Chapter 6: The Man Who Fathered Two Heirs
The bedroom door opened slowly.
Thomas Bell stood in the doorway wearing a dark overcoat, his silver hair perfectly combed. He looked older than I remembered from the wedding photographs, but his posture was straight, his expression controlled, and his eyes were exactly as cold as they had been in the security footage.
Two men stood behind him.
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
“Don't move,” Marcus ordered.
Thomas glanced at him.
“Still playing bodyguard, Marcus? You should have learned by now that the Callaways never reward loyalty.””
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Take another step and I'll put you on the floor.””
Thomas smiled.
“Then you'll have to explain to Nathaniel why you shot his biological father.””
Nathaniel stepped between them.
“Stop calling yourself my father.””
Thomas's expression barely changed.
“You have your mother's temper.””
“Which mother?””
For the first time, Thomas looked uncomfortable.
He glanced at Grace.
“Hello, Grace.””
She stood beside me, gripping the edge of the desk.
“Don't you dare speak to me.””
Thomas sighed.
“Seventeen years, and you're still angry.””
“You burned my home.””
“I gave you an opportunity to disappear.””
“You tried to kill my daughter!””
Thomas looked at me.
“Rose, isn't it? You've grown up.””
I stepped forward.
“You watched me grow up in foster care.””
He shrugged.
“I watched from a distance.””
My stomach twisted.
“You knew I was alive?””
“Of course.””
“And you did nothing?””
Thomas removed his gloves.
“Your existence was a complication. I preferred to keep complications manageable.””
Nathaniel grabbed him by the collar.
“You let me believe Grace abandoned me.””
Thomas didn't resist.
“You were raised in a beautiful home. Educated at the finest schools. You inherited everything a boy could want.””
“I wanted my mother!””
Thomas's eyes hardened.
“Your mother was a nurse who couldn't afford to raise you.””
Grace slapped him.
The sound echoed through the room.
“You arrogant monster.””
Thomas slowly turned his face back.
“Still emotional. That's why Richard never trusted you with important decisions.””
I noticed his right hand moving toward his coat.
“Don't,” I warned.
He stopped.
Then he smiled.
“You have your mother's eyes, Rose.””
“Don't talk about my mother.””
“Why not? She's the reason you're alive.””
Grace stepped toward him.
“Tell them what happened to Eleanor's first child.””
Thomas's smile disappeared.
Nathaniel looked at Grace.
“You said Victoria was the other baby.””
Grace nodded.
Thomas laughed quietly.
“Ah. So you've finally reached that part.””
He walked into the room.
Marcus blocked him, but Thomas raised both hands.
“I'm not here to fight. I'm here to correct a few misunderstandings.””
Nathaniel's voice was cold.
“Start talking.””
Thomas looked at him.
“Richard couldn't have children. Eleanor knew it. I was asked to help them create an heir.””
“You were paid?””
“Generously.””
“And Victoria?””
Thomas looked toward Grace.
“Victoria was my daughter.””
Grace closed her eyes.
I felt something shift in my chest.
“Your daughter?””
Thomas nodded.
“Victoria was born six years before Nathaniel. Her mother died during childbirth. Eleanor and Richard took her into their household temporarily.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“Why have I never heard about this?””
“Because Richard didn't want anyone knowing he had considered adopting a girl before you were born.””
Grace interrupted.
“That isn't what happened.””
Thomas looked at her.
“Careful.””
“You sold Victoria to Richard.””
His expression hardened.
Grace continued.
“Richard wanted an heir. Thomas wanted money. They arranged for Victoria to be raised as Eleanor's niece. But when she became old enough to understand, she discovered the truth.””
Thomas looked irritated.
“Children don't understand complicated arrangements.””
“She understood enough to know you were her father.””
I looked at Thomas.
“Why would Victoria push Eleanor?””
“Because Eleanor had promised to reveal the adoption fraud.””
Nathaniel shook his head.
“That's not an explanation.””
Thomas sighed.
“Victoria was promised control of a substantial portion of the Callaway estate. Richard intended to make her a beneficiary. But when Nathaniel was born, he changed his mind.””
“So she was jealous,” I said.
“Not merely jealous. She believed the family had stolen her future.””
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“Then why did you help her escape?””
Thomas looked directly at him.
“Because she has the original birth certificate.””
Grace shook her head.
“No. She doesn't.””
Thomas smiled.
“Then why did she leave the wedding with Eleanor's silver key?””
I remembered the small object disappearing into Victoria's bouquet.
The key.
Nathaniel's expression changed.
“Where does it lead?””
Thomas looked at him.
“The family vault.””
I turned toward Nathaniel.
“We need to get there before her.””
Thomas laughed.
“You're already too late.””
He pulled a phone from his pocket.
On the screen was a photograph of the Callaway Tower.
A second image appeared.
It showed Victoria entering the private elevator.
Beneath it was a message.
*The vault opens at midnight.*
Nathaniel checked his watch.
It was 11:42 p.m.
“Marcus, call the police. Get a team to the tower.””
Marcus moved toward the door.
Thomas suddenly spoke.
“Don't bother.””
Nathaniel turned.
“Why?””
“Because Victoria isn't going to steal anything.””
Thomas looked at Grace.
“She's going to destroy it.””
Grace grabbed my hand.
“Rose, the documents are not the only things inside that vault.””
“What else is there?””
She swallowed.
“Richard's final recording.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“What recording?””
“A video Richard made before he died. He explained everything. The real adoption.
The payments. The children.””
Thomas's expression finally cracked.
“You said you destroyed that.””
Grace shook her head.
“I never had it.””
Thomas's jaw tightened.
“Then who does?””
A voice answered from the hallway.
“I do.””
We all turned.
An elderly woman stood at the top of the stairs.
She wore a gray coat and held a leather handbag.
I recognized her from the wedding.
Victoria's former personal assistant.
Her name was Margaret Wells.
She had been the only guest who hadn't reacted when Eleanor fell.
She looked at Thomas.
“You've lied long enough.””
Thomas stepped backward.
“Margaret?””
She raised a small black device.
“I recorded everything you said.””
Thomas lunged.
Marcus caught him, and the two men behind Thomas immediately moved forward.
The room erupted into shouting.
Nathaniel pulled Grace away.
I grabbed the journal.
One of Thomas's men knocked over the desk.
The lamp shattered.
Margaret stumbled against the wall.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Everyone froze.
Thomas stood near the doorway, holding a pistol.
Marcus was on the floor, clutching his shoulder.
Thomas pointed the weapon toward Nathaniel.
“Give me the journal.””
Nathaniel stood in front of Grace.
“No.””
Thomas's eyes shifted toward me.
“Rose. The journal.””
I tightened my grip.
“You'll have to kill me.””
Thomas raised the gun.
Grace screamed.
But before he could fire, Margaret threw her handbag at his face.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Marcus tackled him.
The gun slid beneath the bed.
Nathaniel kicked it away.
The two men who had accompanied Thomas ran downstairs, but Marcus's backup security team was already approaching the house.
Within minutes, Thomas was handcuffed.
As officers escorted him away, he turned toward Nathaniel.
“You think you've won?””
Nathaniel said nothing.
Thomas smiled.
“Ask Eleanor why she agreed to give Victoria away. Ask her what happened to the first Callaway child.””
Then he looked at me.
“And ask your mother why she changed your birth certificate.””
The officers pulled him through the doorway.
I turned toward Grace.
“Did you change my birth certificate?””
She looked devastated.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because Richard wanted you to disappear. I changed your name and arranged for you to be placed somewhere he couldn't find you.””
“But you said you were protecting me.””
“I was.””
“Then why did you never come back?””
Grace started crying.
Before she could answer, Margaret approached.
“Because she was threatened.””
I turned.
Margaret opened her handbag and removed an old photograph.
It showed Grace standing outside a hospital.
Beside her was a little girl wearing a yellow coat.
The child had my face.
But she looked no older than six.
I stared.
“Who's that?””
Margaret whispered.
“You, Rose.””
I shook my head.
“That isn't possible.””
Margaret looked at Grace.
“It's time she knew about the first attempt to take her.””
Grace covered her mouth.
Then Margaret added something that made my blood run cold.
“Your mother didn't disappear when you were twelve. She disappeared once before, when you were six.””
And suddenly, I remembered something.
A woman in a yellow coat.
A hospital corridor.
A promise that she would come back.
May you like
My mother had not abandoned me only once.
She had been forced to leave me twice.
