She Was a Doctor Who Became a Mail-Order Bride — The Cowboy Who Had No Idea What He Was Getting
Chapter 8
Clara wanted to run toward him.
Ethan stopped her.
“No.”
“My mother is alive.”
“It’s a trap.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Victor shouted again.
“Bring the girl!”
Clara looked at Ethan.
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“If she’s alive…”
“I’ll get her.”
“You don’t know where.”
“Neither do you.”
Victor disappeared into the trees.
The black truck drove away.
Clara turned to Ethan.
“We need a plan.”
They followed Victor’s vehicle to an abandoned mining town.
A church sat on the edge of the property.
Inside, they found a room.
Empty.
Only a scarf.
Clara recognized it.
Her mother’s.
A note lay beneath it.
You were always the key.
Ethan looked at the paper.
“This isn’t about the ranch anymore.”
Clara nodded.
“It’s about my mother.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Correct.”
Daniel Cross stepped forward.
Clara froze.
“You.”
He smiled.
“You finally understand.”
“You destroyed my career.”
“I protected the operation.”
“You poisoned patients.”
“Collateral damage.”
Ethan raised his gun.
Daniel laughed.
“You think you’re in control?”
“You’re surrounded.”
“By whom?”
Daniel pointed outside.
Dozens of vehicles.
Private security.
Victor’s men.
Clara’s heart sank.
Daniel looked at her.
“Your mother is alive.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Then let her go.”
“I will.”
“What do you want?”
“Your inheritance.”
Clara laughed.
“You don’t even know where it is.”
“I do.”
He pulled out an old map.
“The water rights are hidden beneath the original Walker Ranch.”
Ethan stared.
Daniel continued.
“Your father hid them.”
Clara understood.
Her biological father had expected Victor to come.
So he created a legal trust.
The land.
The water.
The rights.
All passed to his daughter.
Clara.
Daniel wanted access.
But he needed her.
She looked at Ethan.
He whispered:
“Don’t give him anything.”
Daniel smiled.
“You have forty-eight hours.”
“What happens then?”
“Your mother dies.”
He left.
Clara turned to Ethan.
“Forty-eight hours.”
“We’ll find her.”
“How?”
He looked around.
Then saw an old mining map.
A tunnel.
It led under the church.
They followed it.
At the end was a locked room.
Inside was a woman.
Older.
Weak.
Alive.
Clara gasped.
“Mom?”
The woman looked up.
“Clara?”
They ran toward each other.
Clara cried as she hugged her.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I wanted you to think that.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor was watching.”
Ethan stood nearby.
Clara introduced him.
Her mother looked at him.
“The cowboy.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“You knew about me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your father.”
She explained.
Joseph Walker and Henry Bennett had worked together.
The two families had created the trust.
They also created the marriage plan.
But there was one thing they hadn’t anticipated.
Clara and Ethan would actually fall in love.
Ethan stared.
“Wait.”
“You knew about the advertisement?”
“Yes.”
“Who arranged it?”
“Samuel Reed.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
His lawyer had betrayed him.
“He was working for Victor.”
Her mother nodded.
Clara looked at Ethan.
“You were used too.”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
For the first time, they understood.
Neither had chosen the other by accident.
But neither knew the other had been manipulated.
And yet something real had grown between them.
Her mother looked at them.
“Then there is one thing you must know.”
“What?”
“Victor isn’t the mastermind.”
Ethan frowned.
“Who is?”
She whispered:
“Samuel.”
