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“The Davenport Trust was started with money from Davenport,” she says matter of fact. “While the value of that trust is held and controlled by the six Elmhurst families, the money used to fund it was mostly from Davenport, and by today’s value that would make any Davenport heir the majority shareholder of all that money.”
“Holy shit,” I hear Cruz whisper.
“But you said Davenport had no children?” I ask numbly.
“That Elmhurst knew, but he did have one. He just kept that child a secret when he realized what the society was prepared to do for power.”
A chill shoots down my spine, as the puzzle pieces start to fall into place. “Did anyone know that heir was me?”
“No,” she shakes her head. “But he always suspected you were not your father’s child. And when you turned thirteen, Royce’s father challenged your legitimacy and proposed a vote to block your initiation.”
“He what?” I shake my head. “Why would he do that? Daddy and he were best friends.”
“The needs and goals of the society supersede everything. Even friendship. And an heir that is not a blood relative of the six families cannot sit on the trust. With your removal, the Butler shares would have been redistributed among the five, increasing their wealth and power.”
I work my lower lip trying to piece all this together. “Why would he assume Daddy was not my birth father?”
“He knew your father and I were not an item until our marriage, and he always questioned how fast you came along. But your father kept the promise he made to me and never said a word. You were his, and no one was going to say otherwise.”
“But clearly Royce’s father found out,” I counter.
Momma drops her hands, and straightens, looking past me, out the window, where the waves crash onto the shore.
“Royce’s father was always jealous of your father. Where he was cunning and shrewd, your father had charisma and charm. The way he was able to talk to people and get them to listen, that is what made him a great politician. He didn’t make baseless promises. He did what he said he was going to do. He was poised for greatness, and Royce’s father hated that. That is why he never gave up his search to prove you were not his. It would be the nail in the Butler name’s coffin.”
“But didn’t Royce’s father have access to the same power as Daddy?”
“He did, but the thing is, darlin, great men are not made. They are born. And your father…he was a rarity. No one else would have done what he did. He could have easily hung me out to dry and I would have been banished and lost everything. But your Daddy made me a promise to love and protect you and me, and he did that every day of his life. So did I love your father, yes, I did. Very much. But love has many layers, Ellery.”
Momma’s voice sounds hollow. Her eyes, haunted by a love lost and yet, still present through me.
Without thinking, I throw my arms around her and she holds me tight, kissing the top of my head.
“He loved you so much, Ellery. It did not matter that you were not biologically his. You were his in every way that mattered. And he knew you were destined for greatness. That’s why he did what he did.”
I close my eyes as memories of my father play in my mind. “What did he do?” I whisper.
Momma kisses my head again and pulls back, brushing my tear-stained cheeks with both hands.
“When he learned Royce’s father was trying to have him removed from the society by challenging your legitimacy, he went to work bulletproofing your claim. He made sure the search to disprove your birth pointed in a different direction andwhen Royce’s father could not prove you weren’t a Butler, he and your father got into a fight.”
I remember sensing tension between my father and Royce’s right before…
“Omigod.” I bring both hands to my mother, covering it as the truth hits me hard and fast. Royce said my father brought this on him. That he was the one to get those girls killed. “Daddy knew my birth father was a Davenport, didn’t he?”
Momma nods. “When your father was putting the pieces in place to cover the tracks of your birth father, he learned Cole was a descendant of that Davenport child Elmhurst never knew about. As soon as he learned, he led every record he could find, away from your birth father.”
Needles in haystacks, pointing in different directions….I sit back as the realization of what it means slams into me.
Those missing girls…Royce’s father was researching who the heir could be and Daddy’s breadcrumbs led him to their door. And with each lead, Royce’s father sicked his son on them like a rabid dog.
That’s what Royce meant when he said he did it for me. He said they were a case of mistaken identity. But he also said he planned to control the trust by marrying me, which means somehow, he and his father found out I was the Davenport heir.
His maniacal ravings now made more sense. He said he wanted me to give him an heir so the money would be his. It didn’t make sense that night, but it does now. It was never about my Butler trust fund. It was about The Davenport Trust.
“This was about money?” I shake my head. “All this time, Daddy died because of money?”
“The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent,” Antonio shakes his head sadly. “Deception is one of the key tenets of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. If you don’t reveal your true power, your enemies do not see youcoming.”
