Chapter 8 - A FATHER IS MORE THAN BLOOD
Armand stared at the birth certificate.
For a moment, he could hear nothing but the ticking of the antique clock behind his desk.
Richard stood opposite him, watching carefully.
“Catherine never told you,” Richard said.
Armand slowly lifted his eyes.
“This is a forgery.”
Richard sighed.
“I knew you'd say that.”
“You expect me to believe Catherine had an affair with you?”
“No.”
Armand frowned.
Richard leaned forward.
“That's not what happened.”
He opened another folder.
Inside were medical records, adoption documents, and a signed agreement dated twenty-seven years earlier.
Armand read the first page.
Then the second.
His expression changed.
“Clara?”
Richard nodded.
“Catherine's twin sister.”
Armand looked up.
“What does Clara have to do with Isabelle?”
Richard hesitated.
“Clara gave birth to her.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Armand lowered himself into a chair.
“No.”
“It's true.”
“Catherine carried Isabelle.”
“That's what you were told.”
Armand stared at the documents.
Richard continued.
“Clara was pregnant when she was twenty-one. She wasn't prepared to raise a child.”
“Then why is your name on the certificate?”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“Because I was the father.”
Armand felt sick.
“You and Clara?”
“Yes.”
“You were married.”
Richard looked away.
“I made mistakes.”
Armand closed the folder.
“Get out.”
“Armand—”
“GET OUT!”
Richard remained still.
“I'm telling you because you deserve the truth.”
Armand stood.
“No. You're telling me because you think it will make me stop looking for my daughter.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“She's not your daughter.”
Armand stepped forward.
“She called me Daddy.”
Richard said nothing.
“I held her when she was sick. I taught her to ride a bicycle. I stayed awake beside her bed when she had nightmares.”
His voice broke.
“I loved her every day of her life.”
Richard looked away.
Armand pointed toward the door.
“Blood doesn't decide who a father is.”
Then he said something Richard would never forget.
“SHE IS MY DAUGHTER BECAUSE I CHOSE TO LOVE HER. AND NOTHING YOU SAY WILL EVER CHANGE THAT.”
At the police station, Mercer received the results of an independent document examination.
The birth certificate Richard had shown Armand was fraudulent.
The original record listed Armand and Catherine as Isabelle's parents.
The altered certificate had been created using an old government form and a forged signature.
Mercer immediately called Armand.
“Mr. Veller, your brother is lying.”
Armand closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Catherine would never have hidden something like that from me.”
Mercer hesitated.
“There's more.”
Armand gripped the phone.
“What?”
“We recovered a document showing that Richard paid Victor Hale nearly two million dollars shortly after Isabelle disappeared.”
Armand felt cold.
“What for?”
“The transfer was labeled as a security consulting fee.”
“Two million dollars?”
“Yes.”
Mercer paused.
“And the payment came from an account connected to the Veller Foundation.”
Armand looked toward the empty doorway.
Richard had left only minutes earlier.
“Detective,” he whispered, “I think my brother is going to run.”
Evelyn sat in a quiet interview room.
Lina had brought her tea, but she had barely touched it.
The revelations about her family had left her exhausted.
She had spent years believing she was alone.
Now she had discovered that her mother might have survived a staged accident, her uncle might have arranged her disappearance, and the man she remembered as her father had been deceived by the people closest to him.
Lina sat beside her.
“Do you want to see him?”
Evelyn looked up.
“My father?”
Lina nodded.
Evelyn stared at her hands.
“I don't know.”
“He's been searching for you.”
“I know.”
“He loves you.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“What if he doesn't recognize me?”
Lina smiled gently.
“He recognized you before he even saw you.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“When I showed him the portrait and told him about you, he cried.”
Lina paused.
“He didn't ask whether you were rich or poor. He didn't ask what name you used. He only asked where his little girl was.”
Evelyn covered her face.
For years, she had imagined returning home.
Sometimes she pictured her father embracing her.
Other times she imagined him accusing her of abandoning him.
But the most frightening possibility was that he might look at her and see a stranger.
Lina touched her shoulder.
“You don't have to decide tonight.”
Evelyn nodded.
Then her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
She hesitated.
A text appeared.
If you want to see your mother alive, come to St. Agnes Medical Center before midnight.
Below it was a room number.
Evelyn stared.
Another message arrived.
Come alone. Tell the police, and she dies.
Across the city, Richard Veller entered an underground parking garage.
Victor Hale waited beside a black SUV.
“You told him?” Victor asked.
Richard nodded.
“He didn't believe me.”
Victor cursed.
“I warned you.”
Richard opened the passenger door.
“We need to leave.”
“Not yet.”
Richard turned.
“What?”
Victor held up his phone.
A photograph appeared.
Evelyn entering the police station.
Richard's face hardened.
“She went to Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“Then we have a problem.”
Victor smiled coldly.
“Not for long.”
Richard stared at him.
“What have you done?”
Victor slipped the phone into his pocket.
“Something you should have allowed me to do fifteen years ago.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Victor, listen to me. No more deaths.”
Victor laughed.
“Now you grow a conscience?”
Richard grabbed his arm.
“I mean it.”
Victor's smile vanished.
“You lost the right to give orders a long time ago.”
He leaned closer.
“And if you try to stop me, I'll tell Armand what really happened to Catherine.”
Richard froze.
Victor opened the SUV door.
Then added:
May you like
“BY MORNING, HIS DAUGHTER WILL BE GONE AGAIN. AND THIS TIME, THERE WON'T BE A BODY TO FIND.”
END OF CHAPTER 8
