Claire looked at him.
“Or she did.”
They returned to the city with the documents.
Eleanor was waiting at the mansion when Nathan arrived.
He placed the will on her desk.
“Did you know about this?”
She examined it.
Her hands began to tremble.
“Where did you find it?”
“In the blue house.”
Eleanor looked at Claire.
“Margaret's house?”
“Our house,” Claire corrected gently. “My father bought it for us.”
Eleanor lowered her eyes.
For several minutes, she studied the document.
Then she began to cry.
“I knew Edward had changed the will. I never knew he had signed another one.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone about the money?” Nathan asked.
“Because I didn't know it existed.”
Claire looked at her.
“Did you know my father was investigating him?”
Eleanor nodded slowly.
“Daniel came to me shortly before his accident. He said Father had been stealing from the family trust. He wanted me to help him.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Because I believed that exposing Edward would destroy the company. I thought I could persuade him to correct everything privately.”
Claire's voice became cold.
“And while you were protecting the company, my father died.”
Eleanor did not defend herself.
“Yes.”
The room fell silent.
Then Eleanor reached into a drawer and removed a photograph.
It showed Edward Whitmore standing beside a woman Claire had never seen.
The woman was holding a little boy.
Eleanor placed the photograph on the desk.
“There's something else you need to know.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Your grandfather had another child.”
Nathan stared.
“That's impossible.”
“He was born before Daniel. His mother was a woman named Patricia Lawson.”
Claire remembered the name from the financial records.
“The personal assistant?”
Eleanor nodded.
“Patricia worked for my father for many years. She had a son, but Edward refused to acknowledge him publicly. He paid her to leave the country.”
Nathan sat down.
“Who was the boy?”
Eleanor looked at him.
“His name was Samuel.”
Claire immediately understood.
The man who had visited Margaret's Place.
Samuel Whitmore.
The cousin who had brought Daniel's letter.
But if Samuel was Edward's biological son, then he was not merely a distant relative.
He was another rightful heir.
And he might know far more than he had admitted.
Nathan reached for his telephone.
He called Samuel immediately.
The call rang several times before being answered.
“Hello?”
“Samuel, it's Nathan. We need to talk.”
There was a pause.
“I wondered when you would discover the truth.”
Nathan looked at Claire.
“What truth?”
Samuel sighed.
“Your grandfather didn't simply hide the inheritance. He divided it between his children and then created false records to make it appear that Daniel was the only legitimate heir.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because I was trying to protect my mother.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“Your mother is Patricia Lawson?”
“Yes.”
Samuel explained that his mother had raised him alone after Edward refused to acknowledge him. She had received occasional financial payments, but she had never been allowed to use the Whitmore name.
When Samuel discovered his father's identity, he tried to claim his rights.
But Edward's lawyers threatened him.
Samuel eventually withdrew his claim.
Years later, when he learned about Daniel's death, he began investigating.
He discovered the hidden will and the blue house, but he had never been able to access the property.
“I didn't know Margaret had raised Claire,” he explained. “I only knew that Daniel had left something for his daughter.”
Nathan was silent.
Then he asked the question that had been troubling him.
“Did you know my grandfather was responsible for the accident?”
Samuel did not answer immediately.
“I cannot prove it.”
“Do you believe it?”
“Yes.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
The family secret was larger than anyone had imagined.
It involved an illegitimate son, a stolen inheritance, falsified documents, and a suspicious accident.
And now all the evidence pointed toward one person.
Edward Whitmore.
A man who had been dead for more than twenty years.
The following weeks became a difficult period for everyone.
Their attorney launched an investigation into the financial records. Several former employees were interviewed. Old company documents were recovered from storage.
Patricia Lawson, now in her eighties, agreed to provide a statement.
She confirmed that Edward had secretly acknowledged Samuel as his son in a private agreement.
She also revealed that Edward had feared Daniel would expose the financial misconduct.
But the investigation uncovered something even more disturbing.
The driver involved in Daniel's accident had received money from an account connected to Edward's private company.