Chapter 13 - The gunshot echoed through the station.I screamed.
Anna collapsed.
For a second, I couldn't move.
Then Ethan tackled Jacqueline.
The gun skidded across the concrete.
My mother pulled Anna toward her.
"Anna!"
Blood spread across the girl's sleeve.
I dropped to my knees.
"Where are you hit?"
"My shoulder."
The bullet had grazed her.
Thank God.
I looked toward Jacqueline.
She was crying.
"I missed on purpose."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She whispered,
"I had to make them believe I was trying to kill her."
Thomas appeared behind her.
He smiled.
"Not bad."
Jacqueline looked at him.
"You said you'd leave my daughter alone."
Thomas shrugged.
"Plans change."
I understood.
Jacqueline had been playing both sides.
She had helped Daniel.
Helped Thomas.
Helped us.
She had been trying to keep Anna alive.
But why had she been drinking my wine?
Why stage the entire betrayal?
Jacqueline looked at me.
"Because Thomas needed you angry."
"Why?"
"Anger makes people predictable."
She lowered her voice.
"Everything you've seen was staged."
I remembered the wine.
The shoes.
The laughter.
The conversation about the house.
The drugged bottle.
"The night I came home early."
She nodded.
"We knew."
My stomach dropped.
"You knew I was coming?"
"Yes."
"But Daniel said I wouldn't."
"He needed you to hear that."
"For what?"
"To make you believe the betrayal was about money."
I looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
"We needed you to investigate."
"Why?"
"Because you were the only person your father had protected from the truth."
My mother stepped closer.
"Your father knew you would never trust us."
"Why?"
"Because he wanted you to become the person who uncovered everything."
I looked at her.
"You knew?"
She cried.
"We all knew."
Everyone had known.
Except me.
I turned toward Thomas.
"What do you want?"
"The ledger."
"It's not in the vault."
"I know."
"Then where?"
Thomas smiled.
"With your father."
"He is dead."
Thomas shook his head.
"No."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"Richard isn't dead."
The station seemed to tilt.
My mother closed her eyes.
"I didn't know."
Thomas laughed.
"You thought we buried him."
I stared at him.
"Where is he?"
Thomas turned.
A train whistle sounded in the distance.
Then the lights outside the station flickered.
A vehicle stopped on the road.
The door opened.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Walking with a cane.
But I knew him.
My body went cold.
My father.
Alive.
I couldn't move.
He looked at me.
Tears filled his eyes.
"Emily."
I whispered,
"Dad?"
He nodded.
My mother covered her mouth.
"You promised."
He looked at her.
"I had no choice."
"You let her hate you."
"I had to."
I walked toward him.
"You let me believe you died."
"I know."
"You let me think Mom died."
"I know."
"You let me marry Daniel."
He looked at Daniel.
"That part was my mistake."
Daniel lowered his head.
Thomas stepped forward.
"Enough."
My father turned.
"Thomas."
They looked at each other.
Twenty-six years of hatred passed between them without words.
Thomas raised his weapon.
My father smiled.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"The ledger is not the weapon."
Thomas froze.
"Then what is?"
My father looked at Anna.
"Her."
Everyone went silent.
Anna stared.
"My granddaughter is the proof."
"Proof of what?"
"The entire system."
My father looked at me.
"When the babies were switched, there was one thing the hospital didn't know."
"What?"
He answered,
"Jacqueline's daughter was born with a rare genetic marker."
I looked at Anna.
"That marker?"
"It was recorded in the trust."
"So the vault recognizes her."
"Yes."
"And the ledger?"
"It's stored online."
I frowned.
"Where?"
My father smiled.
"Inside a company Thomas has controlled for fifteen years."
Thomas stared.
"What company?"
My father looked directly at him.
"Your company."
The color drained from Thomas's face.
"My father..."
"All the money you stole from the network was tracked."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Where is the server?"
My father pointed toward Thomas.
"Ask him."
Thomas slowly stepped backward.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Then he pulled out his phone.
He pressed a button.
Every phone in the station buzzed.
Mine.
Ethan's.
Daniel's.
Marcus's.
Anna's.
A message appeared.
THE LEDGER HAS BEEN RELEASED.
Then another.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
I looked at my father.
"What happens in ten minutes?"
May you like
His face went pale.
"The world sees everything."
