Chapter 12 - THE LAST TRANSFERJasper killed the lights.
For the first time, I understood why people feared him.
Not because he was ruthless.
Because he was desperate.
Desperate men were unpredictable.
We escaped through a maintenance tunnel while Victor's men chased us.
Jasper moved beside me.
I didn't trust him.
I would never trust him.
He seemed to understand.
"Don't worry," he said.
"I don't."
"Good."
Rebecca stayed behind Isabella.
Mother followed.
The tunnel opened beneath the old Montgomery estate.
The chapel stood above us.
We entered through a hidden staircase.
Inside, candles were already burning.
Someone had been here recently.
Rebecca inserted the cylinder into an old stone compartment.
A mechanism clicked.
The altar moved.
A metal case appeared.
Inside was the original ledger.
But there was also a second object.
A sealed envelope.
Marked:
FOR ISABELLA.
She looked at me.
Then opened it.
Our father had written it.
My beloved Isabella,
If you are reading this, the family has finally reached the point I feared.
Your blood is not the thing that makes you mine.
Your choice is.
And someday, when they tell you that you are only a victim, remember this:
You were always the one capable of ending this.
Isabella's hands shook.
The next page contained account numbers.
She stared.
"These aren't Jasper's accounts."
I stepped closer.
"They're Victor's."
"All of them."
She looked up.
"Everything."
The ledger contained decades of evidence.
Bribes.
Shell companies.
False identities.
Illegal acquisitions.
Hidden properties.
And one final transfer.
Twenty-five million dollars.
Destination:
MONTGOMERY CHILDREN'S TRUST.
Authorized by:
ISABELLA BLACKWOOD.
She stared.
"I never authorized this."
Jasper went pale.
"Neither did I."
Rebecca looked at him.
"Then who did?"
I checked the timestamp.
It was scheduled for tomorrow.
Someone intended to move twenty-five million through Isabella's identity after her death.
A life-insurance fraud.
A final theft.
Then I saw the second signature.
CALeb Montgomery.
My identity again.
Victor had planned to frame both of us.
The chapel doors suddenly slammed shut.
Someone locked them from outside.
Smoke began filling the room.
Jasper coughed.
"Fire."
I looked at the walls.
No windows.
Stone walls.
One exit.
Blocked.
Rebecca found an old bell rope.
She pulled it.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Isabella noticed the altar.
"Caleb."
She pointed.
There was a hidden latch.
I pulled it.
A narrow passage opened.
We rushed inside.
The chapel erupted behind us.
Fire spread across the wooden benches.
Before I entered the tunnel, I turned back.
Someone stood in the doorway.
Victor.
He watched us calmly.
Then he smiled.
"You finally found the ledger."
I raised my weapon.
Victor looked at Isabella.
"Ask your mother who authorized your birth."
Then he disappeared into the flames.
We escaped through the tunnel.
Outside, the estate burned.
Mother sank to the ground.
Isabella stood beside her.
"Mom."
Mother looked up.
"What?"
"Who authorized my birth certificate?"
Mother began trembling.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Victor."
