Chapter 4 - Vanessa's SecretVanessa cried.
I had seen her cry before.
At funerals.
During arguments.
When our first tower caught fire.
But this time there was something different.
Fear.
Real fear.
She looked at Harold.
"Tell him."
Harold shook his head.
"Not here."
I stepped forward.
"No. Right here."
Vanessa stared at me.
"You have no idea what happened before we met."
"Then explain."
She looked toward the mansion.
"Your father knew his business partners were stealing from him."
I laughed bitterly.
"My father died twenty years ago."
"Exactly."
"What does that have to do with you?"
"He knew I would marry you."
Silence.
I stared at her.
"What?"
She looked down.
"I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you."
The sentence hurt more than I expected.
Harold stepped between us.
"Vanessa."
"Don't."
She pushed him away.
"For twenty-two years, I've lied."
"Why?"
"Because your father made me a promise."
"What promise?"
"He said if I kept you away from certain people, you would survive."
I looked at Harold.
"And you?"
He said nothing.
Vanessa whispered.
"He was supposed to be your protector."
I turned.
"What happened?"
"He became one of them."
Harold's face tightened.
"You don't understand."
"Then make me understand."
Vanessa looked at me.
"Your father had evidence against a financial network that controlled banks, contractors, politicians, and private investigators."
"The ledger."
She nodded.
"He hid copies."
"Where?"
"In your company."
I looked at the mansion.
"The money."
"Was bait."
I frowned.
"What?"
"They wanted your money because they believed your father hid the evidence inside your financial records."
My mind began connecting the pieces.
The fake contracts.
The shell companies.
The suspicious transfers.
The vanished partners.
Everything had been designed to make it look like I was stealing from myself.
Then investigators would seize my records.
And someone would quietly search the seized evidence.
"You destroyed my life to find something my father hid."
Harold spoke softly.
"We needed access."
"You could have asked."
"You would never have agreed."
"So you took everything."
Harold's eyes hardened.
"Not everything."
I stared at him.
"What did you leave?"
He smiled sadly.
"Rosa."
My attention snapped toward her.
She had disappeared.
I turned.
"Where is Rosa?"
Neither answered.
Then Vanessa said something that stopped me.
"Rosa isn't your housekeeper."
My heartbeat surged.
"What?"
"She worked for your father."
"What are you talking about?"
"Before she cleaned your house, she worked in his office."
I looked at the tunnel.
The woman who had cooked for me.
Who had cared for me.
Who had watched me collapse.
She had known my father.
She had known about the vault.
She had known about the money.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because your father instructed her never to."
"Why?"
Vanessa looked directly at me.
"Because he suspected one day you would become exactly like the men trying to destroy you."
I felt something crack inside me.
"You all watched me for years."
Vanessa nodded.
"Yes."
"Did you ever love me?"
She closed her eyes.
"Yes."
That answer was worse than a lie.
Harold interrupted.
"We don't have much time."
I looked at him.
"Who is coming?"
He glanced toward the road.
"The people above us."
"Names."
He hesitated.
Then he said four words.
"The governor. The bank. The judge."
I stared at him.
"And?"
Harold looked at the mansion.
"Your missing partner."
I felt the blood leave my face.
"Robert Kane?"
Harold nodded.
"He's alive."
A car screeched to a stop at the gate.
A man stepped out.
Robert Kane.
He had been missing for eleven months.
He looked older.
Thinner.
And terrified.
He saw me.
Then he ran.
Not toward us.
Away from us.
Harold shouted.
"Kane!"
Robert turned.
And screamed:
"THEY KNOW ABOUT THE CHILD!"
May you like
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
Robert fell.
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