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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
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Three:Someone Saw Him Leave
St. Mary's looked different at night. The old building had been renovated twice since Benedict was a child, but parts of the original structure remained untouched — the narrow corridor near the records office, the old chapel, the rear entrance, and Room Seven.Benedict stood outside with Serena and Jonathan."Where do we start?" Serena asked."The witness."Jonathan checked his tablet. "We don't have a name.""We have a description.""That isn't much.""It was enough for someone to send us here.""You really believe the message came from someone helping us?""No." Benedict looked toward the dark windows. "I believe they want us to find something.""That isn't the same thing.""No."He opened the old photograph from the Mercer facility on his phone. It showed the rear corridor of St. Mary's on the night Benedict disappeared — a woman carrying a child, her face hidden, a second figure standing farther down the corridor. The image had been taken from a security camera. Benedict enlarged
Chapter One-Hundred and Forty Two: A Name From Before
For several seconds, nobody moved. Benedict looked at the signature again. M. Cole. Martin Cole — the same man who had later become Damian's guardian, whose records had surfaced during Damian's investigation, whose documents had referred to a replacement heir. And now his name had appeared in a hidden compartment inside the Ashcroft family study. Twenty-six years ago. Before Benedict disappeared. Before Damian was ever brought into the Ashcroft succession story.Benedict slowly looked at Victor. "You're certain?"Victor nodded. "I've seen Martin's handwriting.""Where?""My father kept correspondence from his advisers." He took the paper and studied the signature. "It's his."Jonathan looked troubled. "Then Martin knew about the child."Victor didn't answer. Benedict did. "He knew about me."The words felt different spoken aloud."You don't know that," Victor said."His signature is on an instruction about a child who hadn't even been born yet.""That doesn't mean he knew who the chil
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