Chapter 9 - THE DEAD HUSBAND
The man called himself Robert Sterling.
Richard’s identical twin.
Another hidden sibling.
Another trust contingency.
He had used Richard’s identity after the real Richard disappeared.
Which man had married me?
Independent records could not immediately answer.
Robert knew private details.
So did Richard in old videos.
The Sterling family had used twins to preserve authority for generations.
One public.
One hidden.
One replaceable.
Robert claimed the real Richard was alive and working with Nathan.
He said both men built the reproductive scheme together.
Then Richard appeared on a secure video call.
Older.
Alive.
He looked at me.
“Victoria, do not trust him.”
Robert laughed.
“They always say that.”
The brothers accused each other of forging deaths, transferring embryos, and manipulating the trust.
Clara watched them.
Then she turned off the screen.
“I am done letting men tell us which identity to believe.”
She was right.
We relied on independent DNA, fingerprints, financial trails, and verified witnesses.
Not performance.
The evidence showed Robert had married me publicly while Richard handled business operations privately.
Both had used the Richard Sterling name.
My marriage had been shared between two men without my knowledge.
Then one of them fathered Clara.
The DNA matched Robert.
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The man in Vivian’s room was Clara’s biological father.
Read Chapter 10 to discover why Clara’s own father allowed Dominic into her life.
