Chapter 3 - The Name on the LedgerMaxwell returned home after dark.
Clara was waiting.
“You look terrible.”
“Someone broke into the workshop.”
Her face immediately changed.
“What?”
“Nothing was stolen.”
“Then what happened?”
Maxwell placed the notebook on the table.
She read the words.
STOP DIGGING, MAXWELL.
Clara looked up.
“This is serious.”
“I know.”
“Did you call the police?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know who I can trust.”
Clara stared at him.
“That sentence scares me.”
Maxwell sat down.
“I received another call.”
“What did they say?”
“They mentioned my mother.”
Clara became silent.
“Maxwell…”
“I tried calling her.”
“And?”
“No answer.”
Clara looked at her phone.
“Call again.”
He did.
This time, Lolo answered.
“Maxi?”
“Mum, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where have you been?”
“My phone was with me.”
“Why didn't you answer?”
There was a pause.
“Your father was here.”
Maxwell closed his eyes.
“Mum, listen to me.”
“Yes?”
“Don't tell Dad where I am.”
“I won't.”
“Someone is threatening me.”
Lolo's voice trembled.
“What?”
“They told me to come home before something happens to you.”
“Maxi, come home.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“I can't.”
Lolo began crying.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She became quiet.
Then she said something Maxwell never expected.
“Your father didn't send you away because he hated your workshop.”
Maxwell froze.
“What?”
“He was trying to stop you from finding something.”
“What something?”
“I don't know.”
“You do know.”
“Maxi…”
“Tell me.”
Lolo's voice dropped.
“I found documents in your father's study years ago.”
“What documents?”
“I don't know what they mean.”
“Mum.”
“I saw your name.”
Maxwell stood.
“What documents?”
“The company ledger.”
“What about it?”
“It listed assets.”
“And?”
“Your name was beside one of them.”
Maxwell's breathing changed.
“What asset?”
“I never saw the full page.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
A man's voice suddenly appeared in the background.
“Lolo?”
She immediately lowered her voice.
“I have to go.”
“Mum!”
“Call me next week.”
“No, wait…”
The line went dead.
Maxwell stared at his phone.
Clara stood behind him.
“What happened?”
“My father has a ledger.”
“So?”
“My name is in it.”
Clara frowned.
“What kind of ledger?”
“I don't know.”
Maxwell couldn't sit still.
He started pacing.
Then something occurred to him.
He remembered an old conversation from childhood.
His father had once told him never to enter a locked room beneath the main staircase.
Maxwell had always thought it was simply a private office.
But there had been a strange metal door.
And a combination lock.
He remembered it clearly now.
His father used to disappear into that room for hours.
Then Maxwell's phone vibrated again.
A photograph arrived.
He opened it.
It was an old page from a ledger.
The photograph showed several assets.
Factories.
Buildings.
Land.
Shares.
Then he saw it.
A line near the bottom.
ON0CHIE PRIVATE HOLDINGS.
BENEFICIARY: MAXWELL IKECHUKWU ONOCHIE.
STATUS: CONFIDENTIAL.
Maxwell stared.
Another message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD YEARS AGO.
Then another.
ASK YOUR FATHER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REST.
Maxwell showed Clara.
She read the message.
“This is why they are afraid of you.”
“Afraid of me?”
“Maybe not you.”
She looked at the screen.
“What you could inherit.”
Maxwell's face became hard.
“I don't want anything from him.”
Clara shook her head.
“You may not want it.”
“That doesn't matter.”
“You need to know what belongs to you.”
Maxwell remained silent.
Then Clara touched the photograph.
“Look at the last column.”
He zoomed in.
A second beneficiary had been listed.
MAXWELL ONOCHIE.
BENEATH IT:
CLARA ADEYEMI.
Clara stepped back.
“What?”
Maxwell looked at her.
“That's your name.”
“No.”
She stared at the photograph.
“My father's name was Adeyemi.”
Maxwell looked at her.
“Then your father may have known mine.”
Suddenly, the house lights went off.
Clara gasped.
Someone struck the front door.
Once.
Twice.
Then three times.
Maxwell grabbed a heavy wrench from the kitchen counter.
Another sound came from the rear of the house.
Someone was inside the compound.
Clara whispered.
“Maxwell…”
He raised one finger.
Silence.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Mr. Maxwell…”
It was the same voice from the phone.
“Stop running.”
A window shattered.
Clara screamed.
Maxwell grabbed her hand.
And the two of them ran toward the bedroom.
May you like
Because whoever was outside was no longer watching them.
They had come for them.
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