Chapter 9 - ELIAS WHISPERED ONE NAME BEFORE HE COLLAPSED—AND DANIEL REALIZED SOMEONE HAD BUILT HIS ENTIRE LIFE ON A LIE
“Richard.”
That was the name.
Sofia heard it clearly.
Elias’s bloody fingers tightened around her wrist as darkness swallowed the underground passage.
“Richard Ashford.”
Then his hand went limp.
Sofia’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“Elias!”
Daniel dragged her behind the concrete wall as another shot tore through the darkness.
“Stay down!”
“But Elias—”
“I know.”
Daniel fired a warning shot toward the corridor.
Footsteps retreated.
Adrian shouted for security.
Samuel crouched behind a cabinet.
Margaret prayed.
Then emergency lights returned.
Elias was alive.
Barely.
The bullet had passed through his shoulder.
Daniel pressed his jacket against the wound.
Sofia stared at him.
Elias had said Richard.
Richard Ashford.
Victoria’s father.
Daniel looked at Sofia.
He had heard it too.
“No.”
Sofia understood.
If Elias was right, Daniel’s biological father was not Luis Ramirez.
It was Richard Ashford.
Victoria’s father.
The man who had spent Victoria’s entire life preparing her to marry Daniel.
Daniel stood.
His face had become empty.
That frightened Sofia more than anger.
“Where is Victoria?”
Sofia froze.
Upstairs.
Alone.
Daniel ran.
They reached the main floor.
Victoria was standing in the foyer.
She looked at Daniel.
“What happened?”
Daniel stopped several feet away.
“Your father.”
Victoria frowned.
“What about him?”
“Where is he?”
“Jail.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Where is he really?”
Victoria stared.
Sofia approached.
“Victoria, listen to me.”
“What?”
“Elias said Richard is Daniel’s biological father.”
Victoria’s face emptied.
Then she laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the alternative was unbearable.
“No.”
Daniel said nothing.
Victoria looked at him.
“No.”
“Victoria.”
“NO.”
She backed away.
“My father arranged our relationship.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“He wanted me to marry you.”
“I know.”
“If he was your father…”
Her voice broke.
Sofia understood the horror.
Richard would have been trying to arrange a marriage between his own biological children.
Victoria ran to the bathroom and vomited.
Daniel remained frozen.
Sofia followed Victoria.
She found her sitting on the marble floor, red-faced and shaking.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
“I swear.”
“I know.”
Victoria looked at her.
“He knew.”
Sofia did not answer.
Victoria began crying.
“He had to know.”
Maybe.
That was the question.
When Daniel finally contacted federal authorities, they discovered Richard Ashford had never reached prison.
The transport vehicle had been attacked.
Two officers injured.
Richard gone.
Daniel stared at the report.
“He escaped hours ago.”
Sofia looked toward the underground passage.
“And somebody just shot Elias.”
Daniel nodded.
“Richard.”
Maybe.
But Sofia had learned not to accept the easiest answer.
Elias was transported to a private hospital under armed guard.
Samuel was detained for questioning.
Adrian surrendered voluntarily.
Margaret remained at the villa.
Isabella refused to leave Sofia.
By midnight, Daniel sat alone beside the pool.
Sofia joined him.
The water was perfectly still.
“I almost married my sister.”
“We don't know that.”
“Elias said Richard.”
“Elias had just been shot.”
“He knew.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You've become annoyingly reasonable.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“You don't have an occupation.”
“Then it's a personality defect.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
Then silence returned.
“What if it's true?”
Sofia looked at him.
“Then it's true.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
She sat beside him.
“But truth doesn't become less true because it's ugly.”
Daniel stared at the pool.
“I spent years hating Richard.”
“Reasonably.”
“If he's my father…”
“He doesn't suddenly become your dad.”
Daniel looked at her.
She continued.
“Biology doesn't rewrite experience.”
He nodded slowly.
“Luis still matters.”
“Yes.”
“Charles still matters.”
“Yes.”
“And Richard…”
“Matters in whatever way you decide.”
Daniel looked toward the house.
“What about Victoria?”
Sofia sighed.
“She'll have to decide the same thing.”
At three in the morning, Isabella joined them.
She carried an old envelope.
“I found this in Luis’s things years ago.”
Sofia frowned.
“Why didn't you show me?”
“I didn't know what it meant.”
Inside was a photograph.
Richard Ashford holding newborn Daniel.
Sofia stared.
Richard looked emotional.
Too emotional.
On the back:
MY SON. FORGIVE ME.
Daniel’s hands trembled.
“That proves it.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
She removed another paper.
A laboratory report.
Paternity probability:
Richard Ashford: excluded.
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Sofia took the page.
Richard was not Daniel’s biological father.
Elias had been wrong.
Or lied to.
Daniel exhaled.
Then frowned.
“Why would Richard write ‘my son’?”
Isabella answered:
“Because he believed you were his.”
Sofia stared.
Someone had lied to Richard too.
The conspiracy was deeper than one villain.
Daniel asked:
“Then who is my father?”
Isabella shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The next morning, Elias regained consciousness.
Sofia went to the hospital.
He looked weak.
“Richard.”
Sofia sat beside him.
“Richard isn't Daniel’s father.”
Elias stared.
“What?”
“We have a DNA exclusion.”
“That can't be.”
“Why did you think it was Richard?”
“Because Samuel told me.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
Another lie.
“Samuel.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twenty-five years ago.”
Sofia stood.
Samuel Kane had been manipulating everyone.
They returned to the villa.
Samuel was gone.
Federal officers had transported him for questioning.
Except no federal transport had been scheduled.
Someone wearing federal credentials had taken him.
Daniel stared at Marcus.
“Find the vehicle.”
They did.
Abandoned ten miles away.
Inside:
One dead driver.
No Samuel.
And another envelope.
FOR DANIEL.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a DNA report.
He read it.
His face changed.
Sofia stepped closer.
“What?”
Daniel handed it to her.
The report compared Daniel Hawthorne with Samuel Kane.
Probability of biological paternity:
99.998%.
Sofia stared.
“No.”
Daniel looked toward the empty road.
Samuel Kane.
The scientist who had created Meridian.
The man who had manipulated reproductive samples.
The man who had lied to Elias.
Daniel whispered:
“He's my father.”
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Samuel’s voice.
“Daniel.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“You're my father.”
Silence.
Then Samuel said:
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor and I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“We were in love.”
Daniel froze.
Samuel continued.
“Charles knew.”
Sofia stared.
“Charles knew?”
“Yes.”
“And he raised me anyway?”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Then why did you let me believe Luis was my father?”
“Because I needed everyone looking in the wrong direction.”
“Why?”
Samuel’s voice became quiet.
“Because Daniel…”
“…you were never the child Meridian was designed to create.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Samuel continued.
“Sofia was.”
Sofia stopped breathing.
May you like
Then the call ended.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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