Chapter 10 - EMILY
Arthur didn’t sleep.
At sunrise, he was still sitting in Claire’s room staring at the name.
Emily Rose Montgomery.
Maya brought him coffee.
He didn’t touch it.
“You’re going to make yourself sick.”
“I have a daughter.”
“You have a name on a document.”
Arthur looked up sharply.
She held his gaze.
“That’s not the same thing yet.”
He exhaled.
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
That almost made him smile.
David traced the beneficiary record.
Emily Rose had been born in another state.
Mother listed as Claire Montgomery.
Father blank.
Arthur’s stomach dropped.
“Claire had another child?”
David shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
The birth record was sealed.
Serena obtained access through the investigation.
By afternoon, they had the answer.
Emily was Claire’s niece.
Claire’s younger sister, Rebecca, had died from an overdose shortly after giving birth.
Claire quietly became Emily’s legal guardian.
Arthur stared at Serena.
“Why would she hide that from me?”
“Family shame. Protection. I don’t know.”
Arthur looked hurt.
Maya said gently, “You said Claire’s family was complicated.”
“That’s not complicated. That’s a whole child.”
Emily had been raised by a foster family under another surname.
Claire had paid for everything through a private account.
School.
Medical bills.
College savings.
Arthur leaned back.
“She was protecting her niece.”
David nodded.
“And added her as contingent beneficiary.”
Maya understood the deeper problem.
“Does Richard know Emily exists?”
David’s expression turned grim.
“If he saw the original trust, yes.”
Arthur stood immediately.
“Find her.”
Serena already had.
Emily Rose Carter was seventeen years old.
She lived forty miles away.
When police reached the house, the front door was open.
Nobody answered.
Arthur’s stomach dropped.
They searched every room.
No Emily.
Her foster mother was found unconscious in the kitchen but alive.
A cloth with sedative residue lay nearby.
Arthur went cold.
“He got to her.”
Serena found a note taped to the refrigerator.
A phone number.
Arthur called.
Richard answered on the second ring.
“Arthur.”
His voice was calm.
Almost friendly.
Arthur’s hand tightened.
“Where is she?”
“So you finally found Claire’s little insurance policy.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I’m tired of that sentence.”
“Then give her back.”
Richard laughed quietly.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What else would it be?”
“Claire.”
Arthur went still.
Richard continued.
“She spent her final year trying to destroy everything we built.”
“You killed her.”
“She chose to get in the car.”
Maya saw Arthur’s face change and stepped closer.
Richard continued.
“Bring me the original trust documents.”
“Where?”
“I’ll tell you.”
“And Emily?”
“She stays alive if you stop acting like a billionaire and start acting like an uncle.”
Arthur’s jaw clenched.
“You’re not getting away.”
“I already did.”
The line went dead.
Serena began tracing.
Maya looked at Arthur.
“You’re not going alone.”
Arthur didn’t argue this time.
He simply looked at her.
“You really don’t know when to leave, do you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Emily was tied to a chair inside what looked like an abandoned restaurant kitchen.
Behind her was an old neon sign.
Maya stared at it.
“I know that place.”
Arthur turned.
“How?”
“I worked there twelve years ago.”
She pointed at the sign.
“Riverside Diner.”
Arthur grabbed his coat.
Maya stopped him.
“There’s one problem.”
“What?”
“The diner burned down eight years ago.”
Arthur frowned.
Maya looked at the photo again.
May you like
“But the basement survived.”
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