"HE THOUGHT HE WAS SAVING AN ORPHAN BABY... UNTIL HE READ HIS FATHER'S SECRET WILL!"

The wind whipped rain across the tarmac, freezing as it hit the ground. Noah’s faint cries were eaten by the roar of the idling jet engines.

Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, his hands trembling on the detonator. Beside him, Helen kept her rifle trained on Julian’s chest, her finger white on the trigger.

"You're insane, Julian!" Daniel shouted. "He's an infant! Drop him, and you destroy the only genetic match you have left!"

"If I die of leukemia, Daniel, this entire bloodline dies with me!" Julian screamed back, his hair soaked, eyes wild with mania. "You were always the weak one! The legitimate son who hid behind daddy's money while I did the dirty work! I built Whitaker Global! I bought the judges, I buried the bodies, I spent my life making us untouchable!"

"And you framed my mother!" Annie’s voice screamed out as she pushed open the SUV door, stepping into the freezing rain. "You ruined our lives!"

Julian laughed—a high, shrill sound. "Your mother was a willing pawn, little girl! She took fifty million dollars to go to prison!"

"She took fifty million dollars to keep YOU from killing me!" Helen shouted, stepping forward, her gun never swaying. "Tell him the truth, Julian! Tell Daniel why Arthur really created this baby!"

Daniel froze, glancing sideways at Helen. "What truth?"

Helen didn't lower her weapon. "Arthur didn't create Noah to save Julian. Arthur found out five years ago that Julian wasn't his biological son! Julian was the product of your mother’s affair with the French ambassador!"

The revelation hung in the freezing air like a lethal blade.

Julian’s smile vanished instantly. His face turned pale, his grip on the baby slipping slightly. "Lie... That's a lie!"

"Check the genetic registries in Geneva, Julian!" Helen shouted. "Arthur cut you out of the secret trust completely! This baby isn't your savior—he is the sole heir to the entire $10 billion Whitaker estate! You aren't a Whitaker at all!"

"NO!" Julian shrieked.

In his moment of blind rage, Julian’s foot slipped on the icy metal stairs. He lost his balance, tumbling backward down the wet stairs.

Noah slipped from his grip, flying into the open air above the tarmac.