Chapter 17 - DANIEL
We didn't go to the courthouse.
Instead, we went to the hospital.
The old hospital where I had supposedly been born.
The records department was closed.
Victoria used her law-firm credentials to get us inside.
We found an archived file.
The name on the original birth record was:
CLAIRE HALE.
Mother:
ELENA HALE.
Father:
GRANT HALE.
Twins:
CLAIRE ELENA HALE
and
DANIEL GRANT HALE.
I stared at the page.
My hands were shaking.
"That's me."
Victoria nodded.
"But there's more."
She turned the page.
Daniel had not died.
His death certificate had been filed six months after his birth.
But there was no hospital record of his death.
No doctor.
No burial.
No autopsy.
Nothing.
Only a certificate.
Signed by a physician who had died twenty years earlier.
"This was forged," Victoria whispered.
I looked at her.
"Why?"
She kept reading.
"Because someone needed everyone to believe Daniel was dead."
"Who?"
She pointed to the signature.
"Your grandfather."
I felt sick.
My grandfather had taken me.
He had hidden my identity.
And someone had taken my brother.
But why?
Then we found the adoption record.
I wasn't legally adopted.
My grandfather had simply changed my name.
He had registered me as Claire Vance.
And erased the Hale name.
Victoria sat down.
"Your grandfather stole you."
I nodded.
"But why?"
We found the answer in another document.
A company agreement.
My grandfather had been negotiating with Grant.
The agreement stated that if Grant ever regained control of his company, his heirs would inherit everything.
Both children.
Which meant...
I wasn't the only heir.
Daniel was too.
The trust wasn't worth four-point-eight million.
Or twenty-two million.
It represented control over an entire corporate network.
Whoever controlled both children controlled the inheritance.
I looked at Victoria.
"That's why Noah was targeted."
She nodded.
"Because they thought Noah was the only heir."
I stared at the documents.
Then something clicked.
"The account in Noah's name."
"Yes."
"It wasn't for Noah."
Victoria looked at me.
"It was for Daniel."
I felt a chill.
"Julian and Richard thought Noah was Daniel."
Victoria slowly nodded.
"And if Daniel is alive..."
"They've been chasing the wrong boy."
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Claire."
A man's voice.
This time, I recognized it.
Daniel.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Who has you?"
Silence.
Then:
"Someone who wants to meet you."
"Who?"
"My father."
I stopped breathing.
"Grant?"
"Yes."
"Is Noah with you?"
"No."
"Then where is my son?"
Daniel whispered:
"With Julian."
The call ended.
I turned to Victoria.
"Julian has Noah."
She stood.
"Then we find him."
But before we could move, the hospital lights went out.
The corridor became completely dark.
A door slammed somewhere behind us.
Then someone whispered:
"Claire."
I turned.
My mother stepped into the emergency light.
Her face was covered in tears.
"Don't go after Julian."
"Why?"
She looked at me.
"Because Julian isn't holding Noah."
She swallowed.
May you like
"He's protecting him."
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