Chapter 5 - JESSICA'S REAL NAMEThe police arrived too late to save the house.
By dawn, it was a blackened skeleton.
David was gone.
Margaret was gone.
Jessica was gone.
And that was when Samuel made the decision that changed everything.
“We disappear.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“Madeline…”
“I've spent six months pretending to be dying.”
I looked at the ruined mansion.
“I am done hiding.”
Samuel nodded reluctantly.
“There is another problem.”
“David?”
“No.”
He placed a folder on the table.
“Jessica isn't Jessica.”
I opened it.
Her real name was printed at the top.
Elena Vale.
Richard went completely still.
“That can't be.”
Samuel looked at him.
“She is your daughter.”
Richard didn't move.
I looked at him.
“You said you had one son.”
“I thought she was dead.”
The room became silent.
I stared at the photograph.
Young Elena.
A little girl standing beside Richard.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same woman who had measured my curtains.
“She changed her name,” Samuel said.
“Why?”
Richard answered:
“Because someone was hunting her.”
“Who?”
“Blackwell.”
I stood.
“So Jessica was never David's random affair.”
“No.”
Samuel shook his head.
“She was placed beside him.”
I felt the pieces snapping into place.
“My husband knew?”
“Probably.”
Richard looked devastated.
“She wouldn't do this.”
I laughed bitterly.
“She stood beside my bed and planned what my room would look like after I died.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“You don't know what they threatened her with.”
“You're defending her?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I'm warning you.”
Before I could respond, the security system beeped.
A camera feed appeared.
A woman was walking into the warehouse.
Jessica.
No.
Elena.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then she raised both hands.
“I came alone.”
Samuel reached for the weapon under his jacket.
Elena screamed:
“Don't!”
The doors opened.
She entered.
She looked exhausted.
Not glamorous anymore.
No designer dress.
No perfect makeup.
Just fear.
She stared at me.
“I know you hate me.”
“You deserve it.”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
She reached inside her coat.
Richard stepped forward.
“Slowly.”
She removed a USB drive.
“This is the reason he married you.”
I took it.
“What is it?”
“A map.”
“To what?”
“The vault.”
Samuel stiffened.
I looked at her.
“Why give it to me?”
“Because David is going to kill everyone who knows where it is.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Richard.
“Because Adrian already has the ledger.”
Silence.
“What?”
Elena nodded.
“Your uncle found it years ago.”
“But my father said only I could open the vault.”
“He lied.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Because the vault doesn't contain the ledger.”
“What does it contain?”
Elena's voice dropped.
“Names.”
“What names?”
“The names of people who paid your father.”
“And?”
“The names of people your father paid.”
My stomach turned.
She continued:
“And the name of the person who ordered your father's death.”
Silence.
I stared at her.
“My father died in a car accident.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
She took a breath.
“He was murdered.”
Richard looked away.
I turned to him.
“You knew?”
He didn't answer.
My voice became colder.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me break.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
“He promised you nothing.”
“He saved my life.”
I stared at him.
Elena stepped forward.
“Your father knew Blackwell would come after you.”
“So he hid the ledger?”
“No.”
She pointed to the USB.
“He hid something much worse.”
“What?”
“The evidence that could destroy every person still alive inside the organization.”
I looked at the USB.
“Who has it now?”
Elena answered:
“Adrian.”
“And David?”
Elena hesitated.
“David has something else.”
“What?”
“A copy of your father's final message.”
My chest tightened.
“What message?”
Elena looked at Richard.
Then whispered:
“He warned David.”
My stomach dropped.
“Warned him about what?”
She said:
“He told him never to marry you.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Why?”
Elena looked me directly in the eyes.
“Because your father knew your husband would eventually try to kill you.”
My fingers tightened around the USB.
“How did my father know David?”
She whispered:
“Because David's father wasn't the man who raised him.”
I froze.
“Then who was he?”
Elena looked toward the door.
A shadow moved behind the glass.
She whispered:
“The man standing outside.”
The lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot shattered the warehouse.
And Richard fell.
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