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Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Nine: What Damian Refused to Say
The courtroom doors opened just as Benedict reached them. Victor entered first, Eleanor following. Damian was already inside, standing beside his lawyer, staring at the documents arranged across the table.Benedict slowed as he entered. This was no longer an investigation. This was a fight over his name.A judge sat at the far end of the room. Across from the Ashcroft legal team sat two representatives of Mercer Strategic Holdings. Benedict recognized one of them. Arthur Bell. He had expected Arthur to remain a witness. Instead, he was sitting with the opposing counsel.Benedict's eyes narrowed. Arthur noticed. For a moment, guilt crossed his face. Then it disappeared.The judge looked toward Benedict. "Mr. Vandross, take your seat."Benedict sat beside Victor, Serena and Jonathan remaining behind them. The judge lifted a document. "We are here because questions have been raised concerning the historical succession of Ashcroft Group and the identity of the person currently claiming an
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Eight: A Test They Could Control
Benedict read the laboratory authorization for a second time. Yesterday. That was the part he couldn't ignore. The old documents had carried the same initial, but this signature was recent. Someone had deliberately copied the past into the present.Jonathan stood beside him. "I've already started checking Northbridge Clinical Genetics.""And?""They exist.""But?""They've been operating for nine years.""So they're legitimate.""Legitimate company. That's different from legitimate involvement."Serena nodded. "Who owns it?"Jonathan hesitated. "A private investment group.""Name?""North Vale Medical Holdings."Benedict's expression hardened. "North Vale again." The same network had appeared in the old payment records. Not proof of the person behind anything. But enough to make coincidence difficult to believe.Victor took the document from Benedict. "Can they legally order a test like this?""The court can require biological evidence. But the laboratory has to be independently verif
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Six:Before the Hearing
Benedict didn't go alone. Evelyn's message had specifically asked him to come alone, which was precisely why he had no intention of following the instruction.Serena sat beside him in the car. Jonathan followed several minutes behind. Neither knew where Evelyn wanted to meet — her first message had given them only one instruction.Come to the old conservatory at Ashcroft Foundation. 10:30 p.m.Benedict checked the time. 10:17."We have thirteen minutes," Serena said."For the meeting?""For the hearing." She nodded toward his phone. "Victor said less than six hours. You should be preparing for court.""I am.""By chasing Evelyn?""By finding out why someone is trying to put my identity before a court."Serena watched him a moment. "And if the answer is worse than we expect?"Benedict looked through the windshield. "Then I'd rather know before someone else tells the story for me."The old conservatory stood at the rear of the Foundation
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Seven:Bloodline Under Question
The Ashcroft Foundation had never felt so crowded. By the time Benedict arrived, lawyers, trustees, security officers, and senior executives were moving through the building with barely concealed urgency. The succession hearing was no longer a private dispute. It had become a threat to the entire Ashcroft Group.Jonathan stepped out of the car behind Benedict. "Victor's legal team is already upstairs."Benedict nodded. "And Damian?""Arrived ten minutes ago."Serena looked at him. "Have you spoken to him?""No.""Maybe you should.""I will."They had barely entered the lobby when Victor appeared, looking exhausted. For once, the chairman of Ashcroft Group didn't look like a man in control of the situation."Benedict." His eyes moved to Evelyn, and his expression changed. "You brought her?""She was there the night I disappeared."Victor stared at Evelyn. "You knew?""I knew the child survived," Evelyn replied.Victor's jaw tightene
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Five: M-17
By the time Benedict reached M-17, the sky over Aurelia City had begun to darken. The old medical transfer station stood beyond an abandoned industrial district, hidden behind a rusted metal fence.Jonathan checked the coordinates again. "This is it."Serena looked through the windshield. "It doesn't look like a medical facility.""It hasn't been one for twenty-six years," Jonathan replied.Benedict opened the car door. "Then let's see what survived."They crossed the overgrown yard. The building was small compared with the Mercer properties they'd already discovered — one floor, four rooms, a loading entrance at the back. No sign, no company name, nothing that suggested it had once handled private medical transfers.Jonathan found the original door. The lock had been replaced. Recently. Benedict noticed the new screws."Someone still uses this place.""Or someone doesn't want anyone else using it," Serena said.Jonathan took out his tools. Before
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Four:Seventeen Minutes
Blackwood Farm had been abandoned for almost twenty years. Jonathan confirmed it before they reached the property."Last registered owner was a farming company," he said, looking at his tablet. "The company dissolved twenty-two years ago.""Who owned it before that?""Private trust.""Name?"Jonathan hesitated. "Mercer Family Trust."Benedict looked out through the windshield. "So Mercer House wasn't the beginning.""No.""It was already part of the network."Serena folded her arms. "Then why would they move a child there for seventeen minutes?""That," Benedict said, "is what we're going to find out."The farmhouse stood beyond a narrow dirt road surrounded by overgrown fields. No lights, no workers, no sign anyone had lived there recently. But the gate was unlocked. Benedict noticed that immediately."Someone has been here."Jonathan stopped. "How can you tell?""The lock." It looked old, but the metal around the keyhole was clean. Recently touched.Serena looked toward the farmhous
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