Chapter 14 - Two Daughters
Giovanni chose the meeting place.
Closed Italian restaurant.
Public enough to discourage stupidity.
Private enough for men like Roman.
Hannah stood when I entered.
Long dark hair.
Same age.
Different face.
Yet something in the eyes made my chest hurt.
Neither of us spoke.
Giovanni placed DNA results on the table.
“Not definitive.”
Roman read them.
Strong sibling probability.
Hannah laughed nervously.
“This is insane.”
“Yes,” I said.
“That has become the normal answer.”
She had spent her entire life believing the woman dying in the hospital was her biological mother.
She wasn’t.
Her adoptive mother had known almost nothing.
Only that a nurse named Laura had arranged a private adoption.
Hannah looked at me.
“Laura Parker?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“She visited us once.”
“When?”
“I was six.”
My mother had seen my sister.
And returned home without telling me.
I didn’t know whether to feel betrayed or grateful.
Then Giovanni placed a sealed black folder down.
“Vincent left this with one of my people.”
Roman stiffened.
“What does he want?”
“Both women.”
Hannah laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
I liked her immediately.
Inside the folder was a deadline.
Midnight.
Location: old Callahan financial archive.
Bring Emily and Hannah.
In exchange: Vincent would release the remaining files and disappear.
Nobody believed him.
So we went differently.
Roman.
Giovanni.
Caleb.
Sebastian.
Federal agents Roman had secretly contacted hours earlier.
And two women Vincent had underestimated because he still believed inheritance made us valuable only as signatures.
Hannah and I entered together.
Vincent waited inside.
“You finally meet.”
Hannah stared at him.
“You kidnapped my sister’s baby.”
Vincent smiled.
“You sound disappointed I didn’t kidnap you.”
“I’m disappointed nobody punched you yet.”
Roman almost smiled from the shadows.
Vincent placed two documents on a table.
“Sign.”
I looked down.
Trust transfer.
Asset authority.
Archive control.
Hannah glanced at me.
Then tore hers in half.
Vincent’s smile disappeared.
I tore mine too.
“You stupid girls.”
“No,” I said.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You spent thirty years searching for Sebastian’s daughters.”
Hannah continued:
“And never asked what Sebastian’s daughters might do after finding you.”
Lights flooded the archive.
Federal agents entered.
Roman blocked one exit.
Giovanni blocked another.
Caleb stepped beside me.
Vincent did not panic.
That frightened me.
Instead, he laughed.
“You think this is my archive?”
Sebastian’s face changed.
Vincent held up a small remote.
“No.”
He pressed it.
Every monitor activated.
Live feeds appeared.
Banks.
Newsrooms.
Government offices.
Police departments.
Roman whispered:
“What did you do?”
Vincent smiled.
“I made sure the truth survives me.”
A countdown began.
Five minutes.
If it reached zero, every Callahan file would be released publicly.
Not just Vincent’s crimes.
Everyone’s.
Including Roman’s.
Including Sebastian’s.
Including one file labeled:
CALEB CALLAHAN — EMILY PARKER.
Caleb stared at it.
“What is that?”
May you like
Vincent laughed.
“The reason your love story was never an accident.”
