Chapter 161 The Truth Unveiled
The police officers moved forward from behind Charlotte, their boots clicking against the pavement in synchronized rhythm. The crowd instinctively parted, creating a pathway through the chaos of reporters and protesters.
SWAT officers held their guns at the ready, their presence commanding immediate respect. The troublemaking reporters and consumers automatically stepped to both sides, making way for what was clearly an official operation.
As the complete pathway opened up, everyone could finally see what Charlotte had brought with her.
The man sat in the wheelchair with a vacant expression, his body slumped slightly to one side. He looked exactly like the man standing confidently at the front of the crowd—the same sharp nose, the same angular jaw, even the same mole on the bridge of his nose. But this man appeared broken, his skin weathered and his eyes hollow.
Those dull, wooden eyes stared vacantly ahead, not seeming to focus on anything in particular. His lips opened and closed rhythmically, though whether from difficulty breathing or silently trying to say something, no one could tell.
"Holy shit," someone whispered from the crowd.
"How can two people look so alike?" a reporter breathed, her microphone forgotten in her hand.
"Could they be twins?"
"I've never seen twins look this identical. Look at that mole on his nose bridge—exactly the same position."
"And that scar at the corner of his mouth. How can even their injuries be identical?"
"What the hell is going on here?"
The whispered discussions spread through the crowd like wildfire, each person turning to their neighbor with confusion written across their faces.
The livestreaming reporter, seeing the formation of police officers and the shocking appearance of this second man, grew worried about potential legal complications. Her hand moved toward the equipment controls, ready to shut everything down.
"Reporters who are livestreaming and everyone recording—don't stop." Charlotte's voice cut through the murmurs, clear and commanding. "Keep filming. I'm speaking on behalf of the Caldwell family and my late mother, and also on behalf of every person who's ever been manipulated by a con artist, to explain everything to everyone."
She stepped forward, her hands gripping the wheelchair handles with visible tension. Michael moved with her, his body positioned protectively at her side.
The man who had been calling himself David Grant—the one who had been shouting the loudest just moments before—now stood frozen, his face draining of all color as he stared at the man in the wheelchair. His confident posture crumbled, shoulders hunching inward as if he could somehow make himself disappear.
Every muscle and nerve in his body began to tremble visibly. His hands shook so badly that he had to clench them into fists to hide it.
'How could this be?'
'How could David from the psychiatric hospital in remote Millbrook appear here in San Francisco?'
Paul stood beside the man he'd always known as his father, his mouth hanging open in shock. He turned to look at him, then back at the man in the wheelchair, his brain struggling to process what he was seeing.
"Dad," Paul's voice cracked. "Dad, who... who is this person? Is he our uncle? Is he—"
The imposter's skin visibly trembled, a muscle in his jaw twitching uncontrollably. He didn't hear his son's words at all, much less respond. His eyes were fixed on the wheelchair, watching as Charlotte pushed it directly toward him.
'It's over. I'm finished.'
'Everything I've built, everything I've stolen, it's all going to come crashing down.'
Charlotte stopped the wheelchair directly in front of the imposter, close enough that he could see every detail of the real David Grant's vacant expression. Close enough that there could be no denying the resemblance.
"This man," Charlotte said, her voice steady despite the emotion threatening to break through, "is my real father. David Grant. The man who has been living in my mother's house, spending my family's money, and pretending to be him for over two decades—that man is a fraud."
Behind her, Michael and Alice simultaneously stepped forward, their movements coordinated and professional. They positioned themselves between Charlotte and the two men ahead, preventing the imposter and Paul from making any moves that might harm Charlotte or the real David.
Further back stood Detective Dominic Steel with his team—seven officers in total, all watching the scene with hawk-like attention.
Steel walked forward, his badge catching the morning light. At his signal, two officers quickly moved to restrain the man who had been calling himself David Grant, their hands firm on his arms.
"I'm Detective Dominic Steel, San Francisco Police Department." Steel displayed his credentials to the cameras, making sure every livestream caught the official nature of this arrest.
Then he produced an arrest warrant, the document crisp and official in his hands.
Steel's voice rang out clearly, "You are under arrest as an imposter of David Grant. Your real name is Cole Stone. You are charged with identity theft, fraud, conspiracy to commit murder, and multiple counts of financial crimes spanning over twenty years."
The crowd gasped collectively. Several people pulled out their phones, frantically typing or recording.
When Steel called out the name "Cole Stone," the imposter knew that all his past deeds had been unearthed.
He had come here today full of confidence, ready to demand justice and portray himself as a victim. He'd planned to drag the Caldwell family through the mud, destroy Charlotte's reputation so thoroughly that nothing she said would ever be believed again.
It was a gambit of burning bridges to survive—if he could get through this hurdle, he'd be free.
But he hadn't expected Charlotte to be waiting for him here with the one piece of evidence he thought was safely locked away—the real David Grant himself.
He had miscalculated. Badly.
Cole knew very well that Charlotte alone couldn't have accomplished all this. That woman called Olivia Parker—she was truly formidable. She had given Charlotte the greatest protection and the greatest confidence, armed her with weapons he'd thought were safely hidden.
If I had known, he thought bitterly, I should have listened to Paul back then and just run Charlotte over with the car. Or when Olivia refused to listen to warnings and insisted on helping Charlotte, I should have run her over too.
The handcuffs clicked around Cole's wrists, the sound impossibly loud in the sudden silence.
Paul finally found his voice, though it came out high and panicked. "What are you doing? What right do you have to arrest my dad based on these made-up charges? My dad's name is David Grant, not Cole whatever. You can't just—"
"This man's name is Cole Stone, not David Grant at all." Steel's voice cut through Paul's protests like a knife. He pointed at the man in handcuffs, his expression full of righteous authority. "He's a member of the Stone family who was expelled over for attempting to murder his own father. He assumed David Grant's identity after having extensive plastic surgery to replicate Mr. Grant's appearance."
Steel gestured toward the man in the wheelchair. "This is the real David Grant—Charlotte Caldwell's biological father. DNA tests have confirmed it beyond any doubt."
"He is not a member of my Stone family!" An aged voice suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.