Chapter 8 - THE BETRAYAL
Nora survived.
Barely.
She told us the truth from a hospital bed.
Thomas had been working for Victor.
But not willingly.
Victor had threatened his daughter.
“For six years,” Nora said, “Thomas moved money to Evelyn because your father ordered him to.”
“And then?”
“Victor discovered it.”
“So Thomas became his prisoner.”
“Yes.”
“Then who is the man in the photograph?”
Nora shook her head.
“He calls himself The Trustee.”
My attorney frowned.
“Who is that?”
“Someone who has controlled the private trust for years.”
I stared at her.
“Name?”
“I never learned it.”
Then Evelyn walked into the room.
She was holding a file.
“I did.”
Everyone turned.
She placed it on the bed.
Inside was a corporate registration.
The Trustee was a legal entity.
But the registered agent was a person.
Daniel Vance.
My father's name.
Impossible.
He was dead.
Then I saw the date.
The entity had been renewed six months ago.
By someone using his identity.
My mother sat down.
“No.”
“What?”
She stared at the document.
“That's not your father.”
“Then who?”
She whispered:
“His brother.”
Victor.
I looked at Nora.
“But you said Victor wasn't the mastermind.”
“He isn't.”
“Then who?”
Nora closed her eyes.
“The person who has been controlling him.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
A voice spoke.
“Marcus.”
I recognized it.
My former partner.
Thomas.
But something was wrong.
“Where are you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“Who is controlling Victor?”
A pause.
Then:
“Your mother.”
I looked at Eleanor.
She stood perfectly still.
Thomas continued.
“She has been lying to you again.”
My mother's face collapsed.
“Don't listen to him.”
“Why?”
“Because he isn't Thomas.”
The voice laughed.
Then changed.
It was electronically distorted.
“Good.”
The call ended.
My attorney looked at me.
“Someone is manipulating both sides.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Then what do they want?”
I looked at the twins.
“The trust.”
But my mother shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“The money isn't the real prize.”
She opened the final page of my father's documents.
A clause appeared.
The trust controls the voting rights of the Vance family's political holdings.
I understood.
This wasn't about wealth.
It was about power.
The person behind everything wanted control over companies, politicians, property, and influence.
The twins were the key because their existence triggered succession.
My mother had hidden them to keep the trust frozen.
Victor wanted them to control it.
And someone else wanted Victor to take the blame.
Then my mother said:
“There is one person who knew about the trust before your father died.”
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“Your grandmother.”
“My grandmother died twenty years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
“She left a letter.”
My mother reached into her coat.
“It's been hidden for twenty years.”
I opened it.
The handwriting was unmistakably hers.
One sentence stood out.
If Marcus ever has children, protect them from the person who sits closest to the family throne.
I looked at my mother.
“Who sits closest?”
She didn't answer.
May you like
Because suddenly we both knew.
The answer was already inside the family.
