Chapter 16 - DANIEL’S REAL NAME
Nora laughed once.
A broken sound.
“No.”
Rebecca stood in the middle of the apartment with her hands visible.
Police surrounded her.
Gavin remained beside Nora.
“His name was Daniel Bell.”
Rebecca looked at her sadly.
“That was the name he used when you met him.”
“When you married him.”
“When Taylor was born.”
“But it wasn’t the name he was born with.”
Nora shook her head.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Rebecca looked toward the agents.
“May I reach into my coat?”
One officer nodded cautiously.
She removed a photograph.
Old.
Faded.
A boy around twelve years old standing beside a younger girl.
The boy was unmistakably Daniel.
Same eyes.
Same crooked smile.
On the back was written.
DAVID VOSS AND REBECCA VOSS — 1998.
Nora stared.
“Voss?”
Gavin looked at Rebecca.
“You’re Helena’s sister?”
“Half-sister.”
“And Daniel?”
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“My nephew.”
Silence.
Nora’s knees weakened.
Gavin caught her.
Daniel Bell was Helena Voss’s son.
The same Helena who had hunted him.
The woman blamed for causing his death.
Nora stared at Rebecca.
“No.”
“He would have told me.”
“He wanted to.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Because he ran away from Helena at eighteen.”
“He changed his name.”
“Built a new life.”
“He hated everything connected to her.”
Gavin slowly understood.
Daniel had joined Roberson Development deliberately.
Not by accident.
He wanted to investigate his mother.
Rebecca continued.
“Daniel discovered what Helena was doing years before Harbor Crown.”
“He believed Roberson Development was where the network started.”
“So he became an engineer.”
“Worked his way into major projects.”
“Collected information.”
Nora’s eyes filled.
“Why marry me?”
Rebecca looked shocked.
“Because he loved you.”
“That part was real.”
“Taylor was real.”
“Your life was real.”
“He just never told you what he was born into.”
Nora stared at the photographs on the wall.
“Then why were you watching us?”
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
“Because Helena wanted Taylor.”
Gavin stepped forward.
“What?”
Nora’s face transformed.
“You came near my daughter for her?”
“No.”
“I moved here to stop Helena.”
“Why would Helena want Taylor?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Because of the Voss family trust.”
Gavin almost laughed from exhaustion.
“Another trust.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Helena inherited control after her father died.”
“But the trust passes by direct bloodline.”
“Daniel was her only child.”
“When he died, Taylor became successor.”
Nora stared.
“My three-year-old daughter inherited what?”
“Voting control over Voss Capital.”
“How much is that worth?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Approximately four hundred million.”
Nora almost stopped breathing.
Taylor.
Her little girl with dirty tights.
Crayons.
A missing button on her rabbit.
Four hundred million dollars.
But money was the least frightening part.
Gavin understood first.
“If Helena gains guardianship somehow—”
“She controls the trust.”
Rebecca nodded.
Nora’s face hardened.
“She was planning to take my daughter?”
“Not originally.”
“What does that mean?”
“Helena believed Daniel’s child had died with him.”
Nora frowned.
“How?”
“Daniel hid you.”
“Changed paperwork.”
“Moved medical records.”
“He never told Helena Taylor existed.”
“Then how did she find out?”
Rebecca looked ashamed.
“Me.”
Nora stepped toward her.
“I discovered Daniel had a daughter eighteen months ago.”
“I told Helena.”
“Why?”
“I thought she would want to know her granddaughter.”
Nora stared at her in disbelief.
Rebecca laughed bitterly at herself.
“I spent years convincing myself Helena had limits.”
“I was wrong.”
The apartment became silent.
Rebecca continued.
“When Helena learned Taylor existed, she ordered me to watch you.”
“Find out whether Daniel left evidence.”
“Find out whether you knew about the trust.”
“Eventually she planned to approach you legally.”
“Legally?”
“Offer money.”
“Claim Daniel had another family.”
“Destroy your credibility.”
“Seek custody through the Voss trust.”
Nora’s face became cold.
“She was going to steal my daughter with lawyers.”
“Yes.”
Gavin stepped closer.
“And when that failed?”
Rebecca said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
Nora turned away.
Her entire life had become a crime scene.
Her husband’s name.
His job.
His death.
The woman upstairs.
Even Taylor’s inheritance.
Nothing was simple anymore.
Gavin touched her shoulder.
“Nora.”
She pulled away.
Not because she was angry at him.
Because she could not handle anyone touching her.
“Everybody knew something except me.”
Rebecca whispered.
“Daniel wanted you outside it.”
“He wanted you safe.”
“He lied to me for six years.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t protection.”
“No.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled.
“It isn’t.”
Nora looked at Daniel’s photograph.
For the first time, grief mixed with anger.
She had spent three years missing a man she thought she completely knew.
Now she would have to grieve the pieces he kept hidden too.
Gavin’s phone rang.
Evelyn.
“Gavin.”
“Mom.”
“You need to see the news.”
He opened a live broadcast.
Senator Charles Ashford stood behind a podium.
2:47 a.m.
Emergency press conference.
Priscilla’s father looked exhausted but composed.
“Tonight, I learned that members of my family may have been manipulated by individuals connected to financial misconduct involving Roberson Development.”
Gavin stared.
“He’s sacrificing Priscilla.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Charles always survives.”
The senator continued.
“My daughter has made serious errors in judgment.”
“I have encouraged her to cooperate fully with authorities.”
Priscilla watched from federal custody.
Her father was publicly abandoning her before charges had even been filed.
Then Charles said something unexpected.
“I have also provided investigators with evidence identifying the architect of this scheme.”
A photograph appeared beside him.
Helena Voss.
Gavin frowned.
“He’s turning on Helena.”
Rebecca looked alarmed.
“No.”
“What?”
“Charles would never do this unless—”
Unless he already believed Helena could no longer hurt him.
The live feed changed.
Reporter shouting.
“Senator, where is Helena Voss?”
Charles looked toward the camera.
“Federal authorities have been informed that Ms. Voss is currently holding Arthur Vance against his will at a private property in Palm Springs.”
Gavin stared.
He had just disclosed Arthur’s location publicly.
Why?
Rebecca understood.
“He wants police to rush the property.”
“So?”
“So Helena will panic.”
“And kill Arthur.”
Charles did not want Arthur rescued.
He wanted the witness silenced by Helena.
Gavin called Ortega.
The detective answered from the hospital.
“Do not let the Palm Springs team storm that house.”
“They’re already moving.”
“Stop them.”
“I’m trying.”
Rebecca spoke.
“There’s a tunnel.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The Palm Springs property has an old service tunnel connecting to an abandoned hotel next door.”
“If Helena hears police, she’ll leave through it.”
Gavin grabbed his keys.
Nora stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
He corrected himself.
“You’re staying with Taylor.”
“That isn’t me ordering you.”
“That’s me saying she needs you.”
Nora looked toward the elevator.
For once, she agreed.
Gavin turned to Rebecca.
“You’re coming.”
She nodded.
They reached the door when Nora called his name.
He turned.
She held Daniel’s phone.
“One more file opened.”
“What?”
She looked at the screen.
Her face had become pale.
“It says Helena didn’t know Daniel survived the crash.”
Gavin frowned.
“Survived?”
Rebecca froze.
Nora looked at her.
“The crash didn’t kill him immediately.”
Rebecca whispered.
“No.”
Nora continued reading.
“Daniel was alive when the recovery team arrived.”
The room fell silent.
Rebecca began crying before Nora finished.
The report showed Daniel had been conscious.
Injured.
But alive.
Someone had found him.
Someone connected to the conspiracy.
Nora looked at Rebecca.
“Who?”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Nora’s voice rose.
“Who found my husband alive?”
Rebecca whispered.
“Charles.”
May you like
Senator Charles Ashford had arrived at the crash scene before police.
And Daniel Bell was still breathing.
