Chapter 14 - Marcus broke the -warehouse door with a steel bar.We escaped seconds before the building's alarm system activated.
Police arrived.
But whoever trapped us was gone.
Except for one thing.
A small envelope left on the desk.
Inside was a photograph.
Not of Julian.
Not of Ethan.
Not of Chloe.
Of me.
As a child.
Standing beside my grandmother.
And beside us was another woman.
I had never seen her before.
On the back:
Your mother knows.
I stared at the photograph.
“My mother?”
She had always told me my grandmother had been secretive.
She had never mentioned Alexander.
She had never mentioned the business.
Maybe because she knew.
I called her.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Marcus looked at me.
“Go to her.”
We drove to my mother's house.
The front door was open.
The house was empty.
A broken glass lay on the kitchen floor.
I found her phone on the table.
There was one unfinished message.
CLARA, DON'T TRUST JULIAN. HE—
Nothing after that.
My blood ran cold.
“She was taken.”
Police arrived.
The investigation expanded.
Then we found security footage.
A black SUV.
Leaving the house.
Driver:
Julian.
We finally had him.
But before police could locate the vehicle, my mother's phone rang.
I answered.
“Clara.”
My mother.
Alive.
Her voice was trembling.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Mom, are you safe?”
“No.”
“Who has you?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your uncle.”
My heart stopped.
“Alexander?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants something.”
“What?”
“The original records.”
“We have them.”
“No.”
“What?”
“There's still one document missing.”
“Which one?”
My mother began crying.
“The document that proves who actually owns the house.”
I looked at Marcus.
“Mom, listen to me.”
“Clara, Julian isn't your greatest danger.”
“Then who is?”
She whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
I froze.
“My grandmother is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“There is a letter.”
“What letter?”
“Your grandmother wrote it before she died.”
“To whom?”
“To Alexander.”
“What's in it?”
“She told him the truth.”
I felt a chill.
“What truth?”
My mother swallowed.
“She wasn't protecting you from Julian.”
“Then who?”
“Your grandfather.”
Silence.
My mother continued.
“Your grandfather didn't just steal the company.”
“He killed Alexander's mother.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“She found the financial records.”
“He had her killed?”
“Yes.”
“And Alexander survived?”
“Yes.”
“Why did Grandma hide this?”
“Because she was afraid Alexander would come back.”
“And now he has.”
“Yes.”
I heard another voice in the background.
A man's voice.
“Time.”
My mother whispered:
“Clara, listen to me. The house was never the prize.”
“What is?”
“The ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The one beneath Leo's floor.”
I went cold.
Leo's bedroom.
His floor.
The red fire truck.
I remembered the old floorboard beneath his bed.
One board had always been slightly loose.
My mother spoke again.
“Your grandmother hid it where she knew you'd never destroy it.”
Then the line went dead.
I looked at Marcus.
“We go to the house.”
We rushed inside.
Leo's room was untouched.
His red truck sat beneath the window.
I knelt beside the bed.
Removed the loose board.
There it was.
A black ledger.
I opened it.
Inside were names.
Payments.
Bribes.
Property transfers.
And one final page.
At the top was a name.
Julian Sterling.
Underneath it:
Original beneficiary:
Clara Sterling.
Then another line.
Secondary beneficiary:
Leo Sterling.
Then a final handwritten note.
By the time they understand this ledger, it will be too late.
I turned the page.
There was a photograph.
Alexander.
Alive.
Older.
Standing beside my grandmother.
And written beneath it:
He came back twenty-three years ago.
My heart stopped.
Twenty-three years.
He hadn't just returned.
He had been watching my family for decades.
Then the front door slammed downstairs.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
Slowly.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then the bedroom door opened.
Julian stood there.
Blood on his shirt.
A gun in his hand.
May you like
And behind him...
stood Alexander Sterling.
