Chapter 8 - THE HUSBAND WHO KNEW TOO LITTLE
Ethan read the handwritten warning twice.
“The betrayal came from inside the Sterling family.”
He looked at Vance.
“My father?”
“Possibly.”
“My grandfather?”
“Possibly.”
“Or Victoria,” Maya said.
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“She said she tried to save you.”
“She also watched me for years.”
Maya looked through the archive photograph again.
“My childhood was not hidden from her.”
“It was managed.”
Ethan sat across from her.
“I did not know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it is true.”
“You knew your mother investigated me.”
“I knew she investigated everyone.”
“You knew she hated me.”
“I thought she would eventually accept you.”
“You watched her insult me.”
“I tried to keep peace.”
Maya’s eyes hardened.
“Peace for whom?”
He could not answer.
Vance quietly left them alone.
Ethan removed his wedding ring.
He placed it on the table.
“I failed you tonight.”
“You failed before tonight.”
“I know.”
“That does not repair it.”
“No.”
He looked toward the photograph of Maya as a baby.
“But I want to help expose what my family did.”
“Do that because it is right.”
“Not because you think it will save our marriage.”
The words hurt him.
Maya saw the pain.
She did not rescue him from it.
For years, she had softened every consequence for Ethan.
That habit ended in the ballroom.
Agent Brooks entered with new information.
Senator Vaughn had used a private aircraft under another name.
The flight left Texas forty minutes after he escaped.
Its destination was a remote airstrip in New Mexico.
A property near the airstrip belonged to a company controlled by Sterling Holdings.
Ethan looked at the address.
“I know that place.”
“What is it?” Brooks asked.
“My father called it the desert house.”
“He visited twice a year.”
Victoria claimed it had been sold.
Property records showed otherwise.
The house remained inside a hidden Sterling trust.
Ethan provided the security codes.
A federal team prepared to raid the property.
Before they left, Maya examined the original trust document again.
A clause stated that control transferred only after verification of Amelia Cross’s identity.
Vance arranged an immediate DNA test using preserved medical samples from Evelyn.
Maya gave blood.
The results would take several hours.
As the nurse removed the needle, Maya asked the question she feared most.
“What if I am not Amelia?”
Vance looked at her.
“Then the medal still proves someone wanted you connected to this family.”
“And I will help you discover why.”
A message appeared on Agent Brooks’s phone.
The federal team had entered the desert house.
Senator Vaughn was not there.
May you like
But Dr. Evelyn Cross was.
Alive.
