Chapter 12 - HomeI read the note again.
Then again.
"Home?"
Felix stared through the window.
"Where is home?"
I whispered:
"The first Marlowe House."
"No."
"The old house."
He shook his head.
"They wouldn't risk taking her there."
"Unless they want us to go there."
We ran.
The police arrived seconds later.
Felix grabbed the detective by the shoulders.
"My daughter was taken."
"Mr. Kingsley, we're locking down the hospital."
"Too late."
He held up the note.
"We know where she is."
The detective read it.
"Where?"
"Old Marlowe House."
Within minutes, we were driving through the city.
Felix drove.
I called every number I had.
No one answered.
When we reached the house, every door stood open.
The lights were on.
Lily's pink shoes sat on the staircase.
One shoe.
Then the other.
My heart shattered.
"Lily?"
A small voice answered.
"Mommy."
I ran upstairs.
She was sitting in the old kitchen.
Alone.
Safe.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed her.
"Baby."
She clung to me.
"I knew you'd come."
Felix entered behind me.
"Who brought you here?"
Lily pointed toward the pantry.
"The lady."
"Rachel?"
She shook her head.
"Grandma."
My heart stopped.
"Odette?"
Lily nodded.
"She said this was where Mommy used to cook."
I looked at the kitchen.
The old stove.
The wooden table.
My father's recipe books.
Everything had been untouched.
Except for one object.
A silver box sat in the center of the table.
I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
From my father.
Sarah,
If you are reading this, then Odette has failed to erase you.
I stared at the words.
Felix read over my shoulder.
The letter continued.
I knew she would come for Marlowe House.
But I also knew she could not control it without you.
The brand was never the empire.
You were.
Felix frowned.
"What does that mean?"
I kept reading.
Lily was never simply your daughter.
She was the legal heir to the original Marlowe House trust.
I froze.
Felix whispered:
"That's why."
The letter continued.
I created the trust before you were born.
It cannot be transferred.
It cannot be sold.
It can only pass to your first child.
Lily.
I dropped the letter.
"Odette doesn't want the merger."
Felix understood.
"She wants Lily's trust."
"But why now?"
Felix pointed to the date.
"Because Lily turns seven next month."
I stared at him.
"What happens at seven?"
"The trust activates."
The front door slammed downstairs.
Someone entered.
Felix reached for his weapon.
We listened.
Footsteps.
Slow.
A woman appeared in the doorway.
Rachel.
Holding a folder.
"I'm sorry."
I stepped in front of Lily.
"Stay away from her."
Rachel raised her hands.
"I'm here to help."
Felix looked at her.
"Where is Odette?"
"She's gone."
"Where?"
"To the trust administrator."
My blood turned cold.
"Why?"
Rachel looked at Lily.
"Because she just realized something."
"What?"
Rachel whispered:
"Lily doesn't have to be alive for the trust to activate."
Felix's face went pale.
"What?"
Rachel looked at me.
"Odette has already arranged an insurance policy."
She handed me the folder.
Inside was a life insurance document.
Lily's name.
Beneficiary:
Kingsley Hospitality Group.
I stared at it.
Then at Rachel.
"She planned to kill my daughter."
May you like
Rachel nodded.
"And the order was signed yesterday."
