Chapter 6 - The Callaway Family Secret
Police stopped the doors before they fully closed.
Rose and Victoria were escorted outside.
Lucas had vanished through an underground loading passage.
The folder was secured as evidence.
Nathaniel arrived furious.
“You could have been trapped.”
Rose crossed her arms.
“I noticed.”
“This isn't funny.”
“I wasn't joking.”
He stopped.
Then apologized.
Rose understood his fear.
In three days, Nathaniel had nearly lost his mother, discovered his father was alive, learned his bride had concealed a previous marriage, and watched his family's history turn into something unrecognizable.
The folder contained old corporate ledgers.
Miriam's handwriting appeared throughout.
So did Jonathan's.
And one other name.
Eleanor Callaway.
When Eleanor saw the records, she sat down.
“I remember these.”
Nathaniel stared.
“You were involved?”
“In the audit.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't recognize the dates.”
The truth emerged slowly.
Twenty-seven years earlier, Callaway Holdings had nearly collapsed.
Grant secretly moved company funds.
Jonathan discovered irregularities.
Miriam traced them.
Eleanor authorized the internal investigation.
But Grant had manipulated records to make Jonathan appear responsible.
For months, even Eleanor believed her husband might be guilty.
Their marriage nearly ended.
Then Miriam found proof.
Grant had forged Jonathan's authorization.
The evidence disappeared before it reached authorities.
Miriam kept copies.
“Why wasn't Grant arrested?” Rose asked.
Eleanor looked ashamed.
“Jonathan refused.”
Nathaniel stared at his mother.
“Why?”
“Because Grant threatened to expose something else.”
“What?”
Eleanor looked toward Jonathan.
He answered.
“Nathaniel wasn't the only Callaway heir.”
Silence.
Nathaniel frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Jonathan explained.
Before marrying Eleanor, he had fathered another child.
A son.
He had provided financial support privately.
Grant discovered it.
“He threatened the boy?” Nathaniel asked.
“He threatened his mother.”
“Who was she?”
Jonathan hesitated.
“Miriam's sister.”
Rose's mouth opened.
That meant Nathaniel's half brother was connected to Rose's family.
“What was his name?”
“Daniel Vale.”
Rose knew the name.
Her cousin Daniel had supposedly died in a boating accident at twenty-two.
Nathaniel looked stunned.
“My half brother was Rose's cousin?”
“Yes.”
“And Grant used him against you?”
“Yes.”
The family tree had become a weapon.
But another revelation followed.
Daniel hadn't died accidentally.
He had discovered Grant's scheme.
He planned to testify.
Then his boat disappeared.
No body was recovered.
Rose stood.
“My mother told me he drowned.”
“She believed that,” Jonathan said.
“At first.”
“At first?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Later, she began to suspect he survived.”
Rose remembered Lucas's words.
Grant wasn't at the top.
“What if Daniel is alive?”
Nobody answered.
Marcus entered.
“We found Lucas.”
Victoria stood.
“Where?”
“He walked into a police station.”
Lucas had surrendered voluntarily.
He wanted protection.
His statement changed everything.
Grant had committed fraud.
But Grant had spent years taking instructions from someone using the name D.V.
Daniel Vale.
Rose felt sick.
“That makes no sense.”
Lucas agreed.
“I never met D.V. I received messages.”
“Could Grant have invented him?”
“Yes.”
“Or Daniel survived.”
“Yes.”
Nathaniel sat beside Rose.
Neither spoke.
Lucas revealed one more thing.
Grant planned the trust takeover because the hidden beneficiary was about to become eligible to claim his share.
Daniel.
If alive.
The trust amendment Victoria carried would have blocked that claim.
Suddenly the wedding incident had a financial motive.
Eleanor refusing to sign threatened Grant's plan.
Victoria had been manipulated into helping.
Celeste had deleted footage to protect Grant.
But nobody knew who had sent the warnings.
That night, Nathaniel made a decision.
He postponed any decision about his marriage.
Victoria accepted it.
“I'll tell you everything,” she said.
“No more secrets.”
“No more.”
Rose returned home under security.
She couldn't sleep.
At 2:18 a.m., someone knocked.
Marcus checked the camera.
Nobody.
Then another knock.
Three times.
Rose approached carefully.
An envelope slid beneath the door.
Security opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
Rose at eight years old.
Her mother beside her.
A young man standing behind them.
Daniel.
On the back:
YOUR MOTHER FOUND ME IN 2014.
Rose's hands shook.
Another line appeared beneath it.
SHE MADE ME PROMISE NEVER TO RETURN UNTIL GRANT WAS GONE.
There was an address.
Rose recognized the neighborhood.
Nathaniel looked at her.
“We don't go alone.”
Rose nodded.
They arrived just before sunrise.
The address belonged to a small church.
The doors were unlocked.
Inside, one man sat in the last pew.
Rose walked forward.
“Daniel?”
The man stood.
He turned.
Rose stopped.
It was him.
Older.
Scarred.
Alive.
Her cousin looked at her and whispered:
“Rose.”
She started crying.
Then Daniel looked past her.
At Nathaniel.
His expression changed.
“You brought him.”
Nathaniel stepped forward.
Daniel backed away.
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“No, Rose.”
He pointed at Nathaniel.
“You don't understand.”
Rose wiped her face.
“Understand what?”
Daniel looked directly at his half brother.
“Grant isn't trying to steal the Callaway fortune.”
Nathaniel froze.
Daniel's next words were barely audible.
“He's trying to keep Nathaniel from finding out who actually owns it.”
A side door opened behind the altar.
Someone stepped inside.
Daniel went white.
Rose turned.
May you like
Grant Callaway was standing there.
And beside him was Celeste.
