Chapter 2 - WHO LILY REALLY IS
Daniel did not shout.
That frightened Margaret more.
He wrapped Lily in his coat, called the pediatrician, and ordered the estate gates locked.
"You are locking me inside my own property?"
"Until I know why my daughter was in a trash bin, nobody leaves."
Daughter.
The brass key opened Arthur Carter's study.
Dust covered the desk.
"You have no right."
"My father did."
Inside a hidden drawer sat a recorder and an envelope.
FOR DANIEL - IF MARGARET STARTS AGAIN.
"Again?"
Arthur's voice came through the recorder.
"Daniel, if Maya is beside you, believe her before you believe this family."
Margaret backed away.
"Lily is the daughter of Julian Carter."
Margaret did not.
"Who is Julian?" she demanded.
"My older brother."
"You don't have an older brother."
"Julian was my son before I married Margaret. I hid him because I was a coward."
Arthur had fathered Julian at twenty-one with a woman named Lydia Brooks.
His wealthy mother, Catherine Carter, knew.
Margaret never did.
Julian grew up using his mother's last name.
Years later, he met Maya.
They planned to marry.
Then Julian died in a boating accident while Maya was pregnant.
He told Daniel the truth privately.
Asked him to protect Maya and the baby until Lily's inheritance could be secured.
Daniel agreed.
The marriage began as protection.
Then became real.
Margaret looked at Maya with naked hatred.
"You married my son while carrying his brother's child?"
"I married a man who knew exactly who I was."
"And I chose Lily."
"The Catherine Carter Trust goes to my biological descendants by birth order."
"Julian was first."
Which meant Lily inherited Julian's branch.
Not a small share.
May you like
Forty-one percent of the family trust.
"And if Margaret learns that before the Whitmore agreement is broken, Lily will be in danger."
