Chapter 12 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be DeadSamuel could barely stand.
“You're alive.”
Rachel nodded.
Avery ran into her arms.
“Mommy!”
Rachel collapsed onto her knees and held her daughter.
“I missed you.”
“Daddy said you went away because you didn't love me.”
Rachel looked at Samuel.
Her face broke.
“He lied.”
Samuel knelt.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I couldn't.”
“You could have called.”
“Every phone I used was monitored.”
“Then why come back now?”
Rachel looked at the blue elastic.
“Because Madeline has started moving.”
“What does she want?”
“Avery.”
Samuel went still.
Rachel stood.
“She doesn't want custody.”
“Then what?”
“She wants access.”
“To what?”
Rachel hesitated.
“An inheritance.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Avery is six.”
“That is why.”
Rachel explained.
When she married Jordan, she had signed a trust agreement.
If Avery inherited Rachel's shares before adulthood, a trustee would control them.
But the trustee named in the original agreement had secretly been changed.
The new trustee was Madeline Cross.
Samuel understood.
“Madeline gets control of everything.”
Rachel nodded.
“If Avery is declared dependent on Jordan's household, Madeline can control the trust through him.”
“Then why not expose her?”
“Because the ledger alone isn't enough.”
“What do you need?”
Rachel looked at Thomas.
Then at Samuel.
“Proof of who ordered the accident.”
“We have Jordan on camera.”
“Jordan didn't order it.”
Samuel stared.
Rachel whispered:
“Madeline did.”
Rachel explained everything.
Madeline had known for years that Avery was Daniel Vale's biological daughter.
She wanted access to Daniel's dormant trust.
But Daniel's inheritance could only pass to a direct descendant.
Avery.
That was why Madeline had hidden Daniel.
That was why she manipulated Jordan.
And that was why Rachel had been hunted.
Samuel's voice went cold.
“Who was in the car?”
Rachel answered:
“Claire.”
“Why?”
“Claire was my decoy.”
“What happened?”
“Madeline intercepted us.”
“And the crash?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“She forced Claire's car toward the guardrail.”
Samuel stared.
“You escaped.”
“With help.”
“Who?”
Rachel looked toward Thomas.
He nodded.
“I pulled her out.”
Samuel looked at his brother.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury my daughter.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“Because Rachel asked me to.”
Samuel struggled to contain his anger.
Rachel stepped between them.
“Dad, I made him promise.”
Samuel looked at her.
“You broke three months of my life.”
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Then a phone rang.
Rachel froze.
Everyone went still.
The phone belonged to Avery.
A text appeared.
COME ALONE.
Then another.
BRING THE LEDGER.
A photograph followed.
Jordan stood beside Madeline.
And between them was a locked room.
Avery recognized it.
She whispered:
“That is Daddy's basement.”
Samuel looked at Rachel.
“They have someone.”
Rachel nodded.
“Who?”
The next photograph arrived.
Rachel's face went white.
It showed Daniel Vale.
Alive.
Bound to a chair.
And beneath the photograph was one sentence.
ONE FAMILY MEMBER FOR ONE LEDGER.
Thomas swore.
Rachel grabbed the phone.
“It's a trap.”
Samuel stared at the photograph.
Then another message arrived.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT.
Rachel looked at her father.
“We have to go.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“We don't trade the ledger.”
Rachel frowned.
“Then what?”
May you like
Samuel held the blue elastic.
“We trade them something they don't know we have.”
