep nineteen million dollars.”
“What would Dad do?”
Daniel’s expression softened.
“He’d feed somebody.”
May you like
Emily looked toward the city.
And for the first time since the strange man entered Table 14, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.
