Chapter 15 — The Inheritance War
Thomas walked slowly around the warehouse.
He didn’t look like a criminal.
That was the most frightening part.
He looked like a businessman.
A man who had spent decades convincing people he was respectable.
Emily stood beside Daniel and her father.
Three people against a man who had controlled their lives for years.
“You think money is what this is about?” Emily asked.
Thomas smiled.
“You sound like your mother.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“Because you don’t understand power.”
Emily looked at him.
“You destroyed my family for power.”
Thomas shrugged.
“Families destroy themselves.”
John stepped forward.
“You manipulated everyone.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You survived.”
“Because Sarah protected me.”
Thomas’s expression changed slightly.
The first crack in his confidence.
“You always loved her too much.”
John stared at him.
“She was better than all of us.”
Thomas laughed.
“And that was her weakness.”
Emily felt anger rise.
“My mother’s kindness was not weakness.”
Thomas looked at her.
“That’s exactly what she believed.”
He stepped closer.
“And that’s why she died.”
Daniel moved forward.
“Enough.”
Thomas smiled.
“You still think you’re the hero.”
He looked at Daniel.
“You don’t even know what your father did.”
Daniel froze.
Emily noticed.
“What are you talking about?”
Thomas turned toward him.
“Tell her.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Tell her what?”
Thomas smiled.
“Tell Emily who signed the papers that erased her father’s identity.”
Silence.
Emily slowly looked at Daniel.
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“Tell her who protected me after Sarah discovered the truth.”
Daniel stepped back.
“I didn’t know.”
Thomas laughed.
“Exactly.”
He looked at Emily.
“Nobody ever knows the whole story.”
Then the warehouse lights suddenly went out.
A loud noise echoed.
When the lights returned…
Thomas was gone.
But he left something behind.
A folder.
Inside was a document.
A signature.
Daniel picked it up.
His face turned pale.
Because at the bottom of the page was the name:
May you like
Edward Harrington.
His father.
