CHAPTER 9 The Sister Who Was Erased
Celeste refused to reveal her location.
She allowed Claire to speak with Noah for less than one minute before ending the call.
The police could not trace the signal.
Claire returned to the city and publicly announced that she was stepping down from temporary control of Ashford Crown.
It was a lie.
She hoped whoever held Noah would believe she had surrendered.
Behind closed doors, Claire created a small team consisting of Adrian, Samuel, and Naomi Reed, Daniel’s former executive assistant.
Naomi had disappeared from the company shortly after Daniel’s supposed death.
She returned carrying encrypted files Daniel had hidden with her.
“Daniel found Celeste three years ago,” Naomi explained. “She was working under another name as a financial investigator.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because Celeste asked him not to.”
Daniel believed Claire and Celeste had been separated intentionally.
Their biological mother had once worked for Charles Ashford, Daniel’s father.
Shortly after giving birth to twins, she disappeared.
One baby was adopted.
The other was raised inside a network of Ashford-funded institutions.
Celeste spent her entire childhood being told Claire had been chosen because she was more valuable.
“She grew up hating me,” Claire said.
“She grew up being trained to replace you,” Naomi answered.
Daniel’s files showed that Celeste had secretly appeared at company events wearing wigs and disguises. Several witnesses who claimed to have seen Claire entering restricted offices had actually seen Celeste.
That explained the evidence Victoria used to fire Claire.
But it did not explain Noah.
Naomi opened another file.
Before Daniel disappeared, he ordered DNA tests comparing Noah with every known member of the Ashford family.
The results were encrypted.
They needed Daniel’s private password.
Claire remembered a phrase he often whispered to Noah before bed.
The crown belongs to the one who refuses it.
The password worked.
The test results appeared.
Noah was not Daniel’s biological son.
He was not related to Claire.
But he was directly related to Charles Ashford.
Adrian stared at the numbers.
“This says Noah is my father’s son.”
Claire felt the room grow cold.
Charles Ashford had supposedly died twelve years before Noah was born.
“That is impossible.”
Naomi shook her head.
“No. It means the body buried twelve years ago may not have been Charles.”
A second document opened automatically.
It was a letter from Daniel.
Claire, Noah is not my child. He is my brother. My father is alive.
At that moment, every computer in the room shut down.
A voice came through the office speakers.
“Daniel always did love dramatic messages.”
An elderly man appeared on the security monitor.
Adrian went pale.
Claire had seen his portrait in every Ashford hotel.
Charles Ashford smiled at the camera.
“Bring me my son, Claire.”
Behind him, Noah sat quietly at a table.
May you like
Celeste stood beside the child.
And Victoria was tied to a chair.
