Chapter 7 - The Bloodline Trust**
Ethan backed away from the door, his mind racing through every option left on the table.
He knew that if the Reed family got temporary custody, Maya would disappear into a private academy overseas forever.
"Why do you want my daughter, Richard?" Ethan shouted through the wooden door. "She isn't even Samantha's biological child!"
Senator Reed paused on the porch, his shadow looming long against the frosted glass panel.
"Because your late wife didn't just leave you a house, Ethan," Richard revealed, his voice dropping into a sinister whisper.
"She left Maya a fifty-one percent controlling stake in the Vance Mining Trust."
Ethan felt as though the floor had dropped out beneath his feet as the missing piece of the puzzle finally clicked.
When his first wife Sarah died in a highway crash four years ago, her family estate had been placed in a sealed probate hold.
Samantha hadn't married Ethan out of love or ambition; she had married him to get her hands on Maya's bloodline inheritance.
May you like
Without another word, Ethan turned, grabbed Maya's small canvas bag, and sprinted toward the basement door.
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