I couldn't speak.
Noah and Lily.
Their names were written beneath Eduardo Castillo's signature.
Dawson took the document from my hands.
He read it carefully.
Then again.
“Is this genuine?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“How did you get it?”
“My adoptive father kept a copy.”
“Why?”
“Because Eduardo gave it to him.”
I stared at Daniel.
“Why would Eduardo leave anything to my children?”
Daniel's expression was complicated.
“Because he knew what Adrian would become.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Eduardo believed Adrian would eventually destroy the family.”
Dawson shook his head.
“That doesn't explain the children.”
Daniel reached for another document.
“This does.”
It was a letter from Eduardo to a private attorney.
He had written it shortly before his death.
He explained that Adrian had been raised under a false assumption of inheritance.
He knew Margaret's marriage to him had been built on a secret.
He knew Adrian was not his biological son.
And he knew Margaret had hidden Daniel.
But Eduardo also wrote something else.
He had learned that Margaret planned to remove Adrian from the estate entirely.
Instead, he wanted to protect the children Adrian had with me.
Because they were the only descendants whose legal position could still be established independently.
I looked at Dawson.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Eduardo may have anticipated the current dispute.”
Daniel nodded.
“He wanted the inheritance separated from Adrian.”
“But why my children?”
“Because they are his grandchildren by law.”
I shook my head.
“That's not enough.”
“No,” Daniel said. “It isn't.”
He opened another file.
Inside were DNA records.
My breath stopped.
“Whose are these?”
“Adrian's.”
“And?”
“Eduardo's.”
Dawson examined them.
“They don't match.”
“I know.”
“But we already knew Adrian wasn't Eduardo's biological son.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Look at the second comparison.”
Dawson turned the page.
The name was Noah Castillo.
The results showed a biological relationship.
I stared.
“What?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Noah is biologically related to Eduardo.”
My mind raced.
“That can't be.”
“It can.”
“But Adrian isn't his son.”
“Exactly.”
I looked at Lily's record.
She matched too.
Both children were biological descendants of Eduardo's bloodline.
Dawson sat back.
“Then Adrian's father must have been related to Eduardo.”
Daniel nodded.
“His younger brother.”
I stared.
“Eduardo had a brother?”
“He did.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“When?”
“Before Adrian was born.”
The pieces shifted again.
Gabriel spoke quietly.
“I knew Eduardo had a brother.”
Everyone looked at him.
“He left the family after a dispute.”
“What was his name?”
“Thomas.”
Daniel nodded.
“Thomas Castillo.”
Dawson looked at the records.
“Then Adrian was Thomas's son.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
That explained the inheritance condition.
Adrian wasn't unrelated to the Castillo bloodline.
He simply wasn't Eduardo's son.
That distinction mattered.
Eduardo's father had left the fortune to descendants of his bloodline, not necessarily Eduardo's direct children.
Adrian qualified.
So did Noah and Lily.
But then why had Eduardo switched the records?
Daniel answered.
“Because Margaret was carrying Eduardo's child.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
“Margaret's biological child was Daniel.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Then why was Daniel given away?”
“Because Eduardo discovered that Daniel wasn't his.”
The truth became uglier.
Margaret had been carrying Gabriel's child.
Eduardo knew.
But he couldn't publicly expose the affair without destroying the family.
So when the babies were born, he took advantage of the confusion.
He kept Adrian, the biological son of Thomas Castillo, as Margaret's child.
And he hid Daniel, Gabriel's biological son, from the family.
That way, Margaret's marriage remained intact.
The family name remained intact.
The inheritance remained within the Castillo bloodline.
But a child's identity had been sacrificed.
I looked at Daniel.
“And you?”
“I grew up believing I had been abandoned.”
He looked at Gabriel.
“I never knew why.”
Gabriel's face crumpled.
“I should have found you.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You were told I was dead.”
“I should have questioned it.”
“You trusted people who lied to you.”
Gabriel lowered his head.
No one spoke.
Later that afternoon, I walked alone through the garden.
Noah was playing football.
Lily was drawing beside the pool.
They had no idea their names were sitting inside a legal document worth millions.
I didn't want them to know.
Not yet.
Money had already destroyed enough.
Dawson joined me.
“The court filing is stronger now.”
“What happens to Adrian?”
“That depends on the inheritance dispute and the financial investigation.”
“And the children?”
“They remain protected.”
I looked at him.
“Can Adrian challenge custody?”
“He can try.”
“But?”
“But the documents he signed still stand.”
I nodded.
My phone vibrated.
Adrian.
I answered this time.
“What?”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“Elena.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to see the children.”
“No.”
“They're my kids.”
“You told me they were an inconvenience.”
“I was angry.”
“You were honest.”
He went quiet.
Then he said,
“I know about the inheritance.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“Someone told me.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
He sounded genuinely confused.
“They say the children are beneficiaries.”
I didn't answer.
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
His breathing changed.
“Elena, I need you to listen.”
“No.”
“I never wanted your money.”
I almost laughed.
“You moved money out of our accounts for three years.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I was trying to protect myself.”
“You were protecting yourself from me?”
“Yes.”
“From what?”
Silence.
Then he said,
“From becoming the man my father was.”
I frowned.
“Your father?”
“I found out.”
“About Thomas?”
He stopped.
“How do you know that name?”
I closed my eyes.
“So you found the records.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know the truth.”
“I know enough.”
His voice cracked.
“My mother lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“She lied about everything.”
“Not everything.”
“What does that mean?”
I looked toward Noah and Lily.
“It means your children are still your children.”
He was silent.
Then he whispered,
“I don't deserve them.”
I didn't answer.
He said,
“Can I at least tell them goodbye?”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“No.”
“Elena…”
“You had years to be their father.”
He didn't argue.
“I understand.”
The call ended.
That evening, Daniel came to dinner.
Noah asked him who he was.
Daniel smiled.
“Someone who has been looking for his family.”
Noah considered that.
“Did you find them?”
Daniel looked at Gabriel.
“Yes.”
Noah smiled.
“Good.”
Lily pushed a plate toward him.
“You should eat.”
Daniel laughed.
“I will.”
For the first time, the room felt almost ordinary.
But ordinary didn't last.
At 9:17 p.m., the security alarm sounded.
Dawson ran toward the front door.
I pulled the children upstairs.
A vehicle had stopped outside.
A man stepped out.
He wasn't Adrian.
He was older.
He stood beneath the security light and looked directly at the house.
Daniel came upstairs.
His face changed.
“That's Samuel Reed.”
“The doctor?”
“Yes.”
Dawson went outside with security.
Samuel raised his hands.
“I came to tell you the rest.”
“What rest?” I asked from the doorway.
He looked at me.
“The document you have isn't the original.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then what is it?”
“A copy.”
“Where is the original?”
Samuel's face tightened.
“With Margaret.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“How?”
“She stole it from Eduardo's lawyer before his death.”
Dawson returned.
“Then we need to get it.”
Samuel shook his head.
“It's already been moved.”
“Where?”
He looked toward the road.
“To the one place Margaret believes nobody will search.”
“Where?”
Samuel answered.
“The old Castillo estate.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: We Returned to the House Where the Lie Began, and the Hidden Room Contained Proof That Could Either Save the Children or Destroy Their Future
Five Minutes After He Gave Away Our Children, I Realized the Signature He Barely Read Had Already Changed All of Our Futures
Part 6 of 16
