Chapter Thirteen: Isabella's Last Secret

The Billionaire's Contract Bride

Chapter Thirteen: Isabella's Last Secret

The hospital room was quiet.

Too quiet.

Martin lay beneath the white sheets, his injured shoulder heavily bandaged. The bullet had passed through without damaging any major organs, but the doctor had insisted he remain under observation.

Claire sat beside his bed.

She had been there for hours.

Her wedding dress had finally been replaced with a simple cream-colored dress, but a faint red stain remained on the sleeve where Martin's blood had soaked into the fabric.

She kept staring at it.

The wedding had been interrupted.

The assassin had escaped.

And Martin had almost died.

Yet there was another thought that refused to leave her mind.

Isabella.

The mysterious locket.

The photograph.

The memory card.

The warning.

Everything seemed connected.

Claire reached into her handbag and removed the silver locket.

She stared at the photograph inside.

The beautiful woman had soft features and gentle eyes.

There was something strangely familiar about her.

Not her face.

Something deeper.

The way she smiled.

The way she looked at the camera.

Claire couldn't explain it.

"Who were you?" she whispered.

Behind her, the hospital door opened.

Edward Blackwood entered with Ethan.

Claire quickly closed the locket.

Edward noticed.

"You're holding something."

Claire hesitated.

Then she slowly opened her palm.

"I found this in my room before the wedding."

Edward's expression changed the moment he saw it.

His face became pale.

"Where did you get that?"

Claire frowned.

"You know her?"

Edward moved closer.

His trembling fingers touched the edge of the locket.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he whispered a name.

"Isabella."

Claire's heart stopped.

"You know her."

Edward closed his eyes.

"Yes."

"Who was she?"

The old man's breathing became heavier.

Before he could answer, Martin's voice came from the bed.

"Mother."

Claire turned sharply.

Martin was awake.

His eyes were open.

He stared at the locket.

Then at his grandfather.

"Why are you showing Claire that?"

Claire's eyes widened.

"Your mother?"

Martin slowly pushed himself higher against the pillows.

"Isabella Moretti was my mother."

The words landed like thunder.

Claire stared at him.

"Your mother?"

Martin nodded.

"Yes."

"But why didn't you ever tell me?"

His expression hardened.

"Because I didn't know you had it."

Claire looked down at the locket.

"Someone left it in my room."

Martin's eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

She reached into her handbag again.

"And there was something else."

She placed the memory card on the table.

Ethan immediately stepped forward.

"Where did you get that?"

"It was hidden inside the locket."

Martin stared at it.

For the first time, genuine shock appeared in his eyes.

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

Martin looked at Edward.

His grandfather's silence answered before he did.

Martin slowly said,

"My mother disappeared the night before she died."

Claire frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"She left home carrying a black leather case."

"She never returned with it."

"We assumed it had been destroyed in the accident."

Edward lowered his head.

"It wasn't."

Claire looked between them.

"What was inside?"

Edward's voice trembled.

"Evidence."

"Evidence of what?"

The old man looked at Martin.

Then at Claire.

"Something powerful enough to destroy several families."

Ethan quickly arranged for a secure laptop.

The memory card was inserted.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then a folder appeared.

IM-1998

Inside were dozens of encrypted files.

Martin stared at the screen.

"I've seen this code before."

Claire moved closer.

"Where?"

"My mother's old investigation."

He opened the first file.

A video appeared.

The image was grainy.

The recording looked almost thirty years old.

Then a woman appeared on screen.

Claire's breath caught.

It was Isabella.

She was sitting behind a desk.

Her expression was serious.

"If you're watching this..."

Isabella paused.

"...then something has happened to me."

Martin froze.

His mother's voice filled the room.

"I don't know who I can trust anymore."

She looked directly into the camera.

"The people involved are more powerful than I expected."

Claire felt a chill.

Isabella continued.

"Someone inside the company is giving them information."

She lifted a document.

"They've been manipulating contracts, transferring money through shell companies, and creating false debts."

Martin leaned closer.

"Jacobs International..."

Isabella said the name.

Claire's eyes widened.

"Your grandfather doesn't know everything."

Martin's face became rigid.

"My mother knew my grandfather?"

"Yes."

Isabella continued.

"James Jacobs has agreed to help me protect the evidence."

Claire's mouth fell open.

"My grandfather..."

Martin looked at her.

"Was helping my mother."

The video continued.

"James believes the evidence is safer with his family than mine."

Isabella took a deep breath.

"But if anything happens to me..."

She looked frightened.

"...they will come for the evidence."

The screen suddenly flickered.

Isabella leaned closer to the camera.

"There is one person I don't trust."

She whispered the name.

The audio became distorted.

Martin froze.

"What did she say?"

Ethan replayed the recording.

Again.

Nothing.

The sound had been deliberately corrupted.

Claire stared at the screen.

"Someone erased that part."

Martin nodded.

"Yes."

Then another file opened automatically.

A photograph appeared.

It showed Isabella standing beside a young James Jacobs.

Between them was a little boy.

Martin stared at the photograph.

His face went completely still.

"That's..."

Claire looked closer.

"Who is the boy?"

Martin didn't answer.

Edward did.

"My son."

Claire frowned.

"Your son?"

Edward nodded.

"Martin's father."

Silence.

The photograph had been taken decades earlier.

Isabella was smiling.

James Jacobs was smiling.

And Martin's father stood between them.

They didn't look like enemies.

They looked like family.

Claire slowly turned toward Martin.

"So our families knew each other."

Martin's eyes remained fixed on the photograph.

"Not just knew each other."

His voice was barely audible.

"They trusted each other."

Suddenly...

The laptop screen went black.

Ethan immediately checked the system.

"What happened?"

Martin looked at him.

"Disconnect it."

"It's already disconnected."

A notification appeared.

FILE DELETED.

Then another.

REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.

Ethan's face changed.

"Someone is inside the system."

Martin stood despite the pain in his shoulder.

"Find them."

Ethan rushed toward the door.

Claire remained frozen beside the bed.

Then she noticed something.

A tiny red light blinked beneath the television.

"Martin."

He turned.

"Look."

Security rushed into the room.

The device was removed.

A miniature camera.

Someone had been watching them.

Listening to everything.

Martin's expression became terrifyingly cold.

"Lock down the hospital."

Ethan nodded.

"Already doing it."

But Claire wasn't listening.

Her eyes were fixed on the locket.

Something about the photograph suddenly bothered her.

She turned it over.

There was writing on the back.

Something she hadn't noticed before.

Four words.

For the daughter I lost.

Claire's fingers began to tremble.

She looked at Martin.

"Martin..."

He turned.

"What?"

She handed him the photograph.

His eyes moved across the handwriting.

His face slowly changed.

"What does this mean?"

Claire swallowed.

"I don't know."

Edward stared at the photograph.

Then suddenly...

His hand began shaking.

"Grandfather?" Martin asked.

Edward looked at Claire.

His expression was filled with something Claire had never seen before.

Fear.

"My God..."

"What?"

Edward whispered:

"Isabella had a daughter."

The room fell silent.

Martin stared at him.

"That's impossible."

Edward shook his head.

"No."

His eyes remained fixed on Claire.

"She had a daughter."

Claire's heart began pounding.

"Who?"

Edward opened his mouth.

But before he could speak...

The hospital lights went out.

Complete darkness filled the room.

A gunshot exploded somewhere down the corridor.

Claire screamed.

Martin immediately pulled her toward him despite his injured shoulder.

Security rushed inside.

Then the emergency lights came on.

Everyone froze.

On the hospital wall, written in red...

Were five words:

THE DAUGHTER IS STILL ALIVE.

Claire stared at the message.

Then slowly looked at Martin.

For the first time...

Martin looked genuinely afraid.

Not for himself.

For her.