Chapter 6 - My Mother Was AliveMy mother had aged.

Her hair was silver.

Her face thinner.

But her eyes were the same.

I wanted to hate her.

I wanted to hug her.

Instead I asked:

"Why did you let me believe you were dead?"

She cried.

"Because I was afraid."

"Of whom?"

She looked at my father.

Then at me.

"Of your sister."

Juliette.

The name hung between us.

My mother explained that Juliette had discovered the ledger before the fire.

She had taken photographs of several pages.

Then she went to someone outside the family.

Someone powerful.

Someone who offered her protection.

"In exchange for what?"

"My death."

I stared at her.

Juliette had made a deal.

She would inherit my trust.

Our mother would disappear.

And I would be declared dead.

But something went wrong.

The fire became uncontrollable.

I survived.

My mother escaped.

Juliette thought I had died.

Until years later, she received proof that Patient 17 was still alive.

"Then why didn't she tell Dad?"

My mother shook her head.

"Because by then Daniel had taken control."

Daniel.

The fiancé.

The man behind the financial network.

He wasn't an outsider.

He was the son of one of the people whose money the Mercers had been moving.

He had come to destroy the family from inside.

But he had become obsessed with the fortune.

And Juliette had become his prisoner.

My mother handed me the red ledger.

"You must take this to the police."

I opened it.

Names filled the pages.

Politicians.

Bankers.

Judges.

Corporations.

Then I reached the final page.

My name.

Beside it was a date.

Tomorrow.

"What does this mean?"

My mother didn't answer.

The door exploded open.

Gunmen stormed the room.

My father pushed my mother down.

Marcus appeared behind them.

"Move!"

We ran.

Shots followed us through the corridor.

My father was hit.

He collapsed.

I turned.

"Dad!"

He grabbed my wrist.

"Don't stop."

"You're bleeding."

"Caroline..."

His eyes met mine.

"Your sister isn't the one who ordered the fire."

Then he died.

I froze.

My mother screamed.

Marcus dragged me away.

We escaped through a rear entrance.

Outside, police sirens filled the night.

I opened the ledger again.

The final page had changed.

Someone had added a new line.

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CAROLINE MERCER: SECOND ATTEMPT PENDING.

And beneath it was tomorrow's date.