Chapter 6
Richard called Thomas immediately.
His uncle did not answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
The false laboratory report had been sent from a Hale Medical Systems address.
It included Emily’s date of birth, Anna’s medical history, and Richard’s private identification number.
Whoever created it had access to confidential family records.
Richard forwarded it to Marcus.
“Find out where this came from.”
Marcus responded within minutes.
“The report was generated six hours ago.”
“Before Emily entered the hotel.”
“Yes.”
“So they knew she was coming.”
“It appears that way.”
Richard looked at the sleeping child.
Anna had planned everything carefully.
Perhaps she had contacted the hotel before her death.
Perhaps someone had intercepted the message.
“Can the report be traced to an employee?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Use an independent lab for the real test.”
“Already arranged.”
“At the hotel. No names on the samples.”
“You don’t trust the family hospital?”
“I don’t trust anyone connected to my family.”
At sunrise, Rosa found Richard standing by the window.
Emily was still asleep.
“You should rest,” Rosa said.
“So should you.”
“I spent three weeks expecting Grant to come back.”
She sat across from him.
“Anna knew he was watching us before she died.”
“Why didn’t she go to the police?”
“She tried once.”
“What happened?”
“A detective told her there was no proof of a crime. The next morning, she lost her job.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“What kind of work did she do?”
“Toward the end? Anything she could.”
Rosa looked at Emily.
“She cleaned offices at night. She taught music after school. When she got sick, Emily helped carry groceries because Anna was too weak.”
Richard swallowed hard.
“Why didn’t she come to me herself?”
“She did.”
He stared at Rosa.
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
Rosa removed an old phone from her bag.
The screen was cracked.
She opened a photograph.
Anna stood outside Hale Tower holding Emily’s hand.
Emily was five.
Richard’s office had been forty floors above them.
“Security refused to let her enter,” Rosa said. “Grant came downstairs. He told her you had seen them through the cameras and ordered them removed.”
“I wasn’t there that day.”
“I know that now.”
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
Rosa swiped to another photograph.
This one showed Emily asleep on a bus with the violin case against her chest.
“Anna cried the entire ride home.”
Richard pressed his fists against his eyes.
“She must have hated me.”
“She wanted to.”
“But?”
“She couldn’t.”
Emily stirred.
Richard lowered his hands.
She opened her eyes and immediately reached for the violin.
When she saw he was still there, her expression softened.
“You stayed.”
“I told you I would.”
A doctor from an independent clinic arrived an hour later.
She collected samples from Richard and Emily while Marcus watched.
The samples were sealed under identification numbers.
No Hale name appeared on the paperwork.
“When will we know?” Emily asked.
“Twenty-four hours,” the doctor said.
Emily looked at Richard.
“That’s a long time.”
“It will pass,” he told her.
But the day became longer before breakfast ended.
News channels began reporting that Emily was an impostor.
Anonymous sources claimed Anna had attempted to extort the Hale family years earlier.
One station displayed the false DNA report.
The headline read: HOTEL HEIRESS CLAIM COLLAPSES.
Emily saw it on the television.
“That says you’re not my father.”
Richard switched it off.
“The report is fake.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it was created before they tested us.”
“Why would someone do that?”
“To frighten you.”
“It worked.”
He sat beside her.
“I’m frightened too.”
“You don’t look frightened.”
“I’ve had more practice hiding it.”
Rosa’s phone rang.
She answered, listened, and went pale.
“Our apartment is on fire.”
Emily stood so quickly her chair fell.
“What?”
“The neighbor said firefighters are there.”
“My things!”
Richard caught her before she ran toward the door.
“You cannot go there.”
“My mom’s clothes are there!”
“It may not be safe.”
“She’ll disappear!”
Her words became a scream.
“Everything she touched will disappear!”
Richard held her as she fought him.
Then the fight drained out of her body.
She sobbed against his chest.
He could not promise to replace what had burned.
He finally understood why the violin mattered so much.
Anna had been taken from Emily piece by piece.
First her health.
Then her life.
Now someone was erasing what remained.
Marcus entered.
“The fire department believes it was deliberate.”
“Grant is in custody,” Richard said.
“He didn’t act alone.”
Richard looked at Rosa.
“Was anything important in the apartment?”
“Anna’s journal. Medical papers. Photographs.”
“Where?”
“In a metal box beneath her bed.”
Marcus called the fire chief.
Ten minutes later, they learned the bedroom had suffered the worst damage.
The metal box was missing.
Emily sat silently, staring at the broken violin.
Richard’s phone rang.
Thomas Hale.
Richard answered.
“Where are you?”
Thomas sounded breathless.
“Do not return to Hale Tower.”
“Why?”
“The board has called an emergency vote.”
“On what?”
“Removing you as chief executive.”
Richard almost laughed.
“My mother is under arrest.”
“That’s the reason they’re giving. They claim your personal conduct has endangered the merger.”
“Who called the vote?”
“I did.”
Richard stood.
“You?”
“I had no choice.”
“You sent me a warning.”
“Because I wanted you to surrender before this became worse.”
“Did you create the false DNA report?”
“No.”
“Did you destroy Anna’s letters?”
Thomas did not answer.
Richard’s voice sharpened.
“Uncle Thomas.”
“I destroyed some of them.”
“Why?”
“Your father asked me to protect the company if anything happened to him.”
“My father was trying to expose the company.”
“Only after he helped build it.”
“You knew Emily existed.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew Anna came to the tower.”
“Yes.”
Richard could hardly speak.
“And you sent her away?”
“I told Grant to handle it.”
Emily was listening now.
Her small face went still.
Richard moved farther from her.
“You ordered Grant to remove them.”
“I was protecting you.”
“My mother said the same thing.”
“Because it is true. You were about to become CEO. A child born outside marriage would have triggered the morality clause in your father’s trust.”
“So this was about my inheritance?”
“It was about keeping control of the hotels.”
“You let my daughter grow up believing I rejected her.”
Thomas sighed.
“Do not call her that until the real test comes back.”
Richard looked toward Emily.
She had heard every word.
“It won’t matter what the test says.”
“It will matter to the board.”
“Then the board can remove me.”
“You don’t understand. If they remove you today, every Hale asset under your authority freezes. The hotel suite, the security detail, even the lawyers helping that child.”
“Are you threatening her?”
“I’m explaining reality.”
“No. You’re telling me you can take away her safety unless I obey.”
Thomas lowered his voice.
“Come alone to Hale Tower. Bring William’s confession and Anna’s letter. In exchange, I will stop the vote and ensure the girl is protected.”
“And the recorder?”
A long silence followed.
Thomas finally said, “Bring that too.”
Richard ended the call.
Rosa stared at him.
“You can’t give him the evidence.”
“I won’t.”
“But you’re going to the tower.”
“Yes.”
Emily crossed her arms.
“No.”
Richard turned.
“No?”
“You said adults always leave after making promises.”
“I’m coming back.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I have to stop my uncle.”
“What if he takes you too?”
Richard crouched in front of her.
“I’m not walking into this without protection.”
“You went into the lake house.”
“And I learned from that mistake.”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mom always said she was coming back from the hospital.”
Richard’s heart tightened.
“I’m sorry.”
“Then don’t promise.”
He thought carefully.
“I cannot promise nothing will happen.”
She looked away.
“But I can promise I will fight as hard to return to you as your mother fought to bring you to me.”
Emily met his eyes again.
After a moment, she nodded.
Daniel entered the suite.
He had spent the morning speaking with police.
Richard handed him a copy of the false report.
“Thomas called the board meeting.”
Daniel read it.
“What are you going to do?”
“Attend.”
“I’ll come.”
“Stay here.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You still don’t trust me.”
“You admitted you betrayed Anna.”
“I was young.”
“So was she.”
Daniel flinched.
Richard softened his voice.
“This is your chance to make a different choice. Protect Emily.”
Daniel looked at the child.
“I will.”
As Richard prepared to leave, Emily pressed something into his hand.
It was a small wooden tuning peg from the broken violin.
“So you remember to come back,” she said.
Richard closed his fingers around it.
At Hale Tower, reporters crowded the entrance.
Marcus led him through an underground garage.
The boardroom was filled when Richard arrived.
Thomas sat at the head of the table.
Three attorneys stood behind him.
On a wall screen was the false DNA report.
Thomas folded his hands.
“Give me the evidence, Richard.”
“No.”
“Then this meeting will proceed.”
“Before it does, tell the board when you learned about Emily.”
Thomas’s expression did not change.
“This is not a courtroom.”
“No. In a courtroom, lying has consequences.”
Murmurs moved around the table.
Richard connected his phone to the screen.
He displayed the creation time of the false report.
“This document was generated before Emily and I were tested. Someone with Hale Medical access fabricated it.”
A board member removed her glasses.
“Is that true?”
Thomas looked toward the attorneys.
Before he could answer, the boardroom doors opened.
Evelyn entered.
She was not wearing handcuffs.
Richard stared at her.
“How are you here?”
“My attorney arranged my release.”
She walked to the head of the table.
Thomas stood.
For one brief second, Richard saw fear in his uncle’s face.
Evelyn placed a metal box on the table.
It was blackened by fire.
Anna’s missing box.
Emily’s home had been burned while Evelyn was supposedly in police custody.
Evelyn opened it.
Inside lay photographs, medical records, and a sealed DNA result dated nine years earlier.
She slid the document toward Richard.
“You want the truth?”
He opened it.
The report stated that Richard was not Emily’s father.
But beneath the conclusion was another name.
Probability of paternity: 99.98 percent.
May you like
The listed father was Daniel Hale.
Richard’s younger brother.
