Chapter 20 - THE HEIR
Grace couldn't breathe.
The DNA report remained on the screen.
Richard Morgan.
Noah's biological father.
Daniel wasn't his father.
The entire family had been built on a lie.
But something didn't make sense.
Grace looked at her grandfather.
"You're lying."
He smiled.
"Prove it."
Michael grabbed the document.
"DNA reports can be forged."
The grandfather laughed.
"That's why I arranged for an independent laboratory."
Grace looked at Richard.
"Is it true?"
Richard shook his head.
"I don't know."
Elena suddenly stepped forward.
"I do."
Everyone turned.
Elena's face was devastated.
"Richard wasn't Noah's father."
Grace stared.
"Then why does the report say he is?"
Elena looked at her.
"Because someone changed the sample."
Michael froze.
"Whose sample?"
Elena whispered:
"Daniel's."
Grace's heart stopped.
The grandfather's smile disappeared.
Elena continued.
"Your grandfather has one weakness."
She looked toward the camera.
"He thinks he's smarter than everyone."
Then Elena pulled a small device from her coat.
A transmitter.
Michael's eyes widened.
"You've been recording him."
Elena nodded.
"For twenty-one years."
The mansion doors suddenly opened.
Federal agents stormed inside.
Grace grabbed Noah and held him.
Her grandfather attempted to flee.
Richard blocked the staircase.
For the first time, the old man looked afraid.
"You can't arrest me."
An agent approached.
"We have enough evidence."
The grandfather stared at Grace.
"You think this is over?"
Grace held Noah tighter.
"No."
She looked at him.
"It's over for you."
He smiled.
"You still don't understand what your family built."
Grace stepped closer.
"I understand enough."
He whispered:
"Your grandfather wasn't the beginning."
Grace froze.
"What?"
He smiled.
"There is someone above me."
The room went silent.
Michael looked at the agents.
Richard whispered:
"Who?"
The grandfather laughed.
Then he was taken away.
Outside, dawn was breaking.
Grace carried Noah into the sunlight.
Daniel stood several feet away.
He looked broken.
Grace approached him.
"I'm sorry."
Daniel shook his head.
"Don't."
He looked at Noah.
"He's still my son."
Grace nodded.
"You were there."
Daniel's eyes filled.
"I don't care what the DNA says."
Grace smiled sadly.
"You saved him."
Daniel looked at her.
"For the first time, I did something right."
Richard approached.
Grace looked at him.
"You lied to me."
"I know."
"You disappeared."
"I know."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I know."
Grace looked at Noah.
"Never again."
Richard nodded.
"Never again."
Then Michael's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
Grace noticed.
"What?"
Michael slowly lowered the phone.
"We identified the person your grandfather mentioned."
"Who?"
Michael looked at Grace.
"It's someone you know."
"Who?"
He handed her the phone.
A photograph appeared.
Grace stared.
Her blood ran cold.
The man in the photograph was standing beside her grandfather.
Beside Victor.
Beside Richard.
And beside Elena.
But he was much younger.
Grace recognized him immediately.
It was the man who had raised Daniel after his father died.
Daniel's uncle.
Thomas Vance.
Grace looked toward Daniel.
Daniel saw the photograph.
His face went completely white.
"That's impossible."
Michael whispered:
"He's been dead for fourteen years."
Grace looked at the photograph again.
The timestamp appeared beneath it.
TAKEN THREE WEEKS AGO.
Then her phone vibrated.
One new message.
No number.
Only one sentence:
YOU FOUND THE MORGAN SECRET. NOW FIND OUT WHO REALLY OWNS THE VANCE FAMILY.
Grace looked at Noah.
The boy was sleeping peacefully against her shoulder.
Behind them, the sun rose over the city.
But Grace knew the truth now.
Season one had been about escaping her husband's betrayal.
Season two had been about discovering her family's lies.
And the next war would be bigger.
Because the enemy was no longer hiding behind Daniel.
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He was hiding behind the entire Vance dynasty.
And somewhere in America, a man who had officially been dead for fourteen years was preparing to come home.
