Chapter 9 - THE GIRLLena Was the HeirI stared at the screen.
Lena was crying.
Not screaming.
Not fighting.
Just crying quietly.
The way children cry when they're trying not to make things worse.
Pilar looked at the camera.
Then at me.
Her lips formed two words.
Don't sign.
Martin saw her.
“She's very loyal.”
I looked at him.
“What does Lena inherit?”
“Everything.”
“She's five.”
“Exactly.”
Lucas shook his head.
“She can't own anything legally.”
“She doesn't need to.”
Martin pointed at me.
“You do.”
I understood.
“You want me to sign the transfer.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“The trust transfers to you.”
“And then to Lena.”
“Correct.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena created a contingency.”
I felt sick.
“My mother expected me to die.”
Martin laughed.
“No.”
“She expected you to become the legal shield.”
He nodded.
“That's the genius.”
I stared at him.
“You're going to use me to launder ownership.”
“Not ownership.”
“Then what?”
“Control.”
He looked toward the vault.
“Everything stored here belongs to the family.”
“What family?”
Martin smiled.
“The people who have been running this city for forty years.”
A loud bang came from the monitor.
Cole stepped into frame.
He struck the table beside Pilar.
“Where is the second key?”
Pilar spat blood.
“I don't know.”
Martin's expression changed.
He turned to Lucas.
“You have it.”
Lucas froze.
I looked at him.
“You have the second key?”
He reached into his jacket.
A brass key.
Number 18.
Mine was 17.
Together they formed something larger.
“Lucas.”
He handed it to me.
“Mom gave it to me.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she said you wouldn't trust me.”
I almost laughed.
“She was right.”
A countdown appeared on the monitor.
10:21.
Martin raised the gun.
“Seven minutes.”
Then the building lights came on.
All at once.
A siren screamed.
The basement doors slammed shut.
And a woman's voice came through the intercom.
My mother's voice.
“Martin.”
Everyone froze.
The speaker crackled.
“You were always bad at counting.”
Martin stared upward.
“No.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
The voice continued.
“You counted on Adrian being obedient.”
A pause.
“You counted on Lucas being forgotten.”
Another.
“And you counted on me being dead.”
The lights flickered.
A hidden door opened.
A woman stepped into the corridor.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Green eyes.
The scar beside her eyebrow.
I couldn't move.
Lucas whispered:
“Mom.”
Elena looked at us.
Then at Martin.
And finally at me.
“Adrian.”
My mother was alive.
After eighteen years.
May you like
She smiled sadly.
“You have exactly three minutes to forgive me.”
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