Chapter 8 - THE HEIR NOBODY KNEW ABOUTVincent stared at the screen.
“What did you say?”
Gabriel laughed.
“Father has another heir.”
Anthony appeared beside him.
“Gabriel, that's enough.”
But Gabriel continued.
“You spent your entire life believing you were the only son. You weren't.”
Vincent felt Anna's hand tighten around his arm.
“Who is it?”
Anthony looked directly into the camera.
“Bring the boy to the estate. We can discuss this privately.”
The screen went black.
Vincent immediately called Marco.
“Trace the signal.”
Marco was already working.
Anna turned toward Eleanor.
“Did you know?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No. I swear.”
But Anna noticed something.
The older woman's eyes had shifted toward the photograph on the desk.
A photograph of a young woman standing beside Anthony.
“Who is that?” Anna asked.
Eleanor went pale.
“Someone from your father's past.”
“Why does she look familiar?”
Eleanor didn't answer.
Anna moved closer to the photograph.
The woman had dark hair, light eyes, and a small scar above her right eyebrow.
Anna had seen that face before.
On the evening of the plane explosion.
The woman had been standing near the emergency vehicles.
“Who is she?” Anna repeated.
Eleanor finally whispered:
“Your mother.”
Anna stopped breathing.
Her mother had died when she was eleven.
At least, that was what she had always believed.
She turned toward Eleanor.
“What?”
“Your mother didn't die in the accident your family reported. She disappeared after discovering Anthony's financial crimes.”
Anna felt the room tilt.
“My mother was never involved with your family.”
“Not with Vincent's father,” Eleanor said. “With Anthony's brother.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Which means Anna may have a claim to a second family trust.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know until tonight.”
Anna stared at the photograph.
Everything was becoming more complicated.
Her mother's disappearance.
Anthony's obsession with the inheritance.
The secret heir.
The aircraft explosion.
She had thought the worst thing that had happened to her was Vincent abandoning her.
Now she was beginning to suspect that her entire life had been built on lies.
Marco returned.
“We traced the signal. Gabriel and Anthony are at the old waterfront property.”
Vincent grabbed his coat.
“We're going.”
Anna stepped in front of him.
“Not without me.”
“No.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
“It's too dangerous.”
“Your family has already taken three years from me. I'm not letting them take another minute.”
Vincent looked at Ethan.
“I won't risk him.”
Anna nodded.
“Then keep him safe. But I am going.”
Eleanor offered to stay with the boy.
Vincent hesitated.
Then he handed Ethan to his mother.
“Keep him away from every window. Don't let anyone in.”
Ethan reached for his father.
“Are you coming back?”
Vincent knelt.
“Yes.”
The little boy frowned.
“Promise?”
Vincent swallowed.
He remembered another promise.
One that had ended in flames.
This time, he didn't want to make a promise he couldn't control.
“I will do everything I can.”
Ethan considered that answer.
Then he hugged him.
Vincent kissed his forehead.
Anna watched the exchange with tears in her eyes.
For a moment, she saw the father Ethan might have had.
Then she turned away.
The drive to the waterfront took twenty minutes.
The old property had once been used for Moretti family business meetings. It stood beside a dark stretch of water, surrounded by warehouses and abandoned industrial buildings.
Vincent's men surrounded the building.
Anna entered with him.
Inside, they found Sophia tied to a chair.
Gabriel stood behind her.
Anthony sat at the head of a long table.
He looked completely calm.
“Welcome home, Vincent.”
Vincent raised his gun.
“Let her go.”
Anthony smiled.
“You always did have a weakness for women.”
Anna stepped forward.
“Where is my mother?”
Anthony's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he looked genuinely surprised.
Then he slowly stood.
“Ah.”
He glanced at Vincent.
“So you found out.”
Anna's voice shook.
“Where is she?”
Anthony leaned back.
“She's been alive all these years.”
Anna took another step.
“Where?”
Anthony looked at her.
May you like
Then he delivered the answer that changed everything.
“She was the one who paid me to make sure you never found out.”
