CHAPTER 3: THE FAMILY SECRET
Julian stared at the photograph.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
His own uncle.
Richard Hale.
The man who helped raise him after his father died.
The man who always told him:
“Family is everything.”
Had been secretly working with Bianca.
Julian drove straight to Richard’s office.
He didn’t knock.
He walked in.
Richard looked surprised.
“Julian?”
Julian threw the file onto the desk.
“Why?”
Richard looked at the papers.
Then sighed.
“So you found out.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“You planned to kill my mother.”
Richard shook his head.
“Don’t make it dramatic.”
“Dramatic?”
Julian stepped closer.
“You tried to steal her home.”
Richard leaned back.
“That house should have been mine.”
Julian stared.
“What?”
Richard smiled.
“Your grandfather promised me everything.”
“But he changed the will.”
“Yes.”
“And he left everything to my mother.”
Richard’s expression turned bitter.
“She always got everything.”
Julian finally understood.
This was never about Bianca.
It was about greed.
Richard had found someone willing to destroy Martha.
And Bianca was the perfect weapon.
But there was one thing Richard didn’t know.
Martha had been listening.
She stood outside the door.
And heard everything.
That night, Martha revealed a secret she had hidden for thirty years.
A secret about Julian’s father.
A secret that could destroy Richard completely.
“There’s something you need to know about the night your father died.”
Julian looked at her.
“What?”
Martha held an old envelope.
“Your father didn’t die in an accident.”
Julian opened it.
Inside was a letter.
A letter written the day before his father’s death.
And one sentence changed everything.
“If anything happens to me, Richard Hale is responsible.”
Julian looked up.
His world shattered.
May you like
Because the person who wanted his mother dead…
Had already taken someone from his family before.
