Chapter 6
The bullet missed Maya by inches.
That fact stayed inside Arthur’s head long after Daniel’s team rushed them into an armored SUV.
Maya was shaking.
Noah was crying.
Arthur held both of them down as the vehicle accelerated through the cemetery gates.
“Is everyone hit?”
Daniel shouted.
“No.”
Arthur checked Maya again.
“No.”
She pushed his hands away.
“I’m fine.”
“You almost got shot.”
“I know.”
“Then stop saying you’re fine!”
Maya stared at him.
Arthur immediately regretted shouting.
“I’m sorry.”
Her expression softened for half a second.
Then Daniel’s voice came from the front.
“We have the journal.”
Arthur exhaled.
One guard had grabbed the metal case before they fled.
“Shooter?”
“Gone.”
“Vehicle?”
“Stolen.”
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Maya looked down at the envelope still in Arthur’s hand.
“What does that mean?”
“What?”
“That Victoria isn’t Charles’s daughter.”
Arthur had no idea.
He called Sofia.
She answered from Grace’s hospital room.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Someone shot at us.”
Sofia gasped.
“What?”
“Everyone’s alive.”
Arthur’s voice hardened.
“Elena wrote that Victoria isn’t Charles’s daughter.”
Silence.
Arthur knew immediately.
“You knew.”
Sofia did not answer.
“Sofia.”
“I suspected.”
“Tell me.”
She lowered her voice.
“Victoria’s mother was named Evelyn Whitmore.”
“I know.”
“She died when Victoria was six.”
Arthur had seen photographs.
Beautiful woman.
Elegant.
Always distant in portraits.
“Before Charles married Evelyn, she was engaged to someone else.”
“Who?”
“A man named Thomas Vale.”
Arthur frowned.
The name seemed familiar.
Maya looked at him.
“What?”
Arthur searched his memory.
Thomas Vale.
Then it came.
Vale Technologies.
A pioneering software company destroyed by a corporate scandal nearly twenty-five years earlier.
Charles Whitmore bought its patents for almost nothing.
Arthur’s entire industry knew the story.
Thomas Vale disappeared afterward.
Arthur stared ahead.
“Thomas Vale.”
Sofia went quiet.
“You know.”
“Was he Victoria’s father?”
“I think so.”
“Where is he?”
“No one knows.”
Maya whispered, “Why would that matter?”
Arthur answered.
“Because if Thomas Vale was her biological father, then Victoria may have had a claim to technology Charles stole.”
Maya frowned.
“That still doesn’t explain Mom.”
“No.”
Arthur looked at Elena’s letter again.
“But it explains why Charles might have needed Victoria close.”
Sofia spoke carefully.
“There’s more.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“There’s always more.”
“Evelyn died six months after Thomas Vale tried to expose Charles.”
Arthur stared.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Silence filled the SUV.
Maya whispered, “Again.”
Arthur’s stomach turned.
Another car accident.
Another dead woman.
Another person who threatened Charles.
“What does Elena’s journal say?”
Daniel asked.
Arthur opened it.
The entries began during Elena’s pregnancy.
At first, they were personal.
Fear.
Love.
Confusion.
Then names appeared.
Victoria.
Charles.
Pike.
Thomas Vale.
Arthur read aloud.
Victoria came to see me again. She says Arthur’s company belongs to her family because the foundation of his encryption architecture came from Thomas Vale’s research.
Arthur stopped.
His face changed.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
Arthur stared at the page.
“My first encryption engine.”
“What about it?”
“I built it using a mathematical framework published anonymously when I was in college.”
“Could Vale have written it?”
Arthur nodded slowly.
“It’s possible.”
Maya frowned.
“So Victoria thought you stole from her real dad?”
“Maybe.”
Arthur continued reading.
She says Arthur has no idea. She says Charles arranged for the paper to be released so someone talented would build what Thomas never got to finish.
Daniel swore.
Arthur turned the page.
Charles didn’t just want Arthur’s company.
He created the opportunity for Arthur to build it.
Arthur felt physically ill.
His entire career.
The thing he believed he had built independently.
Charles may have been manipulating it from the beginning.
Maya looked at him.
“Does that mean your company isn’t yours?”
Arthur met her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
He continued.
Victoria says she deserves what Arthur built because it should have belonged to her father.
Arthur stopped again.
Now he understood Victoria differently.
She had not just been planted by Charles.
She had her own motive.
She believed Arthur possessed something stolen from her biological father.
Daniel leaned back.
“So Charles used both of you.”
“Yes.”
“And Victoria eventually married you.”
“Yes.”
Maya looked disgusted.
“Because she wanted the company?”
Arthur’s voice was low.
“Probably.”
The DNA results came that afternoon.
Arthur insisted Maya open the email.
They sat in a private hospital conference room.
Grace was strong enough to join them in a wheelchair.
Noah sat beside Maya.
Arthur stood across the table.
Maya stared at the screen.
She did not move.
Arthur’s heart pounded.
“Well?”
Maya looked up.
Her face had gone white.
“99.99 percent.”
Noah whispered, “What?”
Maya turned the laptop.
Probability of paternity: greater than 99.99%.
Nobody spoke.
Arthur had imagined this moment since the night before.
He had expected joy.
Relief.
Maybe tears.
Instead he felt grief first.
Fourteen birthdays.
Fourteen Christmases.
First steps.
First words.
School plays.
Illnesses.
Nightmares.
Everything gone.
Stolen.
No amount of money could buy it back.
Noah stared at Arthur.
“You’re really our dad?”
Arthur’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Noah stood.
For one second, Arthur thought he might hug him.
Instead Noah ran from the room.
Maya immediately followed.
Arthur started after them.
Grace touched his arm.
“Let Maya go.”
“He’s upset.”
“He needs his sister.”
Arthur looked through the glass.
Maya found Noah in the hallway.
She crouched beside him.
Arthur could not hear the conversation.
But he saw Noah crying.
Maya put her arms around him.
Grace whispered, “They’ve only ever had each other.”
Arthur nodded painfully.
“I know.”
“No.”
Grace looked at him.
“You understand the words.”
“You don’t understand what it means yet.”
Arthur stared at her.
“When everything went bad, Maya became his parent.”
“She was a child.”
“She still is.”
Grace’s voice hardened.
“So don’t expect them to suddenly hand that responsibility to you because of a test.”
Arthur swallowed.
“I won’t.”
Grace softened.
“You can become their father.”
“But you can’t demand to be one.”
Arthur looked at them again.
“I know.”
A few minutes later, Maya returned.
Noah stayed in the hallway with Sofia.
Maya closed the door.
“So.”
Arthur waited.
“You’re our father.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“You looked for Mom.”
“For months.”
“Can you prove that?”
Arthur blinked.
“Yes.”
“I want to see it.”
He nodded.
“Everything.”
“Private investigator reports.”
“Phone records if they still exist.”
“Anything.”
“You can.”
Maya crossed her arms.
“And I’m not moving in permanently.”
Arthur almost smiled.
“I didn’t ask.”
“You were going to.”
“Eventually.”
“Well, don’t.”
“Okay.”
“Noah can decide for himself.”
“He can.”
“And Grace is still our mom.”
Arthur felt the small stab again.
This time he accepted it.
“Yes.”
Maya studied him.
“You mean that?”
“I do.”
She nodded.
Then her eyes filled.
“I used to imagine you.”
Arthur’s throat tightened.
“What?”
“When Mom told me your name.”
“She said you didn’t want us.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Maya—”
“I used to imagine meeting you.”
“Sometimes you were terrible.”
“Sometimes you were dead.”
“Sometimes you were rich and had another family.”
She looked around the expensive conference room.
“I guess I got one thing right.”
Arthur laughed through tears.
Maya did too.
Then she became serious.
“I don’t know how to do this.”
Arthur stepped closer but did not touch her.
“Neither do I.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she hugged him.
It lasted only three seconds.
Maybe four.
But Arthur closed his eyes and held her carefully.
When she pulled away, she wiped her face immediately.
“Don’t make it weird.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
The door opened.
Daniel entered.
His expression erased the warmth immediately.
“We have a problem.”
Arthur turned.
“What?”
“Victoria filed for an emergency protective order.”
Arthur stared.
“Against me?”
“Yes.”
Maya laughed in disbelief.
“She attacked us.”
Daniel nodded.
“But that isn’t how her lawyers described it.”
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
“What did they say?”
“That Victoria discovered two unidentified minors inside her home.”
“That you became violent when she asked them to leave.”
“And that you struck her.”
Arthur went still.
He had struck Victoria.
One moment of rage.
Now she was using it.
Daniel continued.
“She claims you’re unstable.”
“She’s also asking the court to freeze several jointly controlled accounts.”
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“She’s moving fast.”
“Charles’s lawyers are moving fast.”
Maya looked worried.
“Can they take us away?”
Arthur immediately turned.
“No.”
Daniel did not answer.
Arthur noticed.
“What?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Because you’ve just been established as their biological father, Victoria’s attorneys may argue the children are potential witnesses in a domestic dispute.”
“So?”
“So child services could become involved.”
Maya’s face tightened.
“No.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“They’re not going back into the system.”
“I know.”
“Make sure.”
Daniel nodded.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His eyes narrowed.
“When?”
He listened.
“Send it.”
Arthur waited.
Daniel lowered the phone.
“Victoria just held a press conference.”
Arthur laughed once.
Of course she had.
“What did she say?”
Daniel turned a tablet around.
Victoria stood outside the Whitmore family mansion.
Her cheek showed a faint mark.
Charles stood behind her.
Reporters surrounded them.
Victoria looked directly into the cameras.
“My husband has been manipulated by two teenagers whose identities and motives remain unknown.”
Maya’s mouth dropped open.
Victoria continued.
“I fear Arthur is experiencing a serious mental health crisis.”
Arthur’s face went cold.
Then Charles stepped forward.
“Our family will protect Victoria.”
“And we will protect Arthur from those currently exploiting his vulnerability.”
Maya stared at the screen.
“She called us liars.”
Arthur shut off the video.
Daniel looked at him.
“There’s more.”
Arthur sighed.
“Say it.”
“Whitmore Holdings called an emergency board meeting at Cole Systems.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“They’re going after my company.”
“Yes.”
Arthur looked at Elena’s journal.
Charles wanted his company fourteen years ago.
Apparently, he had never stopped.
Maya stepped closer.
“What are you going to do?”
Arthur picked up the journal.
“What your mother tried to do.”
“What?”
“Tell the truth.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Charles just sent a message.”
Daniel handed him the phone.
It contained one sentence.
Bring me Elena’s journal by midnight, and your children remain alive.
Arthur stared at it.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Noah standing in the hospital hallway.
Taken less than five minutes earlier…………..
