Chapter 2 - The Mask Slips
Brandon froze, his arm lingering mid-air before he slowly lowered it. He tried to quickly pull his composure back together, smoothing down his dark jacket. He had always known Thomas Carter was a powerful, reclusive figure in private equity, but Brandon had assumed the old man was retired and out of touch with his daughter's daily life.
"Mr. Carter," Brandon stammered, his harsh tone shifting instantly into defensive panic. "You don't understand what's happening here. She betrayed us! I just looked at the boy—he has light blue eyes! I have dark brown eyes, Claire has hazel! The math doesn't add up! She's been unfaithful!"
Thomas didn't answer right away. He walked calmly past Brandon, his polished leather shoes making quiet, steady sounds against the private room's hardwood flooring. He set the small blue teddy bear down on the bedside table next to a vase of fresh white lilies.
He reached down gently, his fingers brushing Claire’s hair away from her tear-stained forehead. His blue eyes filled with warmth as he looked at his daughter, then shifted into stone as he looked at the red welt rising on her cheek.
"Did he lay a hand on you, Claire?" Thomas asked softly.
Claire swallowed hard, looking up at her father with a mixture of fear and exhaustion. She nodded once, her lower lip trembling. "He... he hit me because of the baby's eye color, Dad. He didn't even wait for a doctor to speak."
Brandon took a step back, trying to justify his actions with mounting anger. "I reacted like any man would! She lied to me for nine months! I’m not going to raise another man's heir!"
Thomas turned around slowly. He pulled a heavy black encrypted smartphone from his coat pocket and placed it on the table next to the teddy bear.
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"You're right about one thing, Brandon," Thomas said, his voice dropping an octave into chilling precision. "We are going to talk about heirs. But first, we're going to discuss the four secret bank accounts in the Cayman Islands you thought my daughter didn't know about."
👉 Read Part 3 to discover what Brandon had been hiding in those offshore bank accounts.
