CHAPTER 5 — "The Letter Exposed a Hidden Heir... And Turned the Ashford Empire Into a Battlefield."
Richard was waiting anxiously when Emily returned.
She placed the opened envelope on the table.
"I didn't open it."
"It was already opened."
Richard carefully unfolded the yellow paper.
Sarah's handwriting filled every page.
She described the day she discovered she was pregnant.
She described waiting outside Richard's office for hours...
Never knowing he had never received a single message.
She described giving birth alone.
Working two jobs.
Skipping meals so Emily could eat.
Richard wept openly.
Then...
The final paragraph changed everything.
"Richard... if you're reading this, it means Emily finally found you.
But there is something even I don't fully understand.
The night your father forced me to leave, I overheard him telling someone that Ashford Global had another rightful heir.
He said the first-born child would never inherit because the truth could never become public.
If anything happens to me... don't stop searching.
Someone inside your own family knows exactly what he meant."
Richard slowly lowered the letter.
"What first-born child?"
Edward suddenly came to mind.
He immediately ordered the family archives to be opened.
For two straight days, investigators searched birth certificates, adoption records, wills, and hospital documents.
Nothing.
Until Walter remembered something.
"There was always one locked room your father never allowed anyone inside."
The room had remained untouched since the old man's death.
When they finally forced the heavy oak door open...
Dust covered everything.
Old paintings.
Ledgers.
Boxes stacked to the ceiling.
Inside a rusted safe...
They discovered birth records.
Adoption agreements.
Medical reports.
And one tiny hospital bracelet.
Richard stared at the name.
Not Edward.
Not himself.
The bracelet belonged to...
A baby girl born two years before Richard.
Status:
Stillborn.
Except...
Walter suddenly noticed something.
"There are two different signatures."
One declared the child dead.
The second authorized a private transfer.
Richard felt his heart race.
"The baby wasn't dead..."
Walter nodded slowly.
"No..."
"Someone took her."
At that exact moment...
Every security alarm inside Ashford Manor began screaming.
Someone had broken into the archive room.
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And they weren't looking for money.
They were looking for the missing birth records.
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