Chapter 6 - THE SISTER WHO CAME BACK FROM THE GRAVE
I didn't remember leaving the bedroom.
One moment I was staring at the empty bed. The next, I was in the security room demanding every camera recording from the previous ten minutes.
Marcus stood beside me.
“Three men entered through the east gate. They disabled the cameras and took Lyla through the service entrance.”
“Find them.”
“We're tracking the vehicle.”
“Then track faster.”
My voice shook with anger.
Keller sat in the corner, pale and silent.
I turned toward him.
“Where would Evelyn take Lyla?”
“I told you, I don't know.”
I grabbed his collar.
“Then start remembering.”
He raised both hands.
“There was a house. Near the Hudson River. Your father used to keep it for emergencies.”
I released him.
“Address.”
Keller gave it to Marcus.
We were on the road within minutes.
The property was an old stone house surrounded by overgrown gardens. My father had used it as a retreat during the final years of his life.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, a lamp burned beside the fireplace.
And standing near the window was a woman.
She was thinner than I remembered.
Her dark hair had silver strands, and a faint scar ran along her jaw.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
“Evelyn.”
She turned.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then she whispered my name.
“Charles.”
I wanted to run toward her.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to ask why she had abandoned me.
Instead, I stood there like a frightened seventeen-year-old boy.
“You're alive.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to come home.”
“Twenty years ago?”
“Many times.”
“Then why didn't you?”
She looked toward the hallway.
“Because Victoria made sure I couldn't.”
A door opened.
Lyla came running into the room.
“Mom!”
Evelyn dropped to her knees and caught her daughter.
I watched them embrace.
The little girl buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
Evelyn kissed her forehead.
“I'm okay, sweetheart.”
Then she looked at me.
“You shouldn't have brought her here.”
“She's my daughter.”
“I know.”
I stepped closer.
“You knew?”
Evelyn nodded.
“I discovered the truth when Lyla was born. Your father had arranged for a DNA test before he died.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the people who wanted to control the Whitmore trust needed you isolated. If they knew you had a daughter, she would become another target.”
I looked at Lyla.
“Who is her father?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she reached into her bag and removed a photograph.
It showed me standing beside a young woman at a family charity event.
The woman was beautiful, with dark hair and a familiar smile.
I recognized her.
Sophia Bennett.
My first love.
She had died in a car accident before my engagement to another woman.
I stared at the photograph.
“That's impossible.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Lyla's biological father is not the man you think.”
I looked up.
“What?”
She placed another document on the table.
A paternity report.
It named me as the father.
“Then why did you say—”
“Because the truth is worse than you realize.”
She explained that Sophia had been pregnant when she died.
The accident had been arranged.
Victoria had discovered the pregnancy and ordered Evelyn to take the baby away before the hospital could identify the child's father.
Evelyn had escaped with the newborn.
She had raised Lyla under a different surname, moving between shelters and rented rooms.
I stared at my sister.
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because someone inside your company was watching you. Every time I tried to contact you, they found me.”
“Who?”
Evelyn reached into her bag again.
This time, she produced a small digital recorder.
“Your father left this with me.”
She pressed play.
My father's voice filled the room.
“If Charles ever learns the truth, he must know that the accident was arranged by someone who wanted both children removed from the inheritance.”
A second voice followed.
A man's voice.
My father's closest business partner.
Richard Ashford.
I recognized it instantly.
Richard had attended my father's funeral.
He had been my business mentor.
He had even helped me rebuild the company after my accident.
The recording continued.
“Victoria, the boy is becoming suspicious. If he discovers the trust documents, we'll lose everything.”
Victoria answered.
“Then make sure he never walks into that boardroom again.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“Richard?”
She nodded.
“He was the one who arranged your accident.”
A sudden noise came from outside.
Marcus rushed to the window.
“Vehicles approaching!”
Evelyn grabbed Lyla.
“There's a tunnel beneath the house.”
But before we could move, the front door burst open.
Armed men entered.
And behind them stood Richard Ashford.
He smiled when he saw me.
“Charles. It's been a long time.”
May you like
Then he raised a gun toward Lyla.
“I believe we have something that belongs to me.”
