Chapter 17 - The Secret Daniel Never Knew
Thomas Reed's words stayed in the room long after he stopped speaking.
Your father wasn't killed because he found out about Eleanor.
He was killed because he found out what Daniel's family was really hiding.
I looked at Daniel.
For once, he didn't have an answer.
No explanation.
No apology.
Just fear.
Real fear.
The kind I had never seen before.
"Daniel."
He looked at me.
"I swear I don't know what he means."
Thomas laughed weakly from the floor.
"Of course you don't."
His voice was tired.
"Your mother made sure you never knew."
Maria's warning came back to me.
Eleanor didn't just control people.
She controlled information.
She built walls around everyone.
Even her own son.
"What did my father discover?" I asked.
Thomas closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he said:
"The Hawthorne family fortune was never theirs."
Silence.
Daniel frowned.
"What?"
Thomas looked at him.
"Your grandfather stole the company that became Carter Industries."
My body went cold.
No.
That couldn't be true.
My family.
My father's company.
Everything.
Thomas continued.
"Your father discovered the original ownership documents."
I whispered:
"Original?"
He nodded.
"The company belonged to someone else before your grandfather took it."
Daniel stepped back.
"That makes no sense."
Thomas looked at him.
"It makes perfect sense."
A pause.
"Because the person who was robbed..."
He looked at me.
"Was your grandmother."
---
The drive back was silent.
Nobody knew what to say.
My entire identity felt like it was shifting.
Carter Industries.
My inheritance.
My family's legacy.
Everything I thought I understood was changing.
Daniel finally spoke.
"Claire."
I looked out the window.
"What?"
"If this is true..."
I interrupted.
"Don't."
He stopped.
Because he knew.
I wasn't ready for comfort from him.
Not yet.
---
That night, I searched my father's records again.
This time, I wasn't searching for enemies.
I was searching for my own history.
At midnight, I found another hidden folder.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not mine.
My grandmother's.
And a note.
My father wrote:
The truth was stolen before Claire was born.
She deserves to know what belongs to her.
I stared at the page.
Then my phone rang.
Maria.
I answered immediately.
"What's wrong?"
Her voice was shaking.
"Claire..."
"What happened?"
"Someone broke into your father's house."
My heart dropped.
"What did they take?"
A pause.
Then:
"Nothing."
That made no sense.
"Then why are you scared?"
Maria whispered:
"Because they left something behind."
"What?"
Her answer froze me.
"A message."
I waited.
May you like
"They know you found the truth."
---
