Chapter 9 - THE NAME ON THE BIRTH CERTIFICATEMaria had grown accustomed to shocking revelations.
“No.”
Maria held up the phone.
“He has Teresa.”
“We involve the FBI.”
“The message says if he sees police—”
“He’s already facing murder conspiracy charges. You think giving him what he wants makes him merciful?”
Maria knew Richard was right.
She also knew Teresa had protected her for twelve years.
“I’m going.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
“He said alone.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“I lost Elena because she tried to face Victor alone. I am not repeating that mistake.”
The words silenced Maria.
Marcus proposed a compromise.
Maria would go to Pier 19 visibly alone.
Agents would remain outside the immediate perimeter.
A tracking device would be hidden in the document case.
The “originals” would actually be high-quality duplicates.
At eleven fifty-five, Maria stepped into the abandoned warehouse.
Her footsteps echoed.
“Victor?”
A light switched on.
Teresa sat beneath it.
Her hands were tied.
Victor stood behind her.
He held a gun.
Maria stopped.
“Let her go.”
Victor smiled.
“You really do sound like your mother.”
“Stop talking about her.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“You know, Elena could have lived.”
Maria forced herself not to react.
“She only needed to hand over the ledger.”
“You mean the evidence that you were stealing from your father?”
Victor chuckled.
“You think this was about money?”
“What else?”
“Legacy.”
Victor stepped closer.
“My father spent his entire life telling me I would inherit everything. Then Richard came along.”
Maria frowned.
“Richard was younger.”
“He was weaker.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“And still my father loved him more.”
Maria realized something.
All Victor’s violence had grown from resentment.
“You hated him.”
“I understood him.”
“No. You envied him.”
Victor’s face changed.
Maria had found the wound.
“Richard didn’t want the company,” Victor said.
“He wanted Elena.”
“And she loved him instead of you.”
Victor went still.
Teresa looked sharply at Maria.
Maria understood.
“Oh my God.”
Victor’s silence answered.
“You wanted my mother.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“I offered her everything.”
“And she chose Richard.”
“He would have destroyed her.”
“No. You did.”
Victor’s expression twisted.
“She made me look like a fool.”
“So you punished her for rejecting you.”
Victor raised the gun slightly.
“Careful.”
Maria held out the case.
“You want the documents?”
“Yes.”
“Let Teresa go.”
“First the case.”
Maria placed it on the floor.
Victor kicked it toward himself.
He opened it.
His eyes scanned the papers.
Then he looked up.
“Copies.”
Maria’s blood chilled.
“You thought I wouldn’t notice?”
He aimed at her.
Teresa screamed.
Before Victor could fire, the warehouse windows exploded inward.
Marcus’s team entered.
Victor grabbed Teresa and dragged her toward a side door.
Maria ran after them.
“Victor!”
He fired behind him.
Maria ducked.
Richard appeared through another entrance.
“Maria!”
Victor reached the pier.
A speedboat waited.
He shoved Teresa aboard.
Maria followed.
Victor grabbed her wrist.
“Get in!”
Richard reached the edge.
“Let her go!”
Victor pressed the gun against Maria.
“You always get everything, don’t you?”
Richard stopped.
Victor’s face was wild now.
“The company. Elena. Now her.”
Richard slowly raised his hands.
“You can have the company.”
Victor stared.
“What?”
“I’ll sign it over.”
Maria looked at Richard.
“Don’t.”
Richard ignored her.
“You want Hale Global? Take it.”
Victor laughed.
“You think this is still about the company?”
“No.”
Richard’s voice softened.
“It’s about spending your whole life believing nobody chose you.”
Victor’s expression flickered.
Richard continued.
“Father didn’t choose you. Elena didn’t choose you. And now the board won’t choose you.”
Victor’s hand tightened around the gun.
“You always thought you were better.”
“No.”
Richard took one step forward.
“I thought you were my brother.”
For a second, Victor looked almost human.
Then police sirens approached.
His face hardened.
“You brought them.”
Richard shook his head.
“They were already coming.”
Victor shoved Maria toward the boat.
Teresa suddenly slammed her shoulder into him.
The gun fired.
Maria screamed.
Victor lost balance.
The weapon fell onto the dock.
Richard rushed forward.
Marcus tackled Victor.
Teresa collapsed.
Maria dropped beside her.
“Teresa!”
Blood stained Teresa’s side.
“No, no, no.”
Teresa opened her eyes.
“Maria…”
“You’re going to be okay.”
Teresa smiled weakly.
“You sound like Elena.”
An ambulance arrived minutes later.
Teresa was rushed into surgery.
Victor was arrested.
This time there were no private jets.
No powerful attorneys capable of making evidence disappear.
Federal agents had recorded his kidnapping and attempted murder.
Price had agreed to testify.
Kessler was located in Panama and detained.
The case that Elena Santos had tried to expose twenty-eight years earlier finally broke open.
But Maria did not feel victorious.
She sat in the hospital waiting room beside Richard.
“Do you think she’ll live?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
Richard looked at her.
“But I need to believe it.”
Hours later, the surgeon arrived.
“She made it.”
Maria closed her eyes.
Richard exhaled.
Teresa would recover.
Victor, however, had one more move.
The following morning, Richard’s attorney entered carrying several documents.
“We have a problem.”
Maria frowned.
“What?”
“Victor filed an emergency challenge against your inheritance before he was arrested.”
“So?”
“He claims the DNA evidence was obtained illegally.”
Richard looked at Maria.
“It was.”
The attorney nodded.
“And without admissible DNA proof, Victor argues Maria cannot establish biological descent.”
Maria stared.
“Then take another test.”
“There’s another complication.”
“What?”
The attorney opened a folder.
“Victor produced a birth certificate.”
Maria looked at it.
Her mother’s name was listed correctly.
But the father named on the document was not Richard Hale.
It was Thomas Bell.
Maria stared at the dead accountant’s name.
Richard whispered, “That’s impossible.”
The attorney looked grim.
“Victor is claiming Thomas Bell was Maria’s biological father.”
May you like
Maria turned toward Richard.
For the first time since this began, Richard looked uncertain.
