Chapter 3 - THE TERRIFIED WIDOW
Margaret glared at the paper with disdain, but as her eyes swept across the red official seal at the top of the page, her expression transformed instantly.
Her pale face drained of all remaining color. Her lips began to quiver, and her hands shook so violently that she could barely pick up the sheet of paper.
"This... this is impossible," Margaret stammered, her voice dropping into a terrified, breathless whisper. "He... he was dead. The police confirmed it!"
Noah’s cries began to quiet down, turned into small, shivering hiccups against Daniel’s chest.
Daniel leaned down slightly, his voice dropping into a low, lethal murmur that sent shivers straight down Margaret’s spine.
"You didn't push Noah down the stairs because you thought he was a 'bastard,' Margaret," Daniel said, every word cut with precision. "You pushed him because you were terrified of what he represents. You thought if the child vanished, the lineage ended with you."
"Daniel, please—" Margaret gasped, backing away on her hands and knees until her back hit the base of the staircase banister.
"My brother Julian didn't die in that mountain car crash two years ago, did he?" Daniel asked, stepping closer. "And the name on that court order isn't mine. It's the name of the man who signed over Noah’s legal guardianship before he was silenced."
Margaret looked at the paper again, her eyes fixed on the bold black ink at the bottom:
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LEGAL PATERNITY & TESTAMENTARY TRUSTEE: JULIAN VANCE.
The child she had claimed was an illegitimate orphan was, in fact, the sole direct biological heir to the twenty-billion-dollar Vance Global Logistics empire—and the man she claimed was her dead husband had lived long enough to ensure his son was protected.
