Chapter 11: The Secret Heir
468 Words
"He's my—"
The word hung in the air.
Alexander's phone rang. He ignored it. "Evangeline, your father isn't just a witness. Thomas Shaw is the illegitimate son of Lord Edward Westwood."
My knees almost gave out. "Lord Edward... your grandfather?"
"My father," Alexander said quietly. "Edward Westwood is my father. Which means..."
"Thomas Shaw is your half-brother," I finished. The room was spinning. "And that makes me..."
"My niece." His voice was hollow. "By blood. Not by law. I didn't know until 3 years ago. When I dug into your father's case."
The phone rang again. He answered. His face went white. "When? Where?" He hung up. "Moriarty found your father. He's in St. Thomas Hospital. Car accident. Or so they say."
My heart stopped. "Dad!"
We ran.
At the hospital, Thomas Shaw was in ICU. Machines beeping. Bandages everywhere.
A nurse stopped us. "Family only."
"He's my father," I said.
"And he's my brother," Alexander said. The nurse let us through.
Dad's eyes opened when he heard Alexander's voice. He looked at me, then at him. Recognition. Fear.
"Alex," Dad whispered. "You told her?"
"I had to," Alexander said. He took Dad's hand. "I'm sorry, Thomas. For everything. For the debt. For the 3 years you spent thinking no one believed you. I believe you now."
Dad started crying. "She looks like her mother. Like Margaret. Your... our mother."
Margaret. The woman Lord Edward had an affair with. My grandmother.
So Alexander and my dad had the same mother. Different fathers.
"He knows," Dad told me. "Moriarty knows about the will. Lord Edward died last month. He left everything to his 'firstborn son'. That's not Alexander. That's me."
The Westwood fortune. 500 million pounds. It was supposed to go to Thomas Shaw. Alexander's half-brother. My dad.
"Victoria works for Moriarty," Alexander said. "She married me to get close to the will. When I refused to divorce you, she activated Clause 7.2 to force me out. If I'm fired, she becomes Head of Department. She controls the Westwood Trust at the university."
"And if you're dead," I whispered, "Thomas inherits. And Moriarty can force him to sign it over."
Alexander nodded. "That's why they want me gone. And why they tried to kill your father today."
A doctor walked in. "Mr. Westwood? There's a problem with your father's room. The oxygen... it was tampered with."
Someone just tried to murder my dad. Again.
Alexander pulled me close. "We're not safe. Not here. Not anywhere."
His phone buzzed. A text from unknown number:
One year to produce an heir, Professor. Or the girl dies. And the old man dies slower.
Victoria.
She wants a baby to lock Alexander into the Westwood family. So she can control the heir. Comment "NEXT" for Chapter 12 🔥 The Pregnancy Trap!
- Writer
