Chapter 5: The Enemy Inside the Family
Chapter 5: The Enemy Inside the Family
The missing medical records changed everything.
Until that moment, Amelia believed the truth was finally coming out.
She believed the evidence hidden inside the apartment would expose the people responsible.
She believed the hardest part was over.
She was wrong.
Someone was still protecting the secret.
And they were close enough to know every move they were making.
Daniel Reeves looked around the office.
“Who knew we were searching for the medical records?”
Nobody answered.
The question itself was terrifying.
Because only a small number of people had known.
The investigators.
The attorneys.
Amelia.
Nathan.
And Victoria.
Victoria crossed her arms.
“This is exactly why I told you to stop digging into the past.”
Nathan immediately turned toward her.
“You knew?”
Victoria’s eyes shifted.
“I knew there were old records.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
His voice became colder.
“Did you know someone was hiding them?”
Victoria didn’t respond.
And once again, her silence spoke louder than words.
Nathan stared at the woman who raised him.
“How much have you lied to me?”
Victoria looked hurt.
“You don’t understand what I did to protect you.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Protect me?”
He pointed at the missing records.
“You changed my identity.”
Victoria’s expression tightened.
“I gave you a life.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You gave me a story.”
The words hit her.
Because they were true.
Victoria had spent decades building a world around Nathan.
A world where he was the perfect Grant heir.
The future leader of the family empire.
The son who would carry the Grant name forever.
But now Nathan wondered if any of it had ever been real.
The investigators searched every corner of the mansion.
Security footage.
Office files.
Employee records.
Anything that could reveal who had entered the medical archive.
After several hours, one of the investigators returned.
“We found something.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“The person who accessed the archive.”
Everyone became silent.
“Who was it?” Amelia asked.
The investigator placed a printed image on the table.
A security camera still.
A person entering the archive late at night.
The image was slightly blurry.
But the face was recognizable.
Nathan stared.
“No…”
Amelia looked at him.
“You know him?”
Nathan slowly nodded.
“That’s Marcus.”
“Who is Marcus?” Daniel asked.
Nathan swallowed.
“My father’s former attorney.”
Victoria’s face changed.
“Impossible.”
The investigator looked at her.
“Why?”
Because Victoria knew.
She knew exactly who Marcus was.
Marcus Hale had been part of the Grant family for over thirty years.
He handled legal documents.
Business contracts.
Private agreements.
He was the person everyone trusted when something needed to disappear.
Nathan had always considered him family.
A mentor.
A man who gave him advice.
A man who helped him become the businessman he was today.
But now that same man was caught accessing hidden records.
“Where is he?” Daniel asked.
The investigator checked the information.
“He left the country this morning.”
Nathan’s expression darkened.
“He ran.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Amelia looked at the evidence.
“He knew we would find the records.”
Daniel agreed.
“Which means he wasn’t working alone.”
Everyone looked toward Victoria.
She immediately became defensive.
“Don’t look at me.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Then tell us who.”
Victoria looked away.
And for the first time, Amelia saw something unexpected.
Regret.
Not enough to excuse what she had done.
But enough to reveal that Victoria’s actions came from somewhere deeper.
A secret.
A fear.
Something she had been protecting.
That evening, Amelia returned to the riverfront apartment.
She needed answers.
The apartment felt different now.
Before, it was just her mother’s home.
A place filled with memories.
Now it felt like a message.
Every object.
Every painting.
Every old book.
Everything seemed placed there for a reason.
She walked toward the wall where she found the flash drive.
The old painting was still leaning against the corner.
She touched the frame.
Her mother had hidden something here.
But why?
Why leave evidence behind instead of revealing the truth herself?
Then Amelia noticed something.
A small mark carved into the wooden frame.
A symbol.
She had seen it before.
On her mother’s old jewelry box.
A symbol of two intertwined circles.
She opened a drawer and found the jewelry box.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Only four words.
"Look beneath the foundation."
Amelia froze.
Beneath the foundation?
The apartment building?
Impossible.
Then she remembered.
The trust documents.
The hidden wall.
The old records.
Her mother hadn’t hidden one secret.
She had hidden layers.
Amelia immediately called Daniel.
“I found something.”
An hour later, Daniel arrived with investigators.
They examined the area beneath the old section of the apartment.
After several minutes, one investigator discovered a loose section of flooring.
They carefully removed it.
Inside was a small metal container.
Everyone gathered around.
Amelia opened it.
Inside were documents.
But not financial records.
Something else.
Photographs.
Letters.
And a handwritten journal.
Daniel picked up the first page.
“This is your mother’s.”
Amelia nodded.
Her heart raced.
The journal began twenty years earlier.
The first sentence made her stop breathing.
"I finally discovered why Nathan was brought into the Grant family."
Nathan, who had followed them to the apartment, stepped forward.
“What?”
Amelia slowly handed him the journal.
He read the page.
His face changed.
"Victoria did not adopt Nathan out of kindness. She adopted him because he was the key to controlling the trust."
Nathan looked up.
“No.”
Daniel continued reading.
"Nathan is the rightful heir to a portion of the Escalante-Grant estate. Victoria knew this and changed the records to control his inheritance."
Nathan’s hands shook.
His entire life had been built around manipulation.
But there was more.
The next page revealed something even more shocking.
"The person who helped Victoria change Nathan’s identity was not Marcus Hale."
Everyone stopped.
Nathan looked confused.
“Then who?”
Amelia turned the page.
The answer was written clearly.
A name.
A name nobody expected.
Daniel read it aloud.
“Richard Grant.”
Nathan froze.
“Who is Richard Grant?”
Victoria’s face became completely pale.
Because she knew.
She knew exactly who Richard was.
Amelia looked at her.
“Who?”
Victoria slowly sat down.
And for the first time…
She looked defeated.
“Richard was Nathan’s real father.”
Silence.
Nathan stared.
“My real father?”
Victoria nodded.
“But he wasn’t supposed to be part of this family.”
The room went cold.
Because another secret had just been uncovered.
Nathan’s identity wasn’t stolen because of money alone.
It was stolen because someone wanted to erase a person from history.
And that person was connected to the very foundation of the Grant empire.
Before anyone could ask another question, Amelia’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Stop searching.”
Amelia froze.
“Who is this?”
The voice continued.
“You found the first secret.”
A pause.
“But you haven’t found the one that will destroy you.”
The call ended.
Nathan looked at her.
“What did they say?”
Amelia slowly lowered the phone.
She looked at the people around her.
At the hidden documents.
At the secrets her mother died protecting.
Then she whispered:
“They’re afraid.”
Daniel asked:
“Of what?”
Amelia looked at the journal.
“Of what my mother discovered next.”
And somewhere in the city…
Someone who had hidden the truth for decades realized one thing:
Amelia Grant was no longer searching for answers.
May you like
She was coming for them.
To be continued…
