Chapter 14 - THE TRUTH ABOUT MIA
I couldn't breathe.
“What does Mia have to do with this?”
Mom's voice remained calm.
“Everything.”
“Tell me.”
“Not over the phone.”
“Then come here.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because they're watching.”
I froze.
“Who?”
She whispered:
“The people who took your grandfather.”
The call ended.
I immediately sent security to find her.
They located Mom at an abandoned property on the eastern side of the island.
She was sitting alone.
When I arrived, she looked exhausted.
I sat across from her.
“What did you mean about Mia?”
Mom stared at the floor.
“Your grandfather knew the family would fight over the inheritance.”
“So?”
“He created a second trust.”
“For Mia?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
“Because he believed you would protect the money.”
I didn't understand.
“He wanted the inheritance to continue through you.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because someone wanted the bloodline to end.”
My stomach tightened.
Mom finally looked at me.
“Mia is the key.”
“To what?”
“The final trust.”
She explained that my grandfather had created a separate inheritance structure for Mia.
It could not be accessed by me.
My parents.
Sarah.
Or anyone else.
It would become hers when she turned twenty-one.
But there was one condition.
The family had to prove that the assets had never been obtained through fraud.
That meant the entire family fortune would be audited.
Every stolen dollar.
Every secret company.
Every hidden account.
My grandfather had designed it to expose whoever had been stealing.
Mom looked at me.
“That is why they wanted you to sign.”
“They needed me to transfer everything before the audit.”
“Yes.”
“Who are ‘they’?”
Mom closed her eyes.
“Your father was never the mastermind.”
“I know.”
“Neither was Greg.”
“I know.”
“Richard wasn't either.”
“I know.”
She whispered:
“There is one person left.”
The door opened.
Dad walked in.
He was still wearing a hospital sling.
He looked at Mom.
“You shouldn't have told her.”
Mom turned.
“You were going to let them kill her?”
Dad looked at me.
“I tried to stop it.”
“You helped them.”
“I was trapped.”
“You always say that.”
He began crying.
Then he said something I never expected.
“I was never your biological father.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“What?”
Mom closed her eyes.
Dad continued.
“Your grandfather adopted you.”
I couldn't move.
“Why?”
“Because your biological father was Jonathan Morrow.”
Everything stopped.
The man on the phone.
The man who knew the ledger.
The man my grandfather trusted.
My entire life had been built on a lie.
Dad looked at me.
“I loved you.”
“But you lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather believed Morrow would come back for you.”
I stood.
“So everything was connected.”
Dad nodded.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
COME TO THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE. ALONE.
There was a photograph attached.
Mia.
Standing beside a man.
Jonathan Morrow.
I stared at the screen.
Dad whispered:
“No.”
I grabbed my coat.
“I’m going.”
He tried to stop me.
“Elena, you don't know what he'll do.”
I looked at him.
“I know exactly what I'll do.”
I walked out.
May you like
Because if Jonathan had my daughter…
Then the entire game was about to end.
