Page 75 of The Wife Deception
The bodyguard went on to describe my features, minus the baby bump.
"And how much did she pay you to kill Nolan Hawthorne?"
"She offered me three hundred grand. A third up front. The rest when the job was done."
"Is there anyone else you were working with?"
"No. Just her."
The video ended there. "Nolan I did not—"
"I know." He got up from the desk and took the tablet. "What I want to know is if you're part of this scheme. And I need you to tell me the truth. Did you know anything about Aelin or your grandfather wanting to kill me?"
I shook my head vigorously. "No!" I stood up and marched over to him. "I had no idea."
"Okay. I believe you."
"You do?"
"Figured if you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have put yourself and our baby in harm's way. I haven't forgotten how you tried to push me out of the way. I am alive because of you."
"Nolan."
"I know. What I don't get is why you lied to me about your sister?"
"My sister. What are you talking about?" As far as I was concerned, I was an only child.Unless my father had a child I did not know. I wasconfused and the way he was acting was only making it worse.
His eyes narrowed. "Do you not—Oh you don't know. Fuck." He ran his hand through his hair.
"Nolan what—"
He closed the video on the tablet, opened an email and the attachment on it. "Like I said, Kelly has been looking into your family. I did it because I wanted some background information on your grandfather. He didn't go too far at first. Just a basic history. Then he found out about how your mother and father got married and ended up living without your family's fortune."
"My mother was cut off after marrying my father," I said. My grandfather did not like that my father was from a low income family. Kenneth had planned for my mother to marry the son of one of his business associates, but my mother refused.
"But after I found out about your deception, I told Kelly to look further into your history," Nolan continued. "I didn't want any more surprises, you see. What do you know about your aunt? Aelin's mother."
I crossed my arms. "Where are you going with this?"
"She was supposed to inherit your family fortune,wasn't she?"
"Yeah, and then she died in a helicopter crash, together with my mother."
"Did your mother never tell you anything about Aelin and her mother?"
"Like what?"
Nolan took a deep breath, as if bracing himself for the inevitable. Only I had no idea what it was, and the suspense was killing me. I shook my head.
"Kelly thought there was something off about your aunt's story. He thought it was odd that she went away on holiday and came back a few months later with a child. So he dug further and found a hospital record." Nolan handed me the tablet slowly and pointed at the document. "Your mother gave birth to twins. You two are not cousins. Think about it. Aelin. Aire. You are sisters."
40
Aire
My knees gave way. Nolan caught me before I could fall and walked me to the settee. I slumped into the chair and took a closer look at the document on the screen. I stared at it for longer than necessary. It appeared legit. It didn't make sense at first, but the more I thought about it, the more memories came to mind of things that were odd. My father drinking a lot after my mother died. Mumbling things like "they took her from me." I always assumed he was referring to mom, but what if he was referring to Aelin?
And then there was the money he always seemed to have even after he was fired from hisjob. There was one night when we had run out of all basic goods in the house and rent was due when he left and returned with enough money to cover three months' rent. He had said it was money owed to him. Money grandfather had given to him. I thought he meant mom's inheritance, but I think he meant money owed for giving up Aelin to mom's sister.
