THE BILLIONAIRE TRIED TO FIRE HER—THEN DISCOVERED HER SHOCKING SECRET
Chapter 6
The next morning, Emma and Adrian met in a private office.
Neither knew what to call their relationship.
Brother and sister sounded strange.
But the DNA result was undeniable.
Adrian looked at her.
“I don’t know where to start.”
Emma smiled faintly.
“Neither do I.”
They began with Laura Carter.
Her medical records.
Employment history.
Old addresses.
Friends.
Everything.
One name kept appearing.
Margaret Blackwell.
Adrian’s mother.
Emma stared at the record.
“My mother had contact with her?”
“Apparently.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
They found old letters between the women.
Most were ordinary.
Until the final one.
Laura had written:
I can’t let him take my daughter.
Margaret replied:
I will help you hide her.
Emma’s eyes filled.
“Hide me?”
Adrian read the letter again.
“From whom?”
The answer was in another letter.
Richard.
Emma shook her head.
“So he knew.”
“Yes.”
“Did my father know?”
Adrian looked away.
“Probably.”
Emma stood.
“Then why did nobody tell me?”
“Maybe your mother wanted you safe.”
Emma wiped her eyes.
“I would have wanted the truth.”
Adrian nodded.
“I know.”
He paused.
“I would too.”
They continued.
Richard had discovered Laura was pregnant.
He had threatened her.
He believed Adrian’s father was planning to leave the family fortune to both children.
Richard didn’t want that.
So he manipulated the legal records.
Emma was given her mother’s surname.
Her birth certificate was altered.
And a trust was created without her knowledge.
A secret trust.
For Emma.
Adrian stared at the document.
“My father protected you.”
Emma looked at him.
“Why didn’t he find me?”
“He tried.”
A letter explained everything.
Richard had intercepted his attempts.
By the time Adrian’s father realized what had happened, Laura had already moved away.
Then another document appeared.
A financial statement.
The secret trust contained $35 million.
Emma stared.
“I don’t want this.”
Adrian nodded.
“I know.”
“Then why was it created?”
“To protect you.”
She closed the file.
“I don’t care about the money.”
“I know.”
“Then why do I feel angry?”
“Because they made decisions about your life without telling you.”
Emma looked at him.
That was exactly it.
She wasn’t angry about being rich.
She was angry because her identity had been stolen.
Then Adrian found something else.
A recent transfer from the secret trust.
The money had been moved six weeks earlier.
“Who moved it?”
Emma looked at the authorization.
Richard Blackwell.
Adrian froze.
“He’s alive.”
“Apparently.”
Richard had used the hidden trust to finance the shell companies.
Emma’s trust.
Her money.
Her identity.
He had turned the secret designed to protect her into part of his criminal operation.
Adrian stood.
“We have to find him.”
Emma nodded.
But before they could move, Adrian’s assistant rushed into the office.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone leaked the audit.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“To the press?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
His phone began ringing.
News alerts appeared.
BLACKWELL HOLDINGS ACCUSED OF MASSIVE INTERNAL FRAUD.
INVESTIGATION INVOLVES BILLIONAIRE CEO’S MYSTERIOUS SISTER.
Emma stared at the screen.
“Mysterious sister?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Someone leaked everything.”
“Who knew?”
“Only us.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
“No.”
“What?”
“Someone else knows.”
She opened the leaked article.
At the bottom was a quote.
The source claimed Emma Carter had manipulated financial records for personal gain.
Adrian stared.
“They’re framing you.”
Emma’s heart raced.
“Why?”
Adrian looked at the evidence.
Because whoever was behind the fraud didn’t just want the money.
They wanted Emma destroyed.
