“I didn’t know,” he said. “I swear to you, I had no idea what they did.”

“But they did it in your name,” I said.

He looked at the twins sleeping on the cot.

“They are your children,” he said quietly.

“They have always been your children.”

Before I could speak, a sharp knock sounded at the door.

The handle turned, and the door creaked open.

A tall man in a dark tailored suit stood in the doorway, holding a leather briefcase.

“Mr. Whitmore,” the man said, his voice smooth and cold.

“We received an alert about a breach of the original agreement.”

“We need to discuss this immediately.”

Daniel stood up slowly, his shadow stretching across the wall.

“Leave us, Sterling,” Daniel said.

His voice was low, vibrating with a quiet anger I had never heard from him before.

The man in the suit did not step back.

He adjusted his silver wire-framed glasses and looked at me with cold, analytical eyes.

“I cannot do that, Mr. Whitmore,” the lawyer said, his voice smooth and entirely devoid of emotion.