Chapter 9 - The empty hotel room
I grabbed Louisa.
Police evacuated the floor.
There was no fire.
Someone had manually triggered the alarm.
While guests crowded downstairs, somebody entered my room.
Nothing valuable was taken.
Only Louisa's toothbrush.
DNA.
Again.
But this time police had surveillance.
The intruder wore hotel maintenance clothing.
His face appeared for three seconds.
Elmer recognized him.
“That's Dad's driver.”
Walter was arrested for questioning.
He denied everything.
Then Adrian Whitmore arrived in Columbus.
Seeing him beside Louisa was unsettling.
Not because they looked identical.
They didn't.
But certain expressions…
The way both tilted their heads when confused.
The small crease between their eyebrows.
I hated noticing.
Adrian didn't approach Louisa.
He asked permission.
That earned something from me.
We conducted a legal DNA test.
Probability of paternity:
99.99%.
Adrian cried.
Quietly.
Then he said:
“I don't want to take her from you.”
“She already has a mother.”
“I know.”
“And she already believes Elmer is her father.”
“I know.”
For the first time, nobody seemed interested in possessing my child.
Then Adrian revealed why Walter was terrified.
Harrison Whitmore's will contained a dormant inheritance clause.
If a biological grandchild existed, certain intellectual-property holdings transferred down the bloodline.
Those holdings were now worth approximately $86 million.
Walter had spent decades profiting from assets that might legally belong elsewhere.
Louisa's existence could reopen everything.
But I wasn't interested in $86 million.
I wanted justice for what they did to my daughter.
Then Heather called.
“Joanna, Lydia knows Walter was arrested.”
“So?”
“She found the backup drive.”
May you like
“What backup drive?”
“The one with the recording from the night Harrison Whitmore died.”
