CHAPTER 18 The Second Heir
CHAPTER 18
The Second Heir
The nursery fell into absolute silence.
Margaret Kensington's final words echoed through everyone's mind.
"Hope isn't the only heir Jonathan left behind."
Khloe stared at her in disbelief.
"You're lying."
Margaret calmly folded her gloves.
"I've lied about many things."
"But not this."
Hope shifted in Khloe's arms and let out a soft cry.
Khloe gently rocked her daughter, refusing to let anyone come closer.
"If there was another heir..."
"...why wait twenty-three years to tell us?"
Margaret smiled faintly.
"Because until tonight..."
"...I wasn't sure the child had survived."
Edward Harrington slowly lowered his weapon.
His attention had completely shifted.
"Another heir?"
Margaret nodded.
"The succession agreement Jonathan wrote didn't protect one child."
"It protected two."
Victor Ashcombe pressed a bandage against his wounded shoulder.
"I never knew."
Margaret looked at him.
"Of course you didn't."
"Jonathan trusted you."
"He didn't trust me."
Naomi stepped forward with her recorder still running.
"Start at the beginning."
Margaret looked directly into the microphone.
"Twenty-four years ago, Jonathan discovered that someone inside Harrington Commercial was stealing billions through offshore shell companies."
"He planned to expose everything."
"But before he could..."
"...his wife gave birth."
Khloe frowned.
"My mother only had me."
Margaret slowly shook her head.
"No."
"She gave birth to twins."
The room froze.
Khloe felt the blood drain from her face.
"No..."
"My mother died giving birth."
"That's what everyone told me."
Margaret nodded.
"One baby survived publicly."
"You."
"The second baby disappeared before sunrise."
Richard looked stunned.
"Who took the child?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"I did."
Vanessa covered her mouth.
"You kidnapped your own grandson?"
"My own granddaughter."
Margaret corrected quietly.
"I believed Jonathan would destroy everything our families had built."
"I convinced myself I was protecting the future."
Edward laughed bitterly.
"You've always been talented at justifying evil."
Margaret ignored him.
Gabriel stared at Margaret.
"If there was another child..."
"Where is she?"
Margaret answered without hesitation.
"I don't know."
Everyone looked at her.
"What?"
"I handed the baby to someone else."
"Someone Jonathan himself trusted."
Victor frowned.
"Who?"
Margaret whispered a single name.
"Eleanor Cole."
Khloe's heart skipped a beat.
"My aunt?"
"The woman everyone believed was dead?"
Margaret nodded.
"Eleanor vanished the same night Jonathan died."
"Everyone assumed she escaped with company records."
"They were wrong."
"She escaped with the second baby."
Richard immediately looked toward Victor.
"You knew Eleanor was alive."
Victor nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"But I never knew why she disappeared."
"I thought she was protecting Jonathan's evidence."
Gabriel whispered,
"She was protecting Jonathan's daughter."
Naomi quickly opened the recovered files from the archive.
"There has to be something."
She searched through adoption records.
Hospital reports.
Birth certificates.
Then...
One encrypted file unlocked automatically.
PATIENT B
The hospital delivery report appeared.
Mother: Sarah Cole
Delivery Time: 2:14 A.M.
Children Born:
Baby A – Female – Khloe
Baby B – Female – Classified
Khloe's knees nearly gave way.
She had spent twenty-three years believing she was an only child.
She wasn't.
Somewhere...
She had a twin sister.
Suddenly, Victor looked toward Margaret.
"Why reveal this now?"
Margaret's calm expression faded.
"Because I'm dying."
Silence.
She slowly pulled back the sleeve of her coat.
An electronic ankle monitor blinked beneath the fabric.
Richard frowned.
"What is that?"
Margaret sighed.
"It's not a tracker."
"It's a medical device."
She looked directly at Khloe.
"I have less than three months to live."
"The people I manipulated..."
"...have decided I'm no longer useful."
A loud alarm suddenly echoed throughout Harrington Manor.
Edward looked toward the security monitors.
Every screen flashed the same warning.
PERIMETER BREACHED
One of his operatives rushed into the nursery.
"Sir!"
"We've lost the east gate!"
Another guard burst in.
"The north wall has been breached too!"
Edward frowned.
"By who?"
The guard struggled to catch his breath.
"We don't know."
"They're wearing no insignia."
"No identification."
"They knew every security code."
Victor's face hardened.
"There is only one group capable of doing that."
Gabriel whispered,
"Eleanor."
The lights throughout the manor suddenly went out.
For three long seconds...
Darkness swallowed the room.
When the emergency lights returned...
Margaret Kensington was gone.
The nursery window stood open.
Rain poured inside.
On the windowsill lay only a single folded piece of paper.
Khloe opened it.
It contained just one sentence, written in Margaret's unmistakable handwriting.
May you like
If you want to meet your sister...
Come alone.
