A Billionaire Heiress Walked Into My Clinic and Gave Me 3 Days to Marry Her… Then I Discovered Why
Chapter 9
The hospital had been abandoned for years.
Ethan entered through the emergency entrance.
Dust covered the floors.
Old equipment remained behind.
His phone showed no signal.
“Charlotte?”
Nothing.
He walked through the corridors.
Then he heard voices.
Richard Vale.
And Charlotte.
They were inside the old records room.
Vale held a gun.
Charlotte stood against the wall.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Vale said.
Ethan stepped inside.
“Let her go.”
Vale smiled.
“Michael’s son.”
“You knew my father.”
“Better than you ever did.”
“What happened to him?”
Vale’s face hardened.
“He betrayed us.”
“He tried to expose you.”
“He tried to destroy everything.”
“Because you were stealing.”
Vale laughed.
“Money?”
He shook his head.
“Money was never the point.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then what?”
“Control.”
Vale explained that Alexander Whitmore had built an empire large enough to influence banks, politicians, hospitals, and real estate markets.
The board wanted control.
Alexander refused.
Michael helped him create the trust.
That was when Vale decided they had to die.
Charlotte stared at him.
“You killed my father.”
“Your father chose his fate.”
“You poisoned Michael.”
“Michael chose his.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
Vale raised the gun.
“Your father died protecting you.”
Ethan stopped.
Vale smiled.
“That’s the part you never understood.”
“What?”
“Michael knew we were watching you.”
He pointed at Charlotte.
“Your father knew too.”
“So why did they let us grow up?”
“Because they believed someday you would meet.”
Ethan looked at Charlotte.
Vale continued:
“They thought their children could finish what they started.”
Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears.
“And you were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“Of us?”
“Of the trust.”
Vale pulled out a document.
“Sign over your shares.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“No.”
“Then Ethan dies.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Charlotte.”
She looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not signing.”
Vale aimed the gun.
Suddenly, the lights came on.
Police surrounded the room.
Vale turned.
Ethan smiled.
“You talk too much.”
Vale stared.
“How?”
“The hospital cameras still worked.”
Charlotte had secretly activated Ethan’s phone recorder before they entered.
Everything had been captured.
Vale dropped the gun.
Officers arrested him.
For the first time in eighteen years, Ethan felt like his father’s killer was finally going to face justice.
But there was still one problem.
The trust.
Charlotte’s birthday was tomorrow.
They returned to the mansion.
Her lawyers confirmed that the trust would activate at midnight.
But there was another clause.
If Charlotte’s husband voluntarily renounced his claim, the trust would dissolve.
Ethan looked at her.
“Then I should renounce it.”
Charlotte stared.
“What?”
“I don’t want your company.”
“I know.”
“Then this is easy.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust isn’t just about the company.”
“What else?”
She handed him a final document.
It contained Michael Carter’s signature.
And Alexander Whitmore’s.
At the bottom:
If Ethan Carter chooses to remain beside Charlotte after discovering the truth, he becomes permanent co-trustee.
Ethan looked at her.
“That’s your father’s condition.”
Charlotte nodded.
“Only if you choose me.”
