Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BURNED
When the lights went out, the world became noise.
Glass breaking.
Someone shouting.
Emily screaming Lily's name.
I moved toward the sound.
Then a beam of light cut through the darkness.
Adrian stood near the doorway.
Lily was beside him.
“Give her to me!”
“Wait!”
“She is my daughter!”
Adrian shook his head.
“She's not the target.”
“What does that mean?”
He pointed outside.
Three black vehicles had entered the property.
Men were getting out.
Not police.
Not security.
Armed men.
Adrian's expression changed.
“They came for Noah.”
I looked at Emily.
She understood immediately.
We had been fooled.
Adrian wasn't attacking us.
He had been warning us.
“Who are they?”
Adrian looked at Victor.
“Tell him.”
Victor whispered one name.
“Gideon.”
I knew it.
Gideon Shaw.
My father's former business partner.
The man who had disappeared after my father's death.
A man rumored to control several private security companies and offshore operations.
Gideon had been waiting for the Whitmore trust.
And Noah was the key.
Adrian pushed Lily toward me.
“Take her.”
I grabbed her.
Emily pulled her close.
“Where's Noah?”
We looked toward the hallway.
Empty.
My heart stopped.
“NOAH!”
A man's voice came from the basement.
I ran.
Adrian followed.
Marcus moved behind us.
We reached the basement.
Noah was hiding beneath the stairs.
A man was approaching him.
I tackled the man before he could reach the boy.
We hit the floor.
He tried to fight back.
Marcus pulled him away.
I grabbed Noah.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded.
Then he whispered:
“Dad?”
I froze.
That was the first time he called me that.
I pulled him into my arms.
“I've got you.”
Behind us, Adrian fired once into the ceiling.
The attackers retreated.
“Move!”
We ran.
The house was on fire.
Smoke filled the rooms.
Emily grabbed Lily.
Marcus carried Noah.
Adrian led us through a hidden tunnel beneath the property.
We emerged near the forest.
The house burned behind us.
Emily watched it collapse.
Everything she had built for nine years was gone.
I stood beside her.
“I'll replace it.”
She looked at me.
“No.”
“What?”
“I don't want another house.”
She looked at the children.
“I want safety.”
I nodded.
“You'll have it.”
Adrian walked toward us.
“I know where Gideon is going.”
“Where?”
“New York.”
My stomach tightened.
“My company.”
He nodded.
“He wants the trust.”
“How do we stop him?”
Adrian looked at me.
“You have to go back.”
“To Manhattan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust will activate in forty-eight hours.”
“What happens then?”
“If Noah isn't physically present, Gideon gets control.”
I stared at him.
“So we bring Noah to New York.”
“No.”
Adrian shook his head.
“We bring Gideon to Noah.”
The next morning, we flew to New York.
Not on my private jet.
On a chartered aircraft under another name.
Marcus arranged security.
Emily sat beside the children.
I sat across from her.
For the first time in nine years, we were traveling together.
But there was a distance between us.
A history neither of us could erase.
I looked at her.
“I'm sorry.”
She looked out the window.
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“I should have listened.”
“Yes.”
“I should have believed you.”
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“Do you hate me?”
She finally looked at me.
“No.”
The answer surprised me.
“I tried.”
“Why?”
“Because it would have been easier.”
She looked at Noah.
“But I couldn't hate the father of my children forever.”
I felt tears burn behind my eyes.
When we landed, Gideon was already waiting.
Not at the airport.
At Whitmore Tower.
He had called an emergency board meeting.
Every major shareholder was there.
The doors opened.
I walked inside with Emily, Noah, Lily, Marcus, Adrian, and Victor.
The room went silent.
Gideon stood at the head of the table.
He smiled.
“Daniel.”
I looked at him.
“You wanted the Whitmore trust.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my son.”
“Yes.”
“Then take a good look.”
I placed my hand on Noah's shoulder.
“He's here.”
Gideon's smile faded.
I continued.
“But the trust isn't yours.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
I took a document from my pocket.
“The original trust agreement.”
Gideon's face changed.
“You don't have that.”
“I do.”
I looked at the board.
“My father didn't create the trust to protect the company.”
I turned toward Gideon.
“He created it to protect his family.”
Then Samuel entered the room.
Everyone turned.
He placed another document on the table.
“The trust has been amended.”
Gideon stared.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Impossible.”
Samuel looked at Noah.
“Your grandfather changed the beneficiary.”
Gideon's face went white.
“To whom?”
Samuel answered.
“Emily Whitmore.”
Silence.
Emily stared at him.
“What?”
Samuel smiled sadly.
“Your husband was never supposed to own the company.”
He looked at me.
“He was supposed to protect it.”
Then the boardroom doors slammed shut.
And every screen in the room turned on at once.
My father's face appeared.
A recording.
His final message.
“Daniel,” he said.
“If you're watching this, then the truth has finally reached you.”
He paused.
“There is one last thing you need to know.”
The screen changed.
A hospital photograph appeared.
A newborn baby.
Then another.
Then another.
Three babies.
My father whispered:
“Emily did not have two children.”
I looked at Emily.
May you like
She went completely still.
“She had three.”
