Millionaire Sees Twin Girls standing beside His Son’s Grave, Their Secret Leaves Him Speechless
Chapter 3
Daniel moved the girls before sunset.
His security team took them to a private guesthouse outside the city, a property he rarely used.
For the first time in years, Daniel was grateful for the paranoia that had once annoyed his employees.
The girls sat in the back seat between two security officers.
Neither spoke.
Daniel watched them through the rearview mirror.
Nora held the brass key.
Elise held the paper crane.
He still hadn’t figured out what 317 meant.
When they arrived, Daniel dismissed everyone except Marcus Hale, his oldest security adviser.
Marcus had worked for the Mercer family for twenty-seven years.
If Daniel trusted anyone, it was him.
“Lock the gates,” Daniel said.
“They already are.”
“Double-check.”
Marcus nodded.
After the girls were settled in the living room, Daniel placed the envelope on the table.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Ethan’s death.”
Marcus frowned.
“You’ve already read the report.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you asking?”
“Was it an accident?”
Marcus hesitated.
That hesitation answered more than words could.
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“Marcus.”
“I was never completely comfortable with the report.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were grieving.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Marcus sighed.
“The brake system had been inspected two weeks before the crash.”
Daniel stared at him.
“And?”
“And there was no mechanical failure.”
“Then why did the police say he lost control?”
“They believed the road conditions were enough.”
Daniel stood.
“Did you?”
“No.”
The room became silent.
“What did you find?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Three days before the accident, Ethan asked me to investigate someone.”
“Who?”
“A woman named Claire Bell.”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Bell?”
Marcus nodded.
“She had worked briefly for one of Ethan’s charitable foundations.”
Daniel looked toward the twins.
Their last name was Bell.
“Was she their mother?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel walked to the window.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
Not enough to form a picture.
But enough to prove there was something hidden.
“Find everything on Claire Bell.”
Marcus immediately took out his phone.
“Already did.”
Daniel turned.
Marcus handed him a folder.
“Claire Bell disappeared six months before Ethan died.”
“Disappeared?”
“She left her apartment, abandoned her job, emptied her bank account. No confirmed sightings afterward.”
Daniel opened the folder.
There was one photograph.
A young woman with dark hair and tired eyes.
She looked vaguely familiar.
Not to Daniel.
To Ethan.
Daniel remembered his son mentioning someone named Claire once.
He had dismissed it as another employee.
“Why was Ethan investigating her?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Because he discovered she had contacted your wife.”
Daniel’s hand froze.
“Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Before she died?”
“Six weeks before.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
Margaret had been ill at the time.
Daniel remembered her becoming unusually secretive.
He had assumed she was frightened about her health.
Now he wondered if she had been frightened about something else.
He turned toward the twins.
Nora was staring at the photograph.
Her face had gone pale.
“You know her.”
Nora nodded.
“She’s our mother.”
Daniel felt as if the floor had shifted beneath him.
Marcus looked stunned.
Daniel slowly lowered the photograph.
“Where is she?”
Nora’s eyes filled with tears.
“We don’t know.”
Elise whispered, “Ethan was trying to find her.”
Daniel stared at the girls.
Then at the photograph.
Then at the note from his dead son.
Suddenly the mystery became much larger than Ethan’s death.
It involved Margaret.
It involved Claire.
It involved these children.
And somehow, it involved Daniel’s own family.
