Chapter 6 - The Secret in My Blood
I read the letter three times.
Each time, the words seemed less believable.
Richard Whitmore was my father.
The man who had supposedly died seven years ago.
The man now being hunted by police.
The man responsible for terrorizing a six-year-old boy and imprisoning his own mother.
I felt physically sick.
Daniel pulled a chair toward me.
“Grace, sit down.”
I shook my head.
“I don't understand.”
He lowered his voice.
“Read the rest.”
I looked down at my grandmother's handwriting.
My dear Evelyn,
I kept my promise because I believed the truth would put the child in danger.
Richard was never safe around anyone who challenged him.
When he discovered that my daughter, Angela, was pregnant, he threatened to take the baby and destroy her life.
Your husband helped us leave.
He promised that Grace would never be used as a weapon in the Whitmore family.
But if Richard returns, she deserves to know who she is.
I stopped reading.
My mother.
Angela Bennett.
She'd died when I was nine.
I'd always known very little about my father.
Grandma told me he was gone.
She never said dead.
I had assumed he'd simply abandoned us.
Now I understood why she never spoke his name.
I continued.
Your husband created a separate trust for Grace.
He insisted she should have something that no one could steal from her.
I kept the documents hidden because Richard's men were watching us.
If danger ever reaches her, please tell Arthur.
He is not his brother.
He will do what is right.
Love,
Margaret
I looked at Daniel.
“There's a trust?”
He nodded slowly.
“That's what the letter suggests.”
“But why would Arthur's father leave me anything?”
“According to this, he wanted to protect you.”
I stared at the photograph.
My grandmother had lied to me.
My mother had carried a secret to her grave.
And somewhere in the world, my father was alive.
I should have felt happy to know who he was.
Instead, I felt frightened.
Because I had already seen what kind of man he had become.
Daniel called Arthur.
I heard him explain that we'd discovered a letter.
Then he handed me the phone.
“Grace?”
Arthur sounded exhausted.
“I'm here.”
“Daniel told me.”
I closed my eyes.
“I didn't know.”
“I believe you.”
My throat tightened.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For bringing this into your home.”
He was silent.
Then he said firmly, “You didn't bring this into my home. Richard did.”
Tears filled my eyes.
Arthur continued.
“My father always said that secrets become dangerous when good people are forced to keep them.”
I swallowed.
“Your mother knew about me?”
“I think she did.”
“What happens now?”
“We protect you.”
The certainty in his voice almost broke me.
I'd spent most of my adult life protecting myself.
I worked double shifts.
I paid every bill.
I never borrowed money.
I never expected anyone to come when I called.
And now a man I'd known for only three weeks was promising to protect me from his own brother.
“Grace,” Arthur said softly.
“Yes?”
“Noah keeps asking for you.”
I looked toward the ruined apartment.
“I want to see him.”
“Then come back.”
I nodded.
“I will.”
When we returned to the mansion, dawn was breaking.
The ballroom looked different in the morning light.
Without the guests and music, it seemed enormous and lonely.
Arthur waited near the staircase.
Noah stood beside him in clean pajamas.
The moment he saw me, he ran.
“Grace!”
I knelt and caught him.
He wrapped his arms around my neck.
“I thought you weren't coming back.”
I held him tightly.
“I told you I would.”
He pulled away just enough to look at me.
“Daddy said you're family now.”
I froze.
Arthur stood several feet away.
His expression was gentle.
“He's not wrong,” Arthur said.
I couldn't speak.
Then Noah did something that made me cry.
He reached into his pajama pocket and handed me a small toy dinosaur.
It was green, missing one painted eye, and clearly well loved.
“This is Rex,” he said.
I smiled through tears.
“He's handsome.”
“He protects people.”
“Does he?”
Noah nodded seriously.
“And I want him to protect you.”
I hugged the little dinosaur.
“Thank you.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Grace, Detective Brooks needs another statement from you. But first, there's something else.”
I looked up.
“My mother wants to see you.”
“She's okay?”
“Stable. She's at the hospital.”
Relief flooded through me.
Arthur continued.
“She told me she knew your grandmother.”
“I found the letter.”
“I know.”
He glanced toward the library.
“She also told me that Richard had been searching for you.”
My stomach twisted.
“Me?”
Arthur nodded.
“He discovered that your grandfather's trust included another beneficiary.”
I stared.
“My grandfather?”
Arthur looked uncomfortable.
“My father was your grandfather too, Grace.”
I hadn't even thought of it that way.
The Whitmore family wasn't merely connected to me.
I belonged to it by blood.
Arthur was my uncle.
Noah was my cousin.
And the man who had imprisoned him was my father.
The realization left me dizzy.
Arthur put a hand on my shoulder.
“Richard didn't want you to discover the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because my father gave you something Richard believed should belong to him.”
I swallowed.
“What?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Forty percent of the family holding company.”
I nearly dropped the dinosaur.
“What?”
“My father established it in a protected trust before he died.”
I shook my head.
“That can't be right.”
“Grace, the original documents may prove it.”
“But I was a child.”
“My father knew exactly what he was doing.”
I looked around the luxurious mansion.
For years, I'd struggled to afford groceries.
I'd watched medical bills consume my grandmother's savings.
I'd worked through fevers because missing a shift meant missing rent.
And somewhere, a trust might have existed in my name.
I didn't know whether to scream or laugh.
Then a detective entered the library.
His expression was grim.
“Mr. Whitmore, we've located Samuel Price.”
Arthur turned.
“Where?”
“At his office.”
“Has he been arrested?”
“Yes.”
The detective glanced at me.
“He gave us something.”
“What?”
“A recorded conversation with Richard.”
My breath caught.
The detective continued.
“Richard knew Grace was working here.”
Arthur's expression darkened.
“He hired her?”
“No. According to Price, Vanessa arranged for her application to be selected.”
I felt my stomach drop.
I'd thought I was lucky to get the job.
Vanessa had smiled during the interview.
She'd praised my references.
She'd told me she needed someone trustworthy.
Now I understood.
She wanted me inside the mansion.
Arthur looked at the detective.
“Why?”
The answer came slowly.
“Because Richard needed Grace to sign away her interest in the trust.”
I stared at him.
“But nobody asked me to sign anything.”
The detective's expression grew darker.
“Not yet.”
He paused.
“Price says they planned to make you the person blamed for Evelyn's disappearance.”
My knees weakened.
Arthur grabbed the back of a chair.
“Explain.”
“They were going to accuse Grace of kidnapping Evelyn. Then offer to drop the allegations if she signed a settlement.”
I felt cold all over.
I'd walked into a trap without knowing it.
Then the detective said the words that changed everything.
“There is one more thing.”
Arthur stared at him.
“What?”
“Richard has been watching Grace since she was sixteen.”
I looked at the family photographs on the wall.
For the first time in my life, I understood that the danger hadn't begun yesterday.
May you like
It had been following me for years.
And the man behind it was my own father.
