Billionaire Pretends to Be Homeless, But the Poor Girl Knows His Biggest Secret
Chapter 4
Lily couldn’t sleep.
Neither could Alexander.
They sat on opposite sides of her tiny apartment while the city outside fell silent.
“You remember me,” Lily said.
Alexander nodded.
“Not clearly.”
“But enough.”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“You knew me when we were children.”
“I did.”
“How?”
“Our parents knew each other.”
“That’s not the whole story.”
“No.”
He didn’t deny it.
That made her more upset.
“What was I doing at your house?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Then think.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
He tried.
A summer afternoon.
His father’s study.
A storm.
A little girl holding a photograph.
His mother arguing with someone.
And his father saying:
Keep her away from the company.
He opened his eyes.
“Your mother brought you there.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
“She gave my father something.”
“What?”
“I don’t remember.”
Lily looked down.
“My mother never talked about your family except to tell me to stay away.”
Alexander understood.
That warning had been deliberate.
Someone had known the truth was dangerous.
His phone rang.
Thomas.
Alexander answered.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“You’ve been gone for weeks.”
“I needed space.”
“You’re investigating the foundation.”
Alexander said nothing.
Thomas continued.
“Come back.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
Thomas paused.
Then quietly said,
“Stay away from the Carter girl.”
Alexander’s body went still.
“How do you know about her?”
Silence.
Then Thomas said,
“She is dangerous.”
The call ended.
Lily looked at him.
“That was your uncle.”
“Yes.”
“He knows about me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Alexander stood.
“Because your mother wasn’t just investigating my company.”
“What was she investigating?”
“My family.”
Lily frowned.
“Why would she investigate your family?”
“Because my father asked her to.”
That answer stunned both of them.
Richard Reed had secretly suspected someone inside his own family.
He had brought Margaret in because he didn’t trust his executives.
Then Richard died.
Margaret died.
And everyone assumed the investigation had disappeared with them.
But someone had kept the evidence.
Lily.
Alexander looked at her.
“Your mother may have trusted you with something without ever telling you.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
She remembered the old wooden box.
“The stories.”
“What stories?”
“My mother used to tell me one strange story over and over.”
“About what?”
“A house with a black door.”
Alexander’s face changed.
“That house belonged to my father.”
Lily looked at him.
“How would my mother know it?”
“We need to find it.”
The old Reed estate stood outside the city.
Nobody had lived there since Alexander’s mother died.
The house was enormous.
Abandoned.
Windows covered.
Gardens overgrown.
They entered through the back.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Lily walked slowly through the hallway.
“This feels familiar.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“I think so.”
She stopped beside a wall.
There was a faded height chart.
Several names.
Alexander.
Thomas.
And one line that had been scratched away.
Lily touched it.
“I remember standing here.”
Alexander stared.
“You were here.”
She nodded.
Then she walked toward an old study.
The door was locked.
Alexander found a key beneath a loose floorboard.
Inside was a desk.
An old piano.
Photographs.
And a large painting of Richard and Evelyn Reed.
Lily stared.
“My mother is in this.”
She pointed to the corner.
Margaret stood behind them.
But something was strange.
She was holding a baby.
Lily frowned.
“That isn’t me.”
Alexander stepped closer.
The photograph beneath the painting showed Margaret holding an infant.
On the back was written:
For the Carter child. Keep him hidden until the Reed boy is ready.
Lily looked at Alexander.
“Who is him?”
Alexander shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
A noise came from upstairs.
Both froze.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside the house.
Alexander moved Lily behind him.
The footsteps stopped.
Then a man’s voice came from the hall.
“You should have listened to your uncle.”
Alexander recognized it.
Victor Grant.
The chairman’s personal security chief.
He stepped into the doorway.
Gun in hand.
“Give me the ledger.”
Alexander stared.
“You’ve been following us.”
Victor smiled.
“For a long time.”
Lily whispered,
“Why me?”
Victor looked at her.
“Because your mother knew the secret.”
“What secret?”
He smiled.
“The secret your family has spent twenty years trying to keep from you.”
