Chapter 13 - The Father of Every Lie
Charles aimed at Rachel first.
She stared at him.
“You need me.”
“I needed obedience.”
“You’d have nothing without me.”
“I had everything before you became careless.”
Lucas pressed his hand against Derek’s bleeding shoulder.
The wound looked serious but survivable.
Adrian slowly moved toward the exit.
Charles swung the pistol toward him.
“Stay.”
Outside, officers shouted for everyone to surrender.
Charles ignored them.
He confessed that he had hidden Emily because she discovered he was stealing from the family trust.
Emily planned to tell Walter.
Charles arranged the crash, bribed Dr. Vale, and placed her in the private facility.
“She should have died that night,” he said.
Walter’s daughter had survived for three years because a nurse secretly protected her.
When Emily gave birth, Charles arranged the adoption and sealed the record.
Rachel listened, stunned.
“You told me Emily abandoned the family.”
Charles laughed.
“I told you what made you useful.”
Her cruelty suddenly had a source, but not an excuse.
Rachel had built her identity around Charles’s approval.
Now he was discarding her.
Lucas kept his voice steady.
“What happened to Dr. Vale?”
Charles’s eyes shifted.
Rachel answered.
“He was supposed to leave the country.”
“Where is he?”
A weak voice came from an examination room.
“Here.”
Dr. Vale stepped into the hallway.
His shirt was torn, and his hands were tied in front of him.
Adrian had found him hours earlier and brought him to the hospital, hoping to trade him for immunity.
Vale looked at Charles.
“I kept every original record.”
Charles fired.
Adrian shoved Vale aside.
The bullet struck a metal cabinet.
Police broke through the side entrance.
Charles grabbed Rachel and held the gun beneath her chin.
“Back away!”
Rachel’s arrogance vanished.
“Charles, please.”
He whispered into her ear.
“You wanted to inherit my empire. Consider this your final lesson.”
Then Dr. Vale shouted toward Alvarez.
May you like
“The original files are hidden beneath Emily Grant’s grave marker!”
👉 The proof of Emily’s imprisonment had been buried beneath the empty grave Walter mourned for thirty-five years.
