Billionaire Pretends to Be Homeless, But the Poor Girl Knows His Biggest Secret
Chapter 5
Victor didn’t attack.
That frightened Alexander more.
Men who wanted to kill usually didn’t talk.
Men who wanted something did.
“Where is the ledger?” Victor asked.
Alexander kept his gun lowered.
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to Reed Holdings.”
“It belongs to Lily.”
Victor smiled.
“You believe that?”
Lily stepped forward.
“My mother left it.”
Victor looked at her.
“Your mother stole it.”
“She investigated corruption.”
“She betrayed her employer.”
Alexander’s voice sharpened.
“Enough.”
Victor’s eyes moved toward him.
“You have no idea what your father did.”
“Tell me.”
“I don’t have time.”
Victor looked at his watch.
“Neither do you.”
He turned and walked away.
Alexander expected gunfire.
It didn’t come.
The front door slammed.
Silence.
Lily exhaled.
“Why did he leave?”
“Because this wasn’t about the ledger.”
“What was it about?”
Alexander looked at the photograph.
“The baby.”
They searched the house.
In the nursery, Lily found a hidden panel.
Inside was a diary.
Margaret’s diary.
The first pages contained ordinary notes.
Expenses.
Meetings.
Names.
Then, twenty years earlier, the entries changed.
Richard believes Thomas is stealing from the company.
Evelyn says someone has been following me.
I gave Lily to the woman for one night because I had no choice.
Lily froze.
“What woman?”
They turned the page.
She promised to keep her safe.
Another.
The baby cannot remain with the Carter family.
Lily’s hands trembled.
“Baby?”
Alexander read the next entry.
Richard’s second child must disappear.
They looked at each other.
“Your father had another child,” Lily whispered.
Alexander shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“Maybe not.”
A final note had been written in red ink.
Thomas knows.
Lily looked up.
“Your uncle.”
Alexander stared at the diary.
Then his phone rang.
A private number.
He answered.
A woman’s voice whispered,
“Alexander.”
His heart stopped.
He knew that voice.
His mother.
“You’re alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas is listening.”
Alexander’s face hardened.
“Tell me the truth.”
Silence.
Then:
“The Carter girl is not who you think.”
Lily moved closer.
“What does that mean?”
His mother continued.
“Your father left a child.”
Alexander felt dizzy.
“What child?”
The woman whispered,
“Lily.”
The line went dead.
Silence.
Lily stared at him.
“What did she say?”
He didn’t answer.
“What did she say?”
Alexander looked at her.
“She said you were the child.”
Lily’s face went blank.
“What?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You think I’m Richard Reed’s daughter?”
“I don’t know.”
“My mother was Margaret Carter.”
“She could have raised you.”
“You’re saying my whole life is a lie?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
He reached for her.
She stepped away.
“Don’t.”
“I need to verify it.”
“Of course you do.”
She wiped her eyes.
“You always need proof.”
“Lily.”
“I thought you cared about me.”
“I do.”
“Then stop investigating me like I’m another file.”
The words hit him.
He lowered his hand.
“I never meant to hurt you.”
She looked at him.
“Maybe that’s the problem.”
That night, Lily left the estate alone.
Alexander watched her disappear down the road.
Then he saw someone standing in the trees.
His mother.
He ran.
“Mom!”
She turned.
She was older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably Evelyn Reed.
“Tell me everything.”
“I can’t.”
“You told me Lily might be my sister.”
“No.”
Alexander stopped.
“What?”
Evelyn looked toward the house.
“Lily is not your sister.”
“Then who is she?”
His mother whispered,
“She is the daughter of the man who destroyed our family.”
