Chapter 5 - THE HOUSE WITH NO ADDRESS
Zara finally told me the story.
After I left, she had moved three times.
Brooklyn.
Queens.
Then Connecticut.
She had never stayed anywhere longer than eight months.
“Why?”
“Because someone kept finding us.”
“Who?”
“I never saw their face.”
“Did they threaten you?”
“Not directly.”
“What did they do?”
“Flowers.”
I frowned.
“Flowers?”
“Every birthday.”
“For Prince?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“White roses.”
My stomach tightened.
My father used to send my mother white roses.
Every Friday.
I hadn't thought about that tradition in years.
“Did the flowers come with notes?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
She looked at me.
WE ARE STILL WATCHING.
I felt sick.
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They said there was no evidence.”
I looked away.
There was always someone protecting the Lane family.
Money.
Influence.
Fear.
That night, we moved Zara and Prince into a private residence owned by my company.
Security surrounded the building.
For the first time, Zara slept without checking the windows.
Prince slept in the room beside hers.
I stayed awake downstairs.
At 3:06 a.m., Mina called.
“Justin.”
“What?”
“We found the address.”
“What address?”
“The original laboratory where the first paternity sample was processed.”
“You said it was Boston.”
“That was the official laboratory.”
“And the real one?”
“Connecticut.”
“Where?”
“An old Lane property.”
My heart stopped.
“My family owns it?”
“It's been abandoned for seventeen years.”
“Send me the location.”
I drove there alone.
The house was hidden behind trees.
Dust covered everything.
Inside, I found old medical equipment.
Files.
Photographs.
And a locked metal cabinet.
I broke the lock.
Inside were dozens of folders.
The first one had my name.
The second had my sister's.
The third had Zara's.
The fourth—
PRINCE BENNETT.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Prince as a newborn.
Taken hours after his birth.
But beneath it was a medical report.
GENETIC COMPATIBILITY: 99.99%.
My hands shook.
The original test had confirmed I was his father.
Then why had someone forged the second report?
I found the answer beneath it.
A payment authorization.
Signed by Eleanor Lane.
But there was another signature.
Victor Hale.
I had never met him.
Yet he had been controlling my family for years.
Then I found the final document.
It was a contract.
My mother had agreed to transfer controlling shares of Lane Hospitality to Victor.
In exchange, Victor promised to keep my sister hidden.
But there was a handwritten note at the bottom.
If Justin discovers the child, eliminate the mother and relocate the boy.
I couldn't breathe.
Someone had planned to kill Zara.
And take my son.
My phone rang.
Zara.
“Justin?”
“Where are you?”
“At the house.”
“Lock the doors.”
“What happened?”
I looked at the document.
“They're coming for Prince.”
A scream came through the phone.
Then the line went dead.
May you like
I ran.
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