Chapter 2 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Nobody moved.
Daniel stared at Evie as if he had suddenly forgotten how to breathe.
“Our father?”
Evie nodded.
Charles Whitmore's face had gone completely still.
Adrian stepped forward.
“She's lying.”
Michael turned toward him.
“Then why did your father just look like he saw a ghost?”
Adrian stopped.
Charles recovered quickly.
“Your sister is unstable.”
Evie laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
“That's what you've been telling everyone.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Enough.”
He opened the folder again.
The forged documents were not amateur work.
The signatures looked almost perfect.
But almost wasn't good enough.
Thomas took photographs of every page with his phone.
Ryan quietly spoke to the security staff.
Caleb stayed beside Evie.
Michael examined the room.
Daniel asked:
“Where is the original trust agreement?”
Charles answered immediately.
“In my office.”
“Let's see it.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because you don't have authority here.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Neither does a man who claims my sister stole millions with documents that contain the wrong notary stamp.”
Charles's face changed.
Thomas looked up.
“Daniel.”
He handed him his phone.
“The notary listed on the document retired four years ago.”
Everyone stared.
Daniel looked at Charles.
“You forged this.”
Charles shook his head.
“You don't understand what you're dealing with.”
“Then explain it.”
Charles said nothing.
Evie suddenly grabbed Daniel's arm.
“Not here.”
They moved into a smaller sitting room.
Daniel closed the door.
“What happened?”
Evie finally broke down.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
She simply sat down and covered her face.
“They've been watching me.”
“Who?”
“Adrian. Charles. Vanessa. All of them.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“Why?”
“Because they think I know where Dad hid something.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“You said Dad was alive.”
“I said they made me believe he might be.”
She pulled a small envelope from inside her dress.
Daniel stared at it.
“What's that?”
“I found it in Adrian's desk.”
Inside was an old photograph.
Five brothers stood beside their father.
But there was someone else in the photograph.
A woman.
Daniel recognized her immediately.
Their mother.
She had been declared dead when Daniel was twelve.
Michael whispered:
“Mom.”
Evie nodded.
“That's what started this.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
On the back was a handwritten sentence:
THE TRUST WAS NEVER ABOUT MONEY.
Thomas frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Evie shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then Caleb noticed something.
“Look at the corner.”
A small number had been written beneath the sentence.
17-04-91.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“That was the year Dad founded Whitmore Holdings.”
Michael looked at him.
“And the year Mom supposedly died.”
Silence.
Daniel stood.
“We need Dad's old files.”
Thomas shook his head.
“All of them were destroyed.”
Evie looked toward the door.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
She whispered:
“Not all.”
She told them about a locked room beneath the mansion.
Adrian had forbidden everyone from entering it.
She had seen him go there several times.
Always alone.
Always carrying folders.
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Where is it?”
Evie pointed toward the hallway.
“Behind the library.”
The brothers moved together.
Adrian tried to block them.
“You're not going down there.”
Daniel stopped.
“Why?”
Adrian's silence answered for him.
Michael moved a bookshelf.
Nothing.
Thomas checked the wall.
Nothing.
Then Caleb noticed an old painting.
He lifted it.
A keypad was hidden behind it.
Evie stared.
“I've never seen that.”
Daniel entered four numbers.
Nothing.
He tried another combination.
The lock clicked.
Everyone froze.
The door opened.
Inside was a small room.
Rows of boxes.
Old photographs.
Financial records.
And a metal safe.
On the safe was a single name.
ELEANOR CARTER.
Their mother's name.
Daniel stared.
“Mom hid this.”
Evie whispered:
“Maybe she didn't die.”
Then they heard footsteps behind them.
Charles stood in the doorway.
And beside him was a man none of them recognized.
The stranger smiled.
“You finally found it.”
Daniel turned.
“Who are you?”
The man answered:
“The person your father trusted.”
May you like
Then he looked at Evie.
“And the person who knows why they want her dead.”
