The General’s Daughter
Chapter 03 - The General’s Daughter
Elena felt the room tilt.
She had grown up believing she and Sophie were the biological daughters of Thomas and Maria Brooks, a working-class couple who loved them fiercely. Both parents had died years earlier, leaving no one to answer the questions now tearing through her life.
Beatrice revealed that before Julian was born, she had a daughter in secret.
The father was a young Army officer named Samuel Brooks—Thomas’s older brother.
Beatrice’s powerful parents considered the relationship unacceptable. They forced her to surrender the baby through Dr. Lane’s predecessor at the Ashford Medical Trust.
Thomas and Maria adopted Elena legally, but the original records were sealed and replaced.
Beatrice had known exactly who Elena was when she arrived at the estate.
She had known for years.
“You watched my career,” Elena said. “You watched Sophie grow up beside me. You knew everything.”
Beatrice’s eyes filled with tears. “I was afraid.”
Elena’s voice remained calm. “Fear does not erase responsibility.”
The discovery explained why Sophie had written that Noah “belonged here.” She had uncovered not only her son’s identity but Elena’s connection to the Ashford family.
Julian was Elena’s half-brother.
Noah was her nephew.
The family tree Beatrice tried to control had returned in military uniform, carrying the child she had hidden.
But another question remained.
Who caused Sophie’s accident?
Dr. Lane denied involvement. He claimed Beatrice ordered him only to falsify records and relocate Noah. Beatrice insisted she never wanted Sophie harmed.
Investigators recovered deleted messages from the flash drive. One message instructed a security contractor to stop Sophie before she reached Fort Marshall.
The sender used Julian’s private account.
Julian stared at the screen in horror.
“I never sent that.”
Elena believed him. The message had been transmitted while Julian was speaking live at a public event.
Someone had access to his credentials.
The answer came from Julian’s fiancée, Caroline Mercer.
She entered the library with federal agents and confessed that her father, billionaire Arthur Mercer, had discovered Noah’s existence weeks before the engagement announcement. He feared the scandal would cancel the merger and expose his own family’s involvement in Project Heir.
Arthur ordered the contractor to frighten Sophie.
The driver lost control during the chase.
Caroline had found the messages that morning and contacted federal authorities before coming to the estate.
“I thought marrying Julian would join two powerful families,” she said. “I did not know it would bury a dead woman.”
Then alarms sounded outside.
Arthur Mercer had arrived at the estate with armed private security.
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He was not there to negotiate.
He wanted Noah and the flash drive before federal agents could take either one.
