Chapter 4 - THE TWISTED BLOODLINEThe door to the hospital’s private consultation room was locked from the inside. Present were Judge Miller, Dr. Harrison, Emily, Julian, Victoria, and two court-appointed bailiffs.
The room was heavy with tension. Julian paced back and forth near the door like a caged animal, while Victoria chewed her fingernails into bloody stubs.
Dr. Harrison plugged the military-grade drive into a secure terminal.
A high-encryption screen popped up, prompting a password. Emily stepped forward and typed the same adoption date: 10-14-2016.
ACCESS GRANTED.
A single video file appeared on the screen, dated three weeks prior. Dr. Harrison clicked play.
The face of Arthur Vance filled the high-definition monitor. He looked frail, his cheeks sunken, but his eyes were blazing with a sharp, terrifying intensity.
"If this recording is being played," Arthur’s recorded voice echoed through the small room, "it means I am either dead or incapacitated, and my adopted daughter Emily has successfully retrieved this drive. Emily, my dear... if you are watching this, I am so sorry for bringing you into this storm."
Victoria let out a small whimper. Julian slammed his fist against the wall. "This is a setup! It's forged!"
"Silence, Mr. Vance!" Judge Miller commanded.
The Arthur on the screen took a deep breath and continued speaking:
"For six months, I have noticed small amounts of arsenic and synthetic paralytics in my evening tea. I didn't need a detective to know who was putting it there. It was my children—Julian and Victoria."
Judge Miller turned to stare directly at the siblings. Julian’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"They believe they are killing me to inherit my sixty-billion-dollar empire," Arthur’s video persona continued, a cold, bitter smile touching his lips. "They believe they are entitled to it because they carry my blood. But today... I am revealing the truth that I have kept hidden for thirty years."
Arthur pulled a yellowed document up to the camera.
"Julian and Victoria are NOT my biological children."
The room went dead silent. Even the rain outside seemed to pause.
Emily gasped, turning to look at Julian and Victoria.
"What?" Victoria screamed, her voice cracking. "That's a lie! That's a sick, twisted lie!"
"Thirty-two years ago," Arthur’s recorded voice explained calmly, "my late wife Eleanor and I discovered we were both completely infertile. Desperate for an heir to keep our corporate board happy, Eleanor orchestrated an illegal, private adoption through an underground ring in Eastern Europe. You, Julian, and you, Victoria, were bought from a criminal syndicate."
Arthur paused on screen, leaning closer to the lens.
"I raised you as my own. I gave you everything. But as you grew, so did the darkness in your real bloodline. Three years ago, I ran a DNA check against international criminal databases to trace your true lineage. And what I found terrified me."
Arthur held up a second document—a Red Notice from Interpol.
"You are the biological children of Victor Vance—my estranged, ruthless half-brother who died in a federal prison twenty years ago for mass fraud and murder. You were planted in my home by Eleanor before she died, to ensure Victor’s bloodline would eventually take control of my empire."
May you like
Victoria sank to her knees on the linoleum floor, sobbing hysterically. Julian stood frozen, his eyes bloodshot, his jaw trembling.
"You are not my heirs," Arthur Vance’s recorded voice delivered the final, devastating blow. "You are the children of a monster. And effective three weeks ago, every cent of my wealth, my property, and my corporate stock has been transferred into an irrevocable trust... managed solely by my true daughter, Emily."
