His brother, Richard, walked toward the house as if he had been invited.
He hadn’t.
Emily grabbed Thomas’s arm.
“Dad, don’t open the door.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Richard knew I was alive.”
That sentence hit harder than everything else.
Thomas slowly turned toward his daughter.
“He knew?”
Emily nodded.
“He knew where I lived.”
“For how long?”
“All seventeen years.”
Thomas’s hands curled into fists.
Richard knocked.
Once.
Then again.
Thomas opened the door.
Richard smiled.
“Tom.”
Thomas stared at him.
“You knew my daughter was alive.”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
Emily stepped into view.
Richard looked at her.
Then at Sophie.
“So you finally told him.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“Tell me why.”
Richard sighed.
“You won’t like the answer.”
“Try me.”
Richard looked toward the lawyer.
The lawyer opened the folder.
Inside was an old copy of Thomas’s father’s will.
Richard spoke calmly.
“Dad’s company was never supposed to belong entirely to you.”
Thomas frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Richard pointed to a clause.
“If your direct bloodline continued, control of the company would eventually pass to your child.”
Thomas looked at Emily.
Richard continued:
“But if Emily disappeared from the family legally…”
Thomas’s face changed.
“…the shares reverted to me.”
Emily whispered:
“That’s why Mom separated us.”
Richard nodded.
Thomas stared at his brother.
“You destroyed my daughter’s life over company shares?”
Richard gave a cold smile.
“No.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“Then why?”
Richard looked at Sophie.
“Because Sophie was the real problem.”
Everyone went quiet.
Emily moved in front of her daughter.
“Don’t.”
Thomas looked at Richard.
“What does Sophie have to do with this?”
Richard took another document from the folder.
“A DNA report.”
Thomas stared at him.
Richard continued:
“Daniel Cross wasn’t just an employee.”
Thomas frowned.
Richard smiled faintly.
“He was Dad’s illegitimate son.”
Thomas stopped breathing.
Emily stared at him.
“No.”
Richard nodded.
“Daniel was our half-brother.”
Thomas looked at Sophie.
Which meant—
Richard finished the thought for him.
“Sophie has Reed blood from both sides of the family.”
Emily went pale.
Thomas whispered:
“So she has a claim.”
Richard nodded.
“To nearly everything.”
The room fell silent.
Then Sophie spoke.
“I don’t want the company.”
Richard looked at her.
“You may not.”
He raised the folder.
“But your existence changes who owns it.”
Thomas looked at his brother.
“What did you come here to do?”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“Fix what your wife failed to finish.”
Emily stepped backward.
Thomas moved in front of her.
Richard raised both hands.
“Relax. I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
The lawyer beside him finally spoke.
“He’s here because the ownership transfer happens at midnight.”
Thomas frowned.
“What transfer?”
The lawyer handed him the document.
Thomas read the first page.
His face changed.
All controlling shares of Reed Industries were scheduled to transfer to Richard at 12:00 a.m.
Unless a direct qualifying descendant filed a competing claim before then.
Thomas looked at Sophie.
“How long do we have?”
The lawyer checked his watch.
“Forty-three minutes.”
Richard smiled.
“You won’t make it.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Why not?”
Richard nodded toward the street.
Two police cars were approaching.
Emily’s face went pale.
“What did you do?”
Richard answered calmly:
“I reported Sophie’s mother for identity fraud.”
Emily froze.
Thomas turned toward her.
“Identity fraud?”
Richard smiled.
“Emily has lived under a false name for seventeen years.”
Sirens stopped outside.
Two officers stepped out.
Richard looked at Thomas.
“If they arrest her, she cannot sign the claim.”
Sophie whispered:
“Mom…”
Then another car pulled up.
A man stepped out slowly.
Emily covered her mouth.
Thomas stared.
The man had gray hair now.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Daniel Cross.
The man everyone believed was still in prison.
Thomas whispered:
“Daniel?”
Richard’s face changed for the first time.
Daniel walked toward them holding a sealed court order.
“I was released this morning.”
Richard stepped back.
Daniel looked directly at him.
“And I brought the evidence that proves who really stole the money.”
The officers stopped.
Richard went pale.
Daniel handed the order to Thomas.
Thomas read the name at the bottom.
Then looked at his brother.
“You’re under investigation.”
Richard turned toward the police.
But Daniel wasn’t finished.
He looked at Sophie.
“I came for another reason.”
Sophie stared at him.
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“Seventeen years ago, Emily told me our baby died.”
Emily froze.
Sophie looked at her mother.
“What?”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“She never told me you survived.”
Sophie slowly turned toward Emily.
“Mom?”
Emily began crying.
Thomas looked at his daughter.
“Why did you tell him she died?”
Emily covered her face.
“Because Margaret threatened me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
Daniel pulled a second letter from his coat.
“Margaret didn’t write this.”
Thomas frowned.
Daniel handed him the letter.
Thomas read it.
Then looked at Emily.
The handwriting belonged to someone else.
Someone still alive.
Sophie whispered:
“Who wrote it?”
Thomas slowly raised his eyes toward the lawyer standing beside Richard.
The lawyer dropped the folder.
And ran.
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