Chapter 4: The Secret Beneath the Will
The silence in the living room lasted so long that even the grandfather clock seemed afraid to tick.
Daniel stared at Marcus.
"Ethan Cross is alive?"
Marcus nodded slowly.
"The DNA is a ninety-nine-point-eight percent match with records from Parker Security."
Emily looked from one man to the other.
"I thought he died years ago."
"So did everyone," Daniel replied.
"My father personally attended his memorial service."
George, who had quietly entered the room moments earlier, suddenly spoke.
"There was never a body."
Everyone turned toward him.
George sighed.
"The boat was found."
"The man wasn't."
Daniel frowned.
"You knew that?"
George nodded.
"Your father always believed Ethan survived."
"Why didn't he tell anyone?"
George hesitated.
"Because someone threatened your father's family."
The room fell silent.
Daniel walked into his father's old study alone.
For years, he had avoided opening certain drawers.
Richard Parker had always been a private man, keeping meticulous records of everything from business contracts to family letters.
Now Daniel wondered if his father had left something behind.
Something important.
He unlocked the bottom drawer using the old brass key that still hung behind a framed photograph.
Inside were neatly organized files.
Insurance documents.
Business reports.
Medical records.
Then...
A plain brown envelope.
Across the front, in his father's unmistakable handwriting, were six words.
If anything happens to Emily.
Daniel's hands began to shake.
He carefully opened the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, then my greatest fear has probably become reality.
There are people inside this family who value money more than blood.
If Emily has been harmed, do not trust appearances.
The person responsible may not be the one you first suspect.
Look beneath my final will.
Everything you need is there.
—Father
Daniel read the letter twice.
Then a third time.
His father had written it almost three years earlier.
Long before Emily became pregnant.
Long before the accident.
How could Richard have predicted any of this?
Within minutes, Daniel and Marcus unlocked the family safe.
Richard Parker's final will lay inside a leather folder.
Daniel carefully removed it.
"There."
Marcus pointed.
Another envelope had been taped beneath the folder.
Exactly where Richard had written.
Daniel opened it.
This one contained photographs.
Old photographs.
The first showed Richard standing beside Ethan Cross.
The second showed Victoria.
The third made Daniel stop breathing.
Victoria...
And Ethan...
Standing together outside a small café.
Holding hands.
The date printed in the corner read:
Four years before Richard Parker's death.
Emily looked over Daniel's shoulder.
"They knew each other."
Marcus whispered,
"More than knew each other."
There were six more photographs.
Lunch meetings.
Late-night conversations.
A hotel entrance.
One image showed Ethan helping Victoria into a car while looking carefully over his shoulder.
They had clearly been hiding something.
At that very moment, Victoria sat in the mansion's greenhouse, staring at the roses Richard had planted years ago.
She heard footsteps behind her.
Without turning, she spoke.
"I wondered when you'd come."
A man stepped from the shadows.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Wearing a dark coat.
His face was older than before.
A thin scar crossed his cheek.
It was Ethan Cross.
"You've lost control," he said quietly.
Victoria closed her eyes.
"The footage survived."
"I know."
"Lily talked."
"I know."
"Daniel is asking questions."
"I know."
Ethan's voice grew colder.
"You promised this would be easy."
Victoria finally looked at him.
"I promised nothing."
He stepped closer.
"You said Emily would never survive the fall."
Victoria stood.
"I underestimated her."
Ethan smiled without warmth.
"You've underestimated everyone."
Hidden just outside the greenhouse...
Lily froze.
She had come to water the flowers.
Instead...
She had heard everything.
Not every word.
But enough.
She carefully raised her phone.
Her hands trembled violently.
She pressed Record.
Inside, Ethan continued speaking.
"If Daniel discovers the truth about Richard's will..."
Victoria interrupted sharply.
"He won't."
Ethan laughed.
"He already has."
Victoria's face turned pale.
"How do you know?"
"Because someone inside your house is helping him."
Victoria whispered,
"Who?"
"I don't know yet."
"But I'll find them."
Lily's heart pounded.
She slowly backed away.
One careful step.
Then another.
A twig snapped beneath her shoe.
Crack.
Inside the greenhouse, both heads turned instantly.
Ethan moved first.
Someone's outside."
Victoria gasped.
"Lily."
Ethan sprinted toward the door.
Lily ran.
She raced across the gardens as fast as she could.
"Help!"
Rain soaked the grass.
Her shoes slipped in the mud.
Behind her, Ethan closed the distance with frightening speed.
"Lily!"
She didn't look back.
She reached the side entrance—
Locked.
"No!"
She pounded desperately against the glass.
Inside, no one heard.
Ethan was only yards away.
Just as he reached for her—
Headlights exploded across the driveway.
Daniel's car.
The sudden light blinded Ethan for a split second.
It was enough.
He disappeared into the hedges before Daniel stepped out.
"Lily!"
She collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"He..."
"He was here..."
Daniel looked around wildly.
"Who?"
Lily held up her shaking phone.
"I recorded them."
Ten minutes later...
Everyone gathered in the study.
Marcus connected Lily's phone to the television.
The recording wasn't perfect.
Rain had muffled parts of the conversation.
But several sentences came through clearly.
"...Emily..."
"...the footage survived..."
"...Richard's will..."
"...Daniel already has it..."
Daniel looked at Victoria.
She remained perfectly calm.
"I can explain."
"No," Daniel said quietly.
"I think you've been explaining for twenty years."
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"You think I tried to kill Emily."
"I don't know what to think anymore."
She looked genuinely heartbroken.
"I loved your father."
Daniel placed the old photographs on the desk.
"Then explain these."
Victoria's face lost all color.
She stared silently at the pictures.
Finally she whispered,
"Where did you find them?"
"In Father's safe."
Victoria slowly sat down.
For the first time in years...
She looked defeated.
"Richard knew."
Emily frowned.
"He knew about Ethan?"
Victoria nodded.
"He discovered everything before he died."
"Then why didn't he expose you?"
Victoria closed her eyes.
"Because Ethan threatened to kill you."
Everyone fell silent.
"What?"
Victoria looked at Emily.
"He said if Richard went to the police..."
"...you would die."
Emily stared at her.
"So you protected him?"
Victoria began crying.
"I was trying to protect everyone."
Daniel shook his head.
"People don't hide attempted murder to protect others."
Victoria whispered,
"You don't know Ethan."
"No."
"But you're about to."
At that exact moment—
A loud crash echoed from downstairs.
Glass shattered.
Marcus grabbed his radio.
"Security breach!"
Daniel rushed toward the hallway.
The mansion alarm began screaming.
Security guards shouted outside.
Marcus looked at the surveillance monitor.
The front gates stood wide open.
Three masked men had entered the estate.
One of them...
Was Ethan Cross.
But he wasn't coming to escape.
He was coming inside.
And as the cameras followed the intruders through the rain-soaked courtyard, Ethan lifted his face toward the mansion windows.
Then, for the first time, Daniel saw him clearly.
Ethan smiled.
Not the smile of a desperate man.
The smile of someone who believed he had already won.
Because hidden beneath Richard Parker's will was one final document Daniel hadn't yet opened.
A legal amendment signed only weeks before Richard's death.
May you like
A document that would determine who inherited the entire Parker fortune if both Daniel and Emily died before their child was born.
And Ethan intended to make sure that condition was fulfilled before sunrise.
