CHAPTER 12: THE DAUGHTER OF THE ENEMY
Naomi stepped backward.
Roman stared at her.
“You’re Malcolm’s daughter?”
“Biologically,” Naomi said. “Nothing more.”
Evelyn remembered the anonymous warnings, the stolen ledger, and Naomi’s ability to find information no one else could access.
“How long have you known?”
“Since I was sixteen.”
“And you never told me?”
“I came to work for you because I wanted evidence against him.”
“You used me.”
“At first.”
The words cut deeper than Naomi intended.
“At first?” Evelyn repeated.
Naomi’s eyes filled with regret.
“Then you became my friend.”
Roman moved between them.
“Where is the grave?”
Naomi knew.
Malcolm had purchased the cemetery property through a shell company and installed private surveillance around Cecilia’s empty grave.
They drove there before sunrise.
The grave had already been opened.
A woman stood beside it, holding a metal case.
She was in her thirties, with dark hair and Malcolm’s cold eyes.
Naomi froze.
“Rebecca.”
Rebecca Shaw was Malcolm’s publicly recognized daughter and the company’s chief financial officer.
She lifted a pistol.
“Father always said you were sentimental, Naomi.”
Naomi stepped forward.
“Put the case down.”
“You spent half your life trying to destroy your own family.”
“You are not my family.”
Rebecca smiled.
“Then you won’t mind watching Evelyn join hers.”
She aimed at Evelyn.
Roman moved, but Evelyn was faster.
She threw a handful of loose soil into Rebecca’s face.
The shot went wide.
Naomi tackled her while Roman kicked the pistol away.
Rebecca struck Naomi and reached for the case, but Evelyn pulled it from the grave.
Police vehicles approached in the distance.
Rebecca escaped through the cemetery’s rear gate before officers arrived.
Inside the case was the original ledger page.
There was also a sealed letter from Charles Hart.
Evelyn opened it.
My dear Evelyn,
If you are reading this, then I failed to stop Malcolm before he reached you.
Do not inherit my war. End it.
The letter contained instructions for accessing a secret family trust. The trust held controlling interest in Hart International, protected from every agreement Adrian had forced Evelyn to sign.
Evelyn finally possessed the power to remove Malcolm and every director he had bribed.
But beneath the letter was something else.
A photograph of Cecilia standing beside Malcolm many years earlier.
They were holding a newborn baby.
On the back, Charles had written one name.
Naomi.
Evelyn looked at her friend.
“Did my father know who you were?”
Naomi took the photograph with trembling hands.
“Yes.”
“Then why did he hire you?”
A familiar voice answered from behind them.
“Because Charles believed Naomi would eventually choose you over me.”
Malcolm stood near the cemetery gate.
May you like
His handcuffs were gone.
And Investigator Torres was holding a gun against Roman’s back.
