CHAPTER 3 — The Man Who Knew Too Much
CHAPTER 3 — The Man Who Knew Too Much
The stranger's polished shoes stopped just a few feet from the bench.
His expensive charcoal suit looked completely out of place among the children chasing pigeons and families enjoying the autumn afternoon.
Yet somehow...
Everyone nearby seemed to sense something was wrong.
The laughter around the fountain faded.
Even the wind felt colder.
The man smiled politely.
But his eyes never smiled.
"So," he repeated, extending a gloved hand toward me, "Ethan Carter."
"I've wanted to meet you."
I didn't take his hand.
"Who are you?"
Instead of answering, he looked at Claire.
"You've made this far more difficult than it needed to be."
Claire clutched the twins so tightly that one of them whimpered.
"Stay away from my children."
"My children?"
The man chuckled.
"Interesting choice of words."
My jaw tightened.
"What does that mean?"
He ignored me.
"Claire, the agreement was simple. You disappeared, and everyone moved on."
"You promised you'd leave us alone."
"I promised many things."
His smile widened.
"I only keep the profitable ones."
Something inside me snapped.
I stepped between him and Claire.
"I asked who you are."
The man finally looked at me.
"My name is Victor Langford."
The name meant nothing.
Until my mother gasped.
Her face lost all color.
"Ethan..."
She grabbed my arm.
"We need to leave."
I frowned.
"You know him?"
Victor answered before she could.
"Oh, Margaret knows exactly who I am."
He tilted his head.
"After all... we met at the hospital."
Hospital?
I turned toward my mother.
"What hospital?"
Margaret's lips trembled.
"I..."
She couldn't answer.
Victor did it for her.
"The day Claire discovered she was pregnant."
Claire's eyes widened.
"You promised no one knew."
"I lied."
The single sentence landed like a hammer.
I looked from Claire...
To Victor...
Then to my mother.
Pieces that had never fit together were suddenly moving.
"Someone tell me what the hell is happening."
Victor sighed dramatically.
"Very well."
He reached into his coat pocket.
Claire instantly stood.
"No!"
Her voice shook with panic.
"Don't show him."
Victor ignored her.
He pulled out a thick manila envelope.
Across the front was printed in bold black letters:
CONFIDENTIAL
He held it toward me.
"Go ahead."
"You deserve to know."
Claire lunged forward.
"Don't!"
But Victor was faster.
The envelope landed in my hands.
For a second...
Nobody moved.
Then I opened it.
Inside were copies of medical records.
Ultrasound images.
Blood test reports.
DNA laboratory paperwork.
I barely understood what I was looking at.
Until one sentence caught my eye.
Probability of paternity: 99.9998%
My hands began shaking.
The twins...
Were mine.
Without question.
I looked at Claire.
Tears streamed silently down her face.
"I wanted to tell you."
"I swear I did."
Every ounce of anger I'd been carrying since the divorce dissolved into something far worse.
Regret.
Crushing, unbearable regret.
I had missed everything.
The pregnancy.
The birth.
Their first cries.
Their first smiles.
Ten weeks of my children's lives...
Gone forever.
I slowly looked back at Victor.
"Why do you have these?"
His expression remained calm.
"Because I paid for them."
"What?"
"I arranged every examination."
Claire's face twisted with disgust.
"You manipulated everything."
"I managed a situation."
"You controlled my life!"
"I protected an investment."
Investment?
I frowned.
"What investment?"
Victor smiled again.
"The twins."
The words chilled my blood.
"What are you talking about?"
Instead of answering, he looked directly at the babies.
"They're extraordinarily valuable."
I stared.
"They're babies."
"They're heirs."
"Heirs to what?"
Victor took a slow breath.
"To Carter Biotech."
My heartbeat stopped.
"My company?"
He nodded.
"The company you believe you built yourself."
I felt dizzy.
"What does my business have to do with this?"
Victor laughed softly.
"Oh, Ethan..."
"You really don't know."
He reached into the envelope again.
This time pulling out an old photograph.
He handed it to me.
The image was faded.
At least thirty years old.
Standing together were three young people.
One was unmistakably my mother.
The second...
A younger Victor Langford.
The third...
My late father.
I stared at the picture.
"What is this?"
Victor's smile disappeared.
"The beginning."
My mother suddenly shouted.
"That's enough!"
Her voice echoed across the park.
People turned to stare.
"You leave him out of this!"
Victor folded his arms.
"I tried."
"You forced my hand."
Claire whispered,
"Victor... please."
He ignored her completely.
Then he looked directly into my eyes.
"Your father didn't build Carter Biotech alone."
My chest tightened.
"He stole it."
The words exploded like thunder.
"No."
Victor nodded.
"Oh yes."
"He stole patents."
"He stole investors."
"He stole my future."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
"Ask your mother."
I slowly turned.
Margaret wasn't looking at me anymore.
She was staring at the ground.
Silent.
Broken.
That silence...
Was answer enough.
My entire life suddenly felt unfamiliar.
Everything I believed about my family...
About my father...
About the fortune I'd inherited...
Began falling apart.
Victor stepped closer.
"I spent thirty years waiting."
"Waiting for the right moment."
"The right leverage."
He looked at the twins again.
"And then they were born."
Claire's face turned white.
"They're not leverage!"
Victor's voice became ice cold.
"To you, they're children."
"To me..."
"They're the only Carter heirs whose existence can legally reopen a case that has been buried for three decades."
I frowned.
"What case?"
Before Victor could answer, a deafening screech shattered the moment.
A black sedan came flying around the corner.
Far too fast.
Straight toward the park entrance.
Toward us.
"ETHAN!"
Claire screamed.
Everything happened in seconds.
The sedan jumped the curb.
People scattered in every direction.
Victor's eyes widened.
For the first time...
He looked genuinely terrified.
"They found us."
The car accelerated.
Not toward Victor.
Not toward Claire.
May you like
Directly toward...
The twins.
