Chapter 8: The Money Was Never His
I thought Edward meant me personally.
He didn't.
He meant my name.
My identity.
My bloodline.
My entire existence had been used as a legal shield around money that had never belonged to my father.
Edward stood in the driveway while Agent Reed watched him carefully.
“You'd better explain,” I said.
Edward nodded.
“I will.””
Ryan stepped between us.
“Not here.””
Edward looked toward the house.
“He's gone.””
“Daniel?””
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
Edward gave a faint smile.
“Because I taught him how to disappear.””
Vanessa looked sick.
“Edward, what have you done?””
“Survived.””
“You left me with him.””
“I thought you were safer.””
“You were wrong.””
Edward lowered his head.
“I know.””
I stepped forward.
“You're going to tell me everything.””
He looked at me.
“Your father wasn't the owner of Thompson Financial.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“He was the public owner.””
“Who actually owned it?””
Edward glanced at Reed.
Reed answered.
“A group of private investors.””
Edward shook his head.
“Not investors.””
He looked at me.
“Families.””
“What families?””
“The people who built Atlanta's financial network before anyone knew there was one.””
I stared at him.
“And the $47 million?””
“Was collected over fifteen years.””
“For what?””
“Protection.””
My stomach tightened.
“Protection from whom?””
“Everyone.””
Edward walked toward the house.
“Your father discovered that money was being siphoned from legitimate businesses and placed into accounts controlled by a private network.””
“And Daniel stole it.””
“No.””
Edward stopped.
“Daniel was moving it exactly as he was instructed.””
I felt cold.
“Then why did everyone say he stole four million?””
“Because someone needed to take the blame.””
I looked at Vanessa.
She whispered, “Your father blamed Daniel.””
“Why?””
“Because your father was trying to escape the network.””
Edward nodded.
“He wanted out.””
I stared at him.
“And you?””
“I helped him.””
“Then why disappear?””
“Because the network killed anyone who tried to expose it.””
I looked at Reed.
“Why is the FBI involved?””
Reed answered quietly.
“Because we've been investigating this network for years.””
“And my father?””
“He was one of our biggest potential witnesses.””
I remembered the notebook.
She was never supposed to become his wife.
I looked at Vanessa.
“My father knew you were involved.””
“Yes.””
“Did he know about Lily?””
“Yes.””
“Did he know she was mine?””
Edward spoke.
“He did.””
I turned toward him.
“Then why hide her?””
“Because Daniel wasn't the only person looking for her.””
“Who else?””
Edward's expression darkened.
“The people who financed your father's company.””
I felt anger burning through me.
“You're all talking about these people like they're ghosts.””
“They're not ghosts.””
Edward looked toward the street.
“They're judges, bankers, politicians, developers, executives.””
He paused.
“And one of them is currently sitting in Congress.””
I stared at him.
“You're saying my father was involved in organized financial crime?””
“He was involved because he was trying to stop it.””
“And Edward?””
“He was doing the same.””
“Then why did you fake your death?””
“Because the day your father confronted Daniel, someone put a gun to my head.””
I stared.
“They missed.””
“No.””
Edward looked at me.
“They didn't.””
Silence.
“My death was real enough.””
I didn't understand.
“They shot you?””
“Yes.””
“And you survived?””
“Barely.””
“Then why not expose them?””
“Because I woke up in a hospital with Daniel standing beside my bed.””
My stomach turned.
“He told me that if I spoke, Vanessa would die.””
I looked at Vanessa.
“And you agreed to marry me?””
Edward nodded.
“Your father asked her to.””
“Why me?””
“Because Daniel believed your father had hidden the money in your identity.””
I shook my head.
“But I was a teenager.””
“Exactly.””
Edward opened the trunk of his sedan.
Inside were several old files.
He pulled out a yellowed document.
“My father gave this to me after your birth.””
I took it.
It was a birth certificate.
My name was there.
But the father listed wasn't Michael Thompson.
It was another name.
*Edward Collins.*
I looked up.
“What the hell?””
Edward's face remained calm.
“Your father was not your biological father.””
I remembered Daniel saying the same thing.
But hearing it from Edward made it real.
“Then you're my father?””
Edward nodded.
I couldn't move.
Vanessa began crying.
Lily stared at the ground.
I looked at Edward.
“You knew?””
“Yes.””
“All these years?””
“Yes.””
“And my father knew?””
“Yes.””
I felt something break inside me.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
Edward's voice softened.
“Because your father loved you.””
“Don't use that word.””
“I won't.””
He paused.
“I'll tell you the truth instead.””
He pointed at the document.
“You were born during the period when your father and I were trying to dismantle the network.””
I looked at the certificate.
“Why was my name Thompson?””
“Because Edward Collins couldn't safely exist on paper.””
I frowned.
“Your identity was protected under your father's name.””
“Then the inheritance?””
“Wasn't an inheritance.””
My heart sank.
“What was it?””
“A trust established at your birth.””
“For me?””
“For the child who would eventually become the legal owner of the recovered assets.””
I stared at him.
“Recovered assets?””
“The $47 million.””
I understood.
My father's fortune wasn't his.
It had been held in trust for me.
And the people trying to reach it couldn't access it without me.
Edward continued.
“Your father spent years moving pieces of the money away from the network.””
“Where?””
“Different institutions.””
“Why?””
“To build a case.””
Reed stepped forward.
“And to protect the evidence.””
I looked at the ledger.
“This isn't a bank account.””
“No,” Edward said.
“It's a list of everyone who paid.””
I opened the ledger again.
The names suddenly looked different.
Not transactions.
Evidence.
Every payment was a trail.
Every account was connected.
Every person had something to lose.
I looked at Reed.
“Then why hasn't the government seized it?””
“Because the money is legally protected under your name.””
I laughed bitterly.
“So I'm worth $47 million?””
“No.””
Reed shook his head.
“You're worth more than that to the people who want the ledger.””
A car accelerated somewhere nearby.
Everyone turned.
Edward's face changed.
“Down.””
A black SUV flew past the house.
Ryan pulled Lily behind the sedan.
Three gunshots cracked through the morning.
The windshield shattered.
Edward fell.
“Edward!””
I dropped beside him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Vanessa screamed.
Ryan returned fire toward the disappearing SUV.
Reed dragged us behind the vehicle.
“Stay down!””
Edward grabbed my wrist.
His eyes were wide.
“Michael.””
“I'm here.””
“The account.””
“What?””
“The account isn't the target.””
He coughed.
“Daniel wants the ledger.””
“Why?””
“Because the ledger proves who owns the network.””
I looked at him.
“Who?””
Edward tried to speak.
His eyes moved toward Vanessa.
Then Lily.
“It's someone you trust.””
He collapsed.
“Edward!””
Reed checked his pulse.
“Alive.””
I looked at Vanessa.
Her face was frozen.
“Who?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
But Edward's last words kept repeating in my mind.
Someone you trust.
I looked at Ryan.
He was staring at the road.
Then at Agent Reed.
Then at Vanessa.
And suddenly, Ryan's expression changed.
He reached into his jacket.
“Michael…”
“What?””
He pulled out a photograph.
His hands were shaking.
It showed my father standing beside Daniel.
Beside Edward.
And beside a fourth person.
A woman.
I recognized her immediately.
She was the woman Daniel had shown us on the monitor.
My father's supposedly dead sister.
But Ryan pointed at the photograph.
“That's not your aunt.””
“Then who is she?””
Ryan swallowed.
“She is Daniel's mother.””
Vanessa stared at him.
“No.””
May you like
Ryan looked at me.
“And she's been using your aunt's identity for fifteen years.””
