CHAPTER 13 — The Child Victor Needed Dead
Pain folded Emily forward.
Elena caught her before she fell.
Victor’s men surrounded them while terrified guests pressed against the locked doors.
Thomas moved toward Victor.
A gun was raised against him.
“Don’t,” Emily gasped.
Victor ordered his men to bring Emily backstage.
He needed her alive long enough to sign a second document confirming the transfer of her child’s future inheritance.
“You already have the estate,” Elena said.
“I have temporary control. The child creates complications.”
Victor placed the document in front of Emily.
“Sign it.”
Another contraction struck.
Emily gripped the table.
“No.”
Victor leaned close.
“You mistook marriage for love. That was your first mistake.”
“My first mistake was believing you were smarter than your father.”
His expression darkened.
Emily glanced toward Elena.
The sisters had prepared for this moment.
The trust document Victor had signed at the mansion contained a hidden amendment. Any beneficiary found responsible for attempted murder immediately forfeited all claims.
Victor’s public confession was all they needed.
A microphone had been sewn into Emily’s dress.
Every word was being transmitted to the ballroom.
Victor did not know.
“Tell me,” Emily said, fighting through the pain. “Was my father’s fall your idea or Richard’s?”
Victor smiled.
“My father planned it. I made sure Charles went over the railing.”
Behind the curtain, guests heard every word.
“And the chandelier?”
“I cut it myself.”
“And the hospital?”
“I hired the woman.”
“And my mother?”
“She was useful as long as she stayed forgotten.”
Federal agents moved into position outside the ballroom.
Elena reached for Emily.
Victor finally noticed the microphone wire.
His face changed.
He tore it from the dress.
“You planned this.”
“No,” Emily said. “My family planned it.”
The ballroom screens changed.
Charles Whitmore appeared live.
“The Carter claim to the Whitmore estate is terminated,” he announced. “Effective immediately.”
Victor pressed the black device.
Nothing happened.
Thomas held up an identical device from across the room.
“You’ve been carrying a replica since you entered the building.”
Victor grabbed Emily and placed a gun against her stomach.
The room froze.
“Open the doors,” he ordered.
Elena stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think you’re protecting her.”
“I am.”
Elena moved closer.
Victor shifted the weapon toward her.
That was the opening Emily needed.
She drove her elbow into his wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Thomas tackled Victor.
Federal agents stormed the ballroom.
Emily collapsed into Elena’s arms.
Paramedics rushed her toward an ambulance.
As Victor was dragged away, he looked at Charles.
“You think this ends with me?” he shouted. “Tell them who approved the first kidnapping!”
Charles’s face went white.
Emily noticed.
Even while labor tore through her body, she understood what his expression meant.
Victor had not ordered Elena’s disappearance.
Richard had not acted alone.
May you like
Someone else inside the Whitmore family had approved it.
And Charles knew who.
