Chapter 4 - THE SECOND HOWARD
The revelation shattered everything Elena thought she knew.
A twin.
A hidden brother.
A second Howard.
Someone who had apparently lived under another identity for decades.
Detective Ruiz immediately began searching old records.
Birth certificates.
School records.
Property deeds.
Corporate filings.
Every document connected to the Howard family.
By noon, they had a name.
Thomas Howard.
Born eleven minutes after Daniel Howard's grandfather.
Officially deceased at age twenty-two.
But a financial account under another name had remained active until the previous year.
Elena stared at the screen.
“Who is he now?”
Ruiz answered.
“We don't know.”
Victoria did.
“His name is Richard Hale.”
Elena felt sick.
“Who?”
Victoria looked at her.
“The man who has been advising Daniel.”
Elena remembered him.
Richard Hale.
A quiet consultant.
He had attended family meetings.
He had advised Daniel on acquisitions.
He had even congratulated Elena after her wedding.
He had always been polite.
Almost invisible.
Now she realized that invisibility had been his greatest weapon.
The next revelation was worse.
Richard had been receiving payments from the Howard trust for seventeen years.
And every payment had been authorized by someone using Elena's mother's signature.
Elena stared at the documents.
“My mother didn't do this.”
“No,” Ruiz said.
“Then who did?”
Victoria answered.
“Someone who had access to her identity.”
The investigation accelerated.
They found shell companies.
Fake consulting firms.
Property transfers.
Insurance policies.
And one recurring transaction.
A monthly payment to a private school in another state.
Ruiz looked at Elena.
“Do you know anyone named Sophie?”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Victoria's expression changed.
“I do.”
She looked frightened.
“Sophie is Richard's daughter.”
“Why would he pay for her?”
“Because she's not his daughter.”
The room went silent.
Victoria opened another file.
“Sophie is Daniel's daughter.”
Elena stared at her.
“What?”
Victoria explained that years before Elena married Daniel, he had been involved with another woman.
A child had been born.
But Daniel's father had ordered the birth records altered.
The child was placed with another family.
Daniel never acknowledged her.
Instead, money was quietly transferred to support her.
Elena felt dizzy.
“So Vanessa knew?”
“Yes.”
“That's why she was helping Daniel?”
“Partly.”
Elena sat down.
The conspiracy was no longer about an affair.
It was about bloodlines.
Inheritance.
Control.
And a secret child whose existence could change who legally controlled the Howard fortune.
Then Ruiz received another call.
His face hardened.
“What happened?”
He listened.
Then looked at Elena.
“Daniel escaped.”
Elena stood.
“How?”
“During transport.”
The officer beside him shook his head.
“We had two officers with him.”
Ruiz clenched his jaw.
“Someone inside the department helped.”
Elena's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Another message.
This time, no photograph.
Just a sentence.
You keep looking for the wrong Howard.
Elena stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
The real danger is already inside your family.
She looked toward Mrs. Howard.
Then Victoria.
Then the hallway.
A slow realization settled over her.
There was one person who had been present through every part of the story.
Someone who had known about the trust.
Someone who had access to the house.
Someone who had never once appeared frightened.
Elena whispered:
“Where is my father-in-law's old attorney?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Dead.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
She remembered the name.
He had attended her wedding.
He had reviewed her prenup.
He had advised Daniel's family for years.
And three months earlier, Elena had seen him in the city.
Alive.
Watching her.
May you like
She grabbed her coat.
“I know where to find him.”
