Chapter 13 - The Name on the Original Contract
Wyatt ran.
Damian followed.
The chase ended beneath a parking structure.
Wyatt raised both hands.
“I'm not trying to kill her.”
“Then explain the message.”
“I sent it to warn her.”
“About whom?”
Wyatt looked at Sarah.
“Ask her.”
Hazel turned.
Sarah looked exhausted.
“Mom.”
“The trust has another beneficiary.”
“Who?”
“Emily.”
Hazel frowned.
“My sister?”
“Equal beneficiary.”
“If I die?”
“Emily inherits everything.”
Hazel understood.
“Then someone wants both of us dead.”
Wyatt nodded.
“Exactly.”
“Who?”
He produced the original trust agreement.
The forged debt had copied Hazel’s signature from this document.
But the original contained another signature.
Trust administrator.
SAMUEL BROOKS.
Hazel stared.
Her grandfather.
Samuel had appeared at exactly the right moments.
Provided information.
Guided them to the archive.
Earned their trust.
Damian’s expression darkened.
“Where is he?”
Nobody knew.
They returned to the estate.
Samuel was gone.
So was Emily.
Hazel stopped breathing.
A note waited in Emily’s room.
BRING SARAH.
Damian crushed the paper in his fist.
Sarah looked destroyed.
“My father.”
Samuel had spent decades believing the trust belonged to him.
Sarah had removed him after discovering he sold information to Vittorio.
Now, with Patrick and Michael gone, Samuel intended to take everything.
They traced Emily’s phone.
An old Romano property.
Damian prepared his men.
Hazel stopped him.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Damian.”
“No.”
She stepped directly in front of him.
“Do you remember telling me you don't own me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We're making progress.”
His jaw tightened.
“Hazel—”
“My sister is there.”
“And I love you.”
Silence.
Damian seemed almost surprised by his own words.
Hazel stared.
Marco suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
Sarah covered a smile despite everything.
Damian continued.
“That is precisely why I don't want you walking into a building where someone intends to kill you.”
Hazel’s eyes filled.
“You picked an inconvenient time to say that.”
“I've had a complicated week.”
She laughed through tears.
Then touched his face.
“I love you too.”
Damian closed his eyes briefly.
Four years of grief didn't disappear.
It made room.
That was different.
He kissed her forehead.
“Stay beside me.”
“I can do that.”
At the property, they found Emily tied but unharmed.
Samuel stood behind her.
Sarah walked forward.
“Dad.”
“You stole everything.”
“I protected my daughters.”
“You stole my legacy.”
Hazel understood suddenly.
Samuel had never returned because he loved them.
He returned for money.
Damian’s men surrounded him.
Samuel laughed.
“You think I came without insurance?”
He lifted a dead-man switch.
Explosives.
Again.
Hazel was beginning to hate detonators.
Samuel demanded Sarah transfer the trust.
She refused.
He pressed the trigger halfway.
Damian moved.
Hazel grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
She looked at Samuel.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“I don't care about the money.”
Samuel frowned.
Hazel continued.
“Transfer it.”
Sarah stared.
“Hazel.”
“Do it.”
Samuel smiled.
Documents appeared.
Hazel signed.
Samuel checked them.
Then laughed.
“Finally.”
Hazel looked at Damian.
He understood.
The original trust required two beneficiaries.
Hazel alone couldn't transfer anything.
The documents were worthless without Emily’s signature.
Samuel realized one second too late.
Emily kicked backward.
Damian fired.
Samuel dropped the switch.
Marco caught it.
Federal agents stormed the room.
Samuel was arrested.
Hazel ran to Emily.
The sisters embraced.
It seemed over.
Then Samuel laughed from the floor.
“You still don't understand.”
Hazel looked at him.
“What?”
“The trust isn't the secret.”
He nodded toward Sarah.
“Ask your mother whose name appears on the original ownership deed.”
Sarah went pale.
Hazel turned.
“Mom?”
Sarah didn't answer.
Damian opened the deed.
The owner’s name was not Sarah Brooks.
It was not Hazel.
It was not Emily.
It was ELENA MORETTI.
Damian stared at the surname.
Elena had never been a Moretti.
May you like
At least, not the Elena he knew.
Then someone knocked from inside the sealed basement door.
