Chapter 12 - The Name Victor Buried
Police arrested Peter Hayes in Blackwood Tower’s underground parking garage.
He carried copies of Lily’s identity records.
But the original files remained intact.
Under questioning, Peter admitted working for Victor for nine years.
He handled hidden medical sites.
Drug procurement.
Payments to private nurses.
And false patient records.
He insisted he never knew Victor intended to kill Ethan with digitalis.
Sarah did not believe him.
Neither did Ethan.
Then Rebecca found something inside the trust archive.
A sealed letter Amelia had prepared before Lily’s birth.
It was addressed to Ethan.
Never delivered.
The maternity hospital had forwarded it to Blackwood legal after the fire.
Victor intercepted it.
Amelia had written:
If anything happens during delivery, Lily’s legal guardian after you must never be Victor.
Ethan read the sentence twice.
Amelia sat beside him.
“I knew he was asking strange questions.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was afraid I was imagining things.”
She looked down.
“Your uncle always made me feel paranoid.”
Victor’s manipulation had begun before the fire.
Not after.
The letter included another request.
Amelia wanted her own family shares placed directly into Lily’s trust at birth.
That meant Lily had inherited a significant voting block from Amelia the moment she was born.
Even while everyone believed she was dead.
Victor had hidden the transfer.
Thomas had used those dormant shares for seven years through forged proxy votes.
Rebecca calculated the impact.
“With Lily recognized legally, several past board decisions may be challengeable.”
Ethan stared at her.
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
“Acquisitions.”
“Asset sales.”
“Executive compensation.”
“Thomas made hundreds of millions.”
Amelia whispered:
“So this wasn’t only about inheritance.”
“No.”
Ethan looked toward Lily drawing at the end of the conference table.
“She was a shareholder.”
“A seven-year-old shareholder they erased.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And if we restore the shares, she becomes the second-largest individual voting owner after you.”
Ethan laughed without humor.
Victor tried to kill a child because her existence moved percentages on a spreadsheet.
Then Sarah entered.
“We have Victor’s full statement.”
“Is he cooperating?”
“Against Thomas.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Of course.”
Victor claimed Thomas designed the original plan.
Victor admitted arranging the fire.
But he said Thomas ordered the hospital records altered.
Thomas chose the secret facility.
Thomas paid Delaney-style fixers.
Thomas even selected Nora as the long-term caretaker.
Then Sarah placed a photograph on the table.
Thomas and Peter Hayes stood beside another man.
Ethan recognized him.
Charles Monroe.
Another Blackwood director.
The same man who had remained nearly silent during the board meeting.
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“How many board members?”
Sarah answered:
“At least two.”
Charles Monroe had quietly sold Blackwood shares that morning.
Millions of dollars’ worth.
Then he boarded a private plane.
The aircraft was stopped before takeoff.
Inside his briefcase, investigators found a sealed DNA report.
Lily’s DNA report.
Dated six years earlier.
Thomas had tested her long ago.
May you like
He always knew exactly who she was.
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