Chapter 12 - THE FINAL WILL

Marcus asked us to come to the hospital.

Naomi doubled security first.

Inside his room, Marcus looked exhausted but alert.

He handed me a sealed envelope.

“Your father gave this to me the week before he died.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he told me not to unless Daria moved against your wife or children.”

Catherine sat beside me.

Marcus continued.

“The final will creates a family trust. If you have a biological child, controlling voting rights pass into that trust. Daria loses every special voting privilege.”

I stared at Penelope.

My daughter had not simply threatened Daria’s inheritance.

Her existence destroyed Daria’s control.

“That’s why she kept Catherine alive,” Naomi said. “She needed to know whether the baby survived.”

Catherine nodded slowly.

“She kept asking if I had miscarried.”

My hands curled into fists.

Marcus handed Naomi a notarized copy.

“Original is with a trust company in Switzerland.”

Daria could not destroy it.

For the first time, I saw the full shape of her plan.

Kidnap Catherine.

Fake her death.

Keep me grieving.

Hide the pregnancy.

Control the company.

And if Penelope survived, remove her before anyone learned she existed.

Naomi looked at me.

“We have enough to move.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

But Daria moved first.

At 11:30 p.m., television stations interrupted programming.

Daria Kincaid had called a press conference.

She stood on the steps of her mansion surrounded by attorneys.

“My son,” she said, “has been manipulated by criminals claiming to be his late wife.”

Catherine stared at the screen in disbelief.

Daria continued.

“The woman currently calling herself Catherine Kincaid is an impostor.”

I laughed once.

Cold.

“She’s desperate.”

Then Daria held up a DNA report.

“Tests confirm this woman has no biological relationship to Samuel’s deceased wife.”

The room went silent.

Catherine whispered, “That’s impossible.”

Naomi took the report from the live broadcast.

“It could be forged.”

“It is forged,” I said.

Then Catherine’s face changed.

She looked toward Penelope.

“What if the DNA report isn’t about me?”

I followed her gaze.

Catherine swallowed.

“Samuel... I never told you everything about the night I was taken.”

My chest tightened.

“What happened?”

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Her eyes filled with tears.

“Before they kidnapped me, I had already received a DNA result of my own.”