Chapter 4 - Blood and Truth
Red emergency lights pulsed violently across the ceiling of the master suite.
Damon pulled a heavy tactical shotgun from a hidden safe behind the mirror.
"Take Zuri into the panic room behind the walk-in closet and do not open the door for anyone except me," Damon ordered firmly.
Naomi scooped her terrified daughter into her arms and ran toward the massive closet.
Before she could reach the hidden door, a heavy explosion shook the entire foundation of the house.
The heavy oak doors of the bedroom were blown completely off their hinges in a cloud of smoke and splinters.
Trent stepped through the debris holding a suppressed submachine gun with a cruel smirk on his face.
"Hello, darling," Trent sneered, aiming the weapon directly at Naomi's head.
Damon immediately raised his shotgun, but two more armed mercenaries stepped into the room and locked their sights on the billionaire.
"Drop the gun, Ashford, or I paint the walls with your beautiful maid," Trent warned happily.
Damon slowly lowered his weapon and tossed it onto the carpet to protect the woman and child.
"What do you want, Trent?" Damon asked with icy calm.
"I want what belongs to me," Trent laughed, stepping closer to Zuri.
"When I found out my sweet wife sold her eggs to a fertility clinic to pay off my gambling debts, I was furious."
Naomi sobbed quietly, shielding Zuri with her own body.
"But then I did a little digging into the clinic's records before they mysteriously burned down," Trent continued darkly.
"Imagine my surprise when I learned the great Elena Ashford purchased those exact eggs because she couldn't carry a child of her own."
Damon felt his entire world stop spinning as the absolute truth finally hit him.
"You used a surrogate?" Damon whispered, his voice cracking with shock.
"Elena didn't want you to know she was infertile, so she used Naomi's biology to create a perfect embryo with your DNA," Trent revealed gleefully.
Trent pointed a dirty finger right at Zuri's frightened face.
"That little brat isn't just a maid's daughter, Ashford."
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Trent smiled wickedly and pulled the hammer back on his gun.
"She is your sole biological heir, and she is worth five billion dollars."
