Chapter 6 - The Dead Brother Had Been Paying MargaretDaniel stared at the document.
“That’s impossible.”
Detective Monroe didn’t respond.
“My brother is dead.”
“So far,” Monroe said carefully, “we have evidence that a corporation registered to an identity matching Michael Whitmore has been active for three years.”
“No.”
Daniel stood.
“Michael died in a plane crash.”
Margaret had gone completely pale.
Emily looked between them.
“Was his body recovered?”
Daniel turned.
“Yes.”
Margaret whispered:
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
Daniel’s face changed.
“What?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Oh God.”
“Mom.”
No answer.
“Was Michael’s body recovered?”
Margaret shook her head.
Daniel stared.
“You told me it was.”
“The wreck burned.”
“You told me Dad identified him.”
“Daniel—”
“You told me there was enough.”
Margaret started crying.
“The authorities believed—”
“What did Dad identify?”
“A watch.”
Silence.
Daniel looked like the floor had disappeared.
Emily remembered the family story.
Michael Whitmore.
Thirty-one when he died.
Older brother.
Golden child.
Test pilot.
Brilliant.
Reckless.
Killed during a private flight in Nevada.
His death shattered Charles Whitmore.
Daniel eventually inherited the position Michael was supposed to occupy.
Company leadership.
Trust responsibilities.
Family expectations.
If Michael was alive—
Everything changed.
“Why would he fake his death?” Emily asked.
Margaret looked away.
Daniel answered.
“Money.”
Margaret snapped:
“You don’t know that.”
Daniel stared.
“Then tell us.”
Margaret’s lips trembled.
“Michael and your father had a fight.”
“What fight?”
“Company money was missing.”
Daniel frowned.
“How much?”
“Twenty-two million.”
Emily stared.
Daniel whispered:
“Michael stole it?”
Margaret nodded.
“Your father confronted him.”
“And then Michael crashed.”
“Yes.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Apparently not.”
Detective Monroe opened another file.
“The Nevada corporation received an initial funding transfer five years ago.”
“From who?” Daniel asked.
“Charles Whitmore.”
Margaret’s head snapped up.
“What?”
Emily stared.
“Your husband paid Michael after his supposed death?”
Monroe nodded.
“Several million.”
Margaret looked genuinely stunned.
Daniel saw it too.
She hadn’t known.
The family mystery widened.
Charles Whitmore had apparently known his eldest son was alive.
And secretly funded him.
“Why?” Daniel whispered.
Monroe continued.
“We’re still tracing transactions.”
Emily looked toward her stomach.
“What does Michael have to do with my baby?”
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel’s expression changed.
The trust.
He walked toward the window.
“My father changed his estate plan after Michael died.”
Margaret frowned.
“So?”
“He told me it was to protect the next generation.”
Margaret looked uneasy.
Daniel continued.
“There’s a succession trust.”
“I know.”
“No, you know the public one.”
Margaret stared.
Daniel turned.
“Dad created another.”
“When?”
“Six months before he died.”
Margaret’s face hardened.
“He never told me.”
“Probably intentionally.”
Emily whispered:
“What does it do?”
Daniel swallowed.
“On the birth of the first biological grandchild of Charles Whitmore, forty-nine percent of his remaining private holdings transfer into an irrevocable trust for that child.”
Emily’s heart started pounding.
“How much is that worth?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Margaret did.
“At least four hundred million.”
Emily stared.
Margaret looked sick.
“If the child is Michael’s…”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
Margaret’s mind was moving quickly.
“If Adrian switched samples.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Margaret continued.
“What if the baby isn’t Adrian’s?”
Silence.
Daniel understood first.
“No.”
Emily looked between them.
“What?”
Daniel sat.
“If Michael wanted control of Dad’s trust…”
Emily’s face drained.
“He would need a biological child.”
“Yes.”
“But why me?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Because you were already married to me.”
The horror became clear.
A child born to Daniel’s wife would automatically be accepted as Daniel’s.
No one would question lineage.
Michael could create a biological heir hidden inside his brother’s family.
Then later prove paternity.
Challenge trust control.
Take the fortune.
Emily covered her mouth.
“My baby was part of a financial plan?”
Daniel shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
But they did know something.
Adrian had access to the fertility clinic.
Michael had money.
Michael funded the corporation.
Adrian believed the baby belonged to him.
Maybe Adrian had been lied to too.
Everyone was being manipulated.
Margaret.
Adrian.
Emily.
Daniel.
All by someone who had supposedly been dead for six years.
Then Margaret’s phone rang.
It had been held as evidence but remained powered.
Detective Monroe looked at the screen.
Unknown caller.
She activated recording.
Margaret answered on speaker.
Silence.
Then a man spoke.
“Mother.”
Margaret’s eyes filled instantly.
Daniel went rigid.
The voice continued.
“You always were terrible at following instructions.”
Margaret whispered:
“Michael?”
Daniel grabbed the table.
Emily’s heart hammered.
The dead brother laughed softly.
“Hello, Danny.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Six years of grief turned into rage in less than a second.
“You son of a bitch.”
Michael ignored him.
“Emily.”
She said nothing.
“I’m sorry the helicopter became unpleasant.”
Her stomach turned.
“You planned it.”
“I planned leverage.”
“You wanted my baby.”
“Our baby,” Michael said.
Daniel lunged toward the phone.
“You don’t know that.”
Michael laughed.
“Oh, Daniel.”
A pause.
“I know exactly whose child she’s carrying.”
Emily stopped breathing.
May you like
Michael continued.
“And it isn’t yours.”
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