Chapter 13 - The Ghost of the Vance Family
Daniel felt the air leave his lungs in a cold rush.
His stepmother, Rebecca Vance, had vanished after his father's sudden death a decade earlier.
The police had presumed her drowned after her rental vehicle was found near the coastal cliffs.
There had never been a body.
Only an empty bank account, an unresolved will, and years of bitter silence that had scarred Daniel’s early adulthood.
"Rebecca is alive?" Daniel asked, his voice shaking with a dangerous mixture of confusion and fury.
Julian wiped cold sweat from his forehead with a trembling silk handkerchief.
"She never died, Daniel."
"She used a forged passport to relocate to Montreal, then returned under an alias five years ago."
"Diane was Rebecca’s younger sister."
The realization hit Daniel like a physical blow to the chest.
Diane’s maiden name was Miller, but Daniel had never checked Rebecca’s distant family tree.
He had met Vanessa at an art gallery benefit, introduced by Julian himself.
The entire relationship had been an orchestrated trap from the very beginning.
Vanessa wasn't just an ambitious gold digger with a cruel streak.
She was Rebecca’s daughter.
She was Daniel’s stepsister.
Daniel took two steps back, his stomach churning with pure disgust.
Every smile Vanessa had given him, every calculated step into his home, every fake kiss on Mason's cheek had been premeditated vengeance.
"They blamed your father for disinheriting Rebecca," Julian said, his voice barely audible.
"When your father died, his entire estate bypassed Rebecca and went directly into trust for your late wife Emily and your future children."
"Rebecca lived in bitter exile for ten years, watching you live in that house."
"She orchestrated Vanessa's marriage to you."
"The plan was simple: get Vanessa into your life, eliminate the child legally through conservatorship, and claim the ancestral trust."
Daniel stared at Julian with an icy disgust that silenced the trembling lawyer.
"And Emily?" Daniel whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying realization.
"Did Emily die of heart failure, Julian?"
Julian lowered his head into his hands and began to weep softly.
"I don't know, Daniel."
"I swear to God, I wasn't involved when Emily passed away."
"I only handled the financial restructuring after her funeral."
"You are going to call the state prosecutor right now," Daniel commanded.
"You are going to confess to every wire transfer, every fraudulent document, and every conversation you had with Diane and Rebecca."
"If you run, Julian, I will make sure you spend the rest of your life in federal prison."
Julian reached for his desk phone with shaking hands.
Daniel turned on his heel and strouded out of the office, his phone already dialing Caroline’s number.
The phone rang three times before Caroline answered.
Her breath was ragged, and in the background, Daniel could hear Mason crying hysterically.
"Daniel!" Caroline screamed into the receiver.
"Caroline! What’s happening? Where are you?"
"We were at the community center parking lot!" Caroline sobbed.
"A dark sedan blocked my car!"
"A woman got out... she tried to open Mason's door!"
"Did she take him? Caroline, answer me!" Daniel yelled, sprint-running toward the elevators.
"No! I reversed through the curb and got away!"
"We’re inside the 4th Precinct police station right now!"
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"Daniel... the woman was holding an old framed photo of you as a boy."
"She looked right into Mason’s eyes and said, 'Tell your father Rebecca has come home.'"
