Chapter 14 - THE LAST WITNESSDaniel survived.
Barely.
The FBI broke through the wall.
Charles was arrested.
Victoria surrendered.
The family network began collapsing.
But the case wasn't finished.
There was still one missing piece.
The person who had financed the murder.
The person who had ordered Rebecca's death.
The person who had controlled Charles.
Ethan's mother knew.
She finally admitted it.
“It was your father.”
Ethan stared.
“My father was dead.”
“He wasn't.”
“Then where is he?”
She looked toward the hospital.
“Your father is the reason Rebecca died.”
Ethan couldn't speak.
His father had staged his own death.
He had disappeared.
He had manipulated the family from the shadows.
And now he wanted his grandson.
The FBI discovered his location.
A private island off the coast of Maine.
Ethan flew there.
The island was empty.
Except for one house.
Inside was a nursery.
His son's photograph hung on the wall.
Beside it was a photograph of Ethan as a baby.
And another of Rebecca.
Ethan walked slowly through the room.
Then he heard a voice.
“You came.”
His father stepped from the shadows.
Older.
Alive.
Ethan stared.
“You destroyed everything.”
His father smiled.
“No.”
“I saved my son.”
“You delayed the inevitable.”
Ethan raised his weapon.
His father didn't move.
“You won't shoot me.”
“Try me.”
His father looked toward the crib.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then listen.”
He told Ethan everything.
Rebecca had discovered the illegal adoption network.
She tried to expose it.
The family killed her.
But before she died, she hid the evidence inside her own child's records.
That evidence survived.
And the child grew up.
That child was Ethan.
His father had spent years protecting him from the family.
But eventually, greed returned.
The baby was now the final link.
Ethan's father looked at him.
“I made terrible choices.”
“You murdered people.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His father looked toward the ocean.
“Because I believed I could protect you.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Everyone in this family says that.”
May you like
His father smiled sadly.
“Then maybe that is our greatest sin.”
