Chapter 6 - The Child Who Inherited Everything
The truth emerged slowly.
Too slowly.
Every answer created three more questions.
Nathan Cross had created a secret trust shortly before his death.
The beneficiary was not Daniel.
It was the biological child of a woman named Elena Marlow.
My mother.
The trust had been designed to activate when the child reached thirty years of age and had a child of her own.
I stared at the documents.
“So the trust activates because I had a baby?”
Detective Reed nodded.
“Yes.”
My father looked stunned.
“What does the trust contain?”
Reed placed another document on the table.
“Twenty percent of Crosswell Holdings.”
I stared at him.
“That’s worth—”
“Billions,” he said.
The room went silent.
My baby had been born into a fortune.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
The trust required a guardian.
And the guardian had been named years ago.
Daniel Cross.
I felt sick.
My husband had not married me for love.
He had married me because of a trust.
But why had he tried to kill me?
Detective Reed explained.
“If you died, the trust would transfer to your child.”
I stared at him.
“Then why would Daniel want me dead?”
“Because the trust has another condition.”
He turned the page.
I read it.
The beneficiary could not be controlled by any person who had been convicted of fraud, attempted murder, or financial crimes.
Daniel’s face appeared in the surveillance footage.
His attempted murder had already endangered everything.
If I died, he would become the guardian.
But if he were exposed…
He would lose control.
I suddenly understood.
Daniel didn’t simply want me dead.
He wanted me dead before I could expose him.
And he wanted my baby alive.
Because my son was the key to the fortune.
I began shaking.
“He was going to kill me and take my baby.”
My father’s face turned white.
“Yes.”
I covered my mouth.
The hospital room suddenly felt too small.
Then another truth surfaced.
“Where is Margaret?”
Detective Reed looked at me.
“She disappeared.”
Of course she had.
Daniel had been arrested.
Margaret had vanished.
But before she disappeared, she had left something behind.
A video.
Detective Reed played it.
Margaret sat in a dark room.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Emma,” she said.
I felt my blood run cold.
“If you are watching this, then Daniel failed.”
My father stood.
Margaret continued.
“You have spent your entire life believing your mother was a victim.”
She smiled.
“She was not.”
I stared at the screen.
“Your mother stole from Nathan.”
My father shouted:
“She’s lying!”
Margaret ignored him.
“She took millions from Crosswell Holdings and tried to blackmail Nathan.”
I looked at my father.
“Is that true?”
He said nothing.
Margaret leaned closer to the camera.
“Your mother was not killed because she knew too much.”
The video flickered.
“She was killed because she betrayed the wrong man.”
My heart pounded.
Then Margaret said:
“And your father helped her.”
I turned toward my father.
He looked devastated.
“Emma…”
I stepped away from him.
“What did you do?”
My father’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never killed your mother.”
“But you helped her steal?”
He said nothing.
The video continued.
Margaret smiled.
“And now you have inherited the same money.”
She leaned back.
“Your mother’s blood is in your veins.”
Then the screen went black.
May you like
A final message appeared.
The truth about your mother is buried beneath the old Crosswell estate.
