I couldn't move.
The sentence seemed impossible.
“My biological father?”
Evelyn nodded.
Richard looked at her sharply.
“You never told me that.”
“You never asked.”
“I asked about her family history.”
“And I lied.”
Claire stared at Evelyn.
“You lied to all of us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“Because your father wanted you alive.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a medical report.
The paper was old, but the hospital stamp remained visible.
I read the patient's name.
My father's.
The date was the day before his death.
There were handwritten notes in the margin.
Richard leaned closer.
“What does it say?”
I read silently.
Then I handed it to him.
His face tightened.
“Sedative.”
“What?”
“Your father had traces of a sedative in his blood.”
Claire stepped closer.
“He was poisoned?”
“Not necessarily.”
Richard turned the page.
“There was also evidence of physical trauma.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe he died naturally.”
“Yes.”
“For six years.”
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me go numb.
“Why?”
She looked toward the doorway.
“Because Martin told me if I spoke, you would disappear.”
Claire's voice shook.
“Disappear where?”
“Somewhere nobody could find her.”
I looked at Richard.
“Who was my biological father?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Daniel Mercer.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
Richard sat down.
“My father knew?”
“He found out before you were adopted.”
I shook my head.
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because Daniel didn't know you existed.”
“Why?”
“Your biological mother never told him.”
“Why not?”
Evelyn looked at the floor.
“Because she was afraid of him.”
I remembered Daniel's face.
His smile.
His calm voice.
The way he had walked into the lake house as though he owned the place.
My stomach turned.
“He knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“He knew me?”
“No.”
“Then why was he looking for me?”
“Because he eventually discovered your father had protected someone.”
Richard stood.
“Where is your biological mother now?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You sent her money.”
“Yes.”
“Through which account?”
“An account Martin controlled.”
Richard looked at me.
“That means Martin knows where she is.”
I held the medical report.
“And Daniel?”
“He knows too.”
I thought about the photograph in the office.
My father and my biological mother together.
They had been planning something.
Maybe a future.
Maybe protection.
Maybe justice.
“What happened the night Dad died?”
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“Your father confronted Daniel.”
“About the money?”
“About you.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel had discovered your mother had a child.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“He wanted to know where you were.”
“And Dad refused.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel threatened him.”
“And you?”
“I was there.”
“Whose side were you on?”
She hesitated.
“Your father's.”
I didn't believe her.
She saw it.
“I wasn't brave enough to stop them.”
“What did you do?”
“I called Martin.”
“Why?”
“Because Martin had always handled problems for us.”
Richard's face hardened.
“You called the man who later altered the medical report.”
“Yes.”
“And what did he do?”
“He came to the house.”
“Then?”
“Your father was still alive.”
I felt my hands tremble.
“He was alive when Martin arrived?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Evelyn began crying.
“I don't know everything.”
“You were there.”
“I left.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel told me to.”
“Where did you go?”
“To the study.”
My father's study.
I remembered the locked door.
The safe.
The hidden documents.
Everything.
“What did you hear?”
“Your father arguing with Martin.”
“About what?”
“About the medical report.”
I stared at her.
“He knew Martin planned to change it.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“A struggle.”
“Between them?”
“Yes.”
“Did Dad fall?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He hit his head.”
“And he died?”
“No.”
I stopped breathing.
“He was still alive.”
Richard whispered, “What happened next?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Martin gave him another injection.”
Claire covered her mouth.
I felt dizzy.
“Why?”
“To make it look like a cardiac event.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“That would explain the report.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“You watched.”
She shook her head.
“I was outside the room.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I was terrified.”
“So was Dad.”
She looked at me.
“I know.”
The front door opened.
We all turned.
Daniel stood there.
He was holding a gun.
Nobody moved.
Richard slowly raised his hands.
“Daniel.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Give me the card.”
I felt the memory card against my chest.
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“I understand enough.”
“You don't.”
“You murdered my father.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Your father stole from me.”
“He recovered stolen money.”
“He destroyed everything.”
“He protected me.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Do you know who your father really was?”
“Yes.”
“He lied to you.”
“He told me you were involved.”
Daniel laughed.
“Your father used your adoption to control Evelyn.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel continued.
“He knew your biological mother was my daughter.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“What?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Your mother was my daughter.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“That's impossible.”
Evelyn whispered:
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“Your mother was my daughter.”
Richard looked stunned.
I felt the room tilt.
My biological father was Daniel.
My biological mother was his daughter.
That meant—
I stopped.
Daniel's expression told me he knew exactly what I had realized.
He lowered the weapon slightly.
“Your father found out.”
Richard's voice was quiet.
“That would make you her grandfather.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Yes.”
I couldn't speak.
The family tree I had known was collapsing.
Daniel wasn't merely my biological father.
He was my grandfather.
My biological father was someone else.
Someone connected to Daniel's organization.
Someone my father had been protecting me from.
Daniel smiled.
“You finally understand.”
“No.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She was crying.
“Then tell me.”
Evelyn whispered the truth.
“Your biological father was Martin Voss.”
The silence was absolute.
Richard stared at her.
Daniel looked furious.
I felt nothing.
Then everything.
Martin Voss.
The lawyer.
The man who changed my father's medical report.
The man who had been searching for the evidence.
My biological father.
And suddenly the final pieces aligned.
My father's voice.
The hidden records.
The money.
The adoption.
The reason Martin had always been close to the family.
He hadn't been protecting Evelyn.
He had been protecting himself.
Daniel raised the weapon again.
“Give me the card.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He stepped forward.
Then sirens sounded outside.
Daniel turned toward the windows.
Richard smiled faintly.
“I called them before we came inside.”
Daniel looked at me.
“This isn't over.”
“No,” I said.
“It isn't.”
He lowered the gun.
Police entered through the front door.
Daniel dropped the weapon.
As they arrested him, Evelyn sank into a chair.
I looked at the medical report.
Then at the stairs leading toward my father's study.
For six years, I had believed I lost my father to illness.
Now I knew I had lost him to a conspiracy.
And the man who had helped hide the truth was still free.
Martin Voss.
My biological father.
Click here to continue reading: PART 11: The Man Who Altered My Father’s Death Certificate Was Also My Biological Father, and He Finally Came Back to Claim What He Thought Was His
I Came Home From Fourteen Months Overseas to Discover My Family Had Turned My Lake House Into Their Private Kingdom
Part 10 of 12
