Chapter 11 - THE SISTER WHO STOOD BESIDE OUR ENEMY
The hidden daughter was named Mara Hale.
Thirty-eight.
Attorney.
Chief compliance officer for Castle Maritime.
Victor trusted her with almost every legitimate business contract.
I'd met her once at the gala.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Calm.
She'd shaken my hand.
Now DNA and adoption records suggested Mara was Catherine's daughter from another relationship before Victor was born.
Catherine had given up two children.
Me.
Then Mara.
And somehow Mara eventually returned to the Castle organization without Victor knowing who she was.
Victor looked devastated.
“How long has she known?”
Elena checked the records.
“Maybe years.”
Mara agreed to meet through attorneys.
She didn't deny it.
She sat across from us in a conference room.
Then looked at me.
“So you're Hazel.”
I folded my arms.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“And you never told us?”
Mara looked at him.
“Catherine made me promise.”
“Why?”
“Because she said Graham would kill Hazel if he knew the family reunited.”
I stared.
“He already knew.”
Mara’s expression broke.
“I found that out too late.”
She explained Catherine contacted her twelve years earlier.
At first, Catherine claimed she was still trying to expose Mercer.
Then Mara discovered Catherine had begun participating in his financial network.
Survival had turned into partnership.
Maybe greed.
Maybe fear.
Probably both.
Nathan learned Mara's identity because she secretly contacted him.
He hoped the two of them could persuade Catherine to testify.
Instead, Mercer discovered the plan.
Dad died.
Mara withdrew.
She spent years collecting evidence from inside Castle Maritime.
Victor stared.
“You could have come to me.”
“You were running the criminal side of the docks.”
He flinched.
“I didn't know if you were part of it.”
That was fair.
Painful.
But fair.
Then Mara placed a file on the table.
“I know where Catherine is.”
My heart raced.
“Where?”
“An old Castle property near Lake Geneva.”
Victor stood.
Mara raised one hand.
“No guns. No private army.”
He looked at me.
Then nodded.
“Agreed.”
The authorities were notified.
Catherine was located at the property.
She surrendered without violence.
I thought I'd feel satisfaction.
Instead, I felt grief.
This woman had given birth to me.
Then disappeared.
Then helped create the world that killed the father who raised me.
When I finally saw her through the interview-room glass, she looked small.
Nothing like the monster I'd imagined.
Then she asked to speak with me.
I almost refused.
But I needed one answer.
“Why did Dad die?”
Catherine looked at me through tears.
“Because I was supposed to testify.”
My stomach tightened.
“Nathan came to get me.”
“And?”
“I panicked.”
Her voice broke.
“I called Graham.”
I stared.
“You betrayed him.”
She began sobbing.
“Yes.”
Then she whispered the truth I'd been waiting fourteen years to hear.
“Graham ordered men to stop Nathan's car.”
I closed my eyes.
Catherine continued.
“I didn't know they would kill him.”
I opened them.
“But you knew he was in danger.”
“Yes.”
That was enough.
She hadn't driven the car.
She hadn't fired a gun.
But her choice helped create the trap.
Then Catherine said:
“Hazel, Nathan's last words were about you.”
My throat tightened.
“What did he say?”
May you like
She looked directly into my eyes.
“He said, ‘Tell my daughter I chose her every day.’”
