CHAPTER 9 — THE SECRET SON
Emily stared at Daniel.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel removed a folded photograph from his wallet.
It showed Arthur Hale as a young man standing beside a woman Emily had never seen.
The woman held a baby.
“My mother worked for your father before he married yours,” Daniel said. “They had a brief relationship. Arthur supported us privately, but he never publicly acknowledged me.”
Emily looked at Nora.
“Did you know?”
Nora nodded reluctantly.
“Arthur told me several years ago.”
Daniel continued.
“I visited him the night he died because he asked me to protect you. I left before midnight. The visitor log was altered to make it appear I stayed longer.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your father believed Preston would use my existence to challenge your inheritance.”
Emily felt betrayed all over again.
“You entered my life as an attorney without telling me you were my brother.”
“I entered your life because Arthur asked me to.”
He placed a sealed letter on the table.
It was addressed to Daniel in Arthur’s handwriting.
The letter confirmed everything.
Arthur apologized for keeping him hidden and asked Daniel to protect Emily if the Vale family moved against her.
Arthur had not left Daniel company shares.
Instead, he had created a separate trust and asked him to serve as Emily’s legal protector until Preston was removed.
Emily read the final paragraph.
Daniel must never inherit Hale International. His role is not to take Emily’s place, but to make certain no one else does.
Emily looked up.
“Who altered the visitor log?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Grace.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Grace was trying to help Arthur.”
“She was also trying to protect someone,” Daniel said.
Police had recovered deleted messages from Grace’s brother.
In one, Grace admitted seeing the killer leave Arthur’s room.
She refused to identify the person because the killer had threatened her family.
Caleb entered the room moments later.
He carried a handwritten note Grace had mailed to an old address.
It had arrived that morning.
I can’t keep running. Meet me where Arthur first found the defective valve. Come alone.
The location was an abandoned Vale Industries testing facility outside the city.
Daniel wanted police present.
Caleb insisted Grace would flee if she saw them.
Emily could not leave the hospital, so Daniel and Caleb went together while investigators remained at a distance.
They entered the facility shortly after sunset.
Grace waited inside the old laboratory.
She looked exhausted and terrified.
“I saw who disconnected Arthur’s oxygen,” she said.
Daniel activated a recorder.
“Who was it?”
Grace looked toward the door.
Before she could answer, the laboratory windows shattered.
A vehicle crashed through the loading entrance.
Preston stepped out.
He was soaked from the river, his face cut from the helicopter wreck.
He held a gun.
“You should have stayed hidden, Grace.”
Daniel moved in front of her.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Preston smiled.
“You still don’t understand. I didn’t kill Arthur.”
He pointed the gun at Grace.
“But I know who did.”
A shot rang through the laboratory.
Grace fell.
May you like
And the person standing behind Preston lowered the smoking weapon.
It was Nora Whitfield.
