Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 310: The Shadow Behind The Curtain

Simon gave a heavy nod. "I should have been fast-tracked to a core position in Bellwood, but I failed the background check and got rejected. They used some old controversy from one of my father’s calls to flag my file."

He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice. "Later, I aced every test for the provincial roles. I was ranked number one. But the second I joined, they told me I needed field experience and dumped me at the Pondville station. I always thought I just pissed off the wrong trust-fund kids in school. I had no idea."

Simon scrolled through Chandler’s files on his phone. "Chandler left Bellwood for Townsville when he was twenty-five. When I was at the Academy in Bellwood, he didn't have the reach to touch my career."

He scowled at the screen. "A fraud like Chandler doesn't have that kind of juice."

A much darker thought hit him. "They buried my mother, they swapped my sister, and now they’re coming for me. There is no way the rest of the Summers family in Bellwood, especially Chandler’s siblings, didn't know exactly what was happening."

Nancy’s eyes snapped wide. "The news from last week! Aunt Yvonne’s company shorted Chandler’s group right before she moved in to take it over!"

The pieces finally fit, and her blood ran cold. "On the surface, it looks like Chandler finally got what was coming to him. But Yvonne used him. She squeezed every last drop of value out of him and made a fortune while he went to prison."

Nancy thought back to how kind Yvonne had been. It made her skin crawl. "I don’t know about the other two, but Yvonne... she had to know. She knew my mother was the real Summers heir. She knew she was suppressing her own sister."

Ingrid gripped the bedsheet, her face pale. "That’s it. I never imagined Tammy was up against the whole family."

As the only person left who knew the truth, Ingrid finally saw the full picture. "Your mother was too good. If she’d been brought back into the fold, she would have been the natural successor. She was a threat to every single one of them and their inheritance."

Nancy’s expression went cold. "Chandler isn't even a real Summers. He’s a fake. Yvonne probably used that to blackmail him out of the line of succession years ago. That’s why he ran to Townsville to start over."

She knew how Chandler operated. "I grew up with the man. I know his limits. He was never the mastermind. He was just the weapon Yvonne used to do her dirty work."

Ingrid’s voice shook with rage. "Her own brothers and sisters helped a fraud bury her just so they wouldn't have to share the money."

The truth was sickening. "It makes sense now. How one man could have so much power. They traded their own blood for a bigger cut of the estate. It's pathetic."

Nancy felt a level of disgust she’d never known. The Summers family was a sewer. It explained why Yvonne’s kids always acted so weird whenever she had to visit the headquarters in Bellwood.

"Madam Ingrid," Nancy said, her voice urgent. "Where is my mother? Is she safe?"

The siblings had been waiting for this, but Ingrid’s hesitation made Nancy’s heart sink.

Ingrid saw the look on her face and gave her a small, tired smile. "Don't worry. She's okay. Two years ago, the Summers family tried to track her down again."

She took a breath to steady herself. "We found her place trashed. Some of her research notes were gone. She knew she wasn't safe anymore, so she had to move. A friend helped her get a job as a ranger in a remote rainforest reserve. It was off the grid and high-security."

Simon leaned in, desperate for a lead. "So she’s still at the border?"

"No, she moved on from that."

Ingrid’s eyes lit up with pride. "Talent like hers can't stay hidden forever. While she was working at the reserve, she ended up consulting for some classified groups. Six months ago, the government realized just how brilliant she was."

Ingrid lowered her voice. "She’s been recruited for a top-secret national research project. It’s still active, and the security is so tight I don't even know which city she's in."

Finally, Ingrid looked them both in the eye. "I'll find a way to get a message to her. I'll tell her you're looking for her. Once her current phase of work is done, you'll be together again."

For the first time since this nightmare started, the weight on Nancy and Simon’s shoulders finally felt a little lighter.