Chapter 9 - THE HOUSEWe left the hospital through an underground entrance.
The police moved me to a secure location.
But I couldn't stop thinking about the house.
The bedroom.
The message.
The hidden ledger.
When we arrived, the police had already surrounded the property.
The front door was open.
Furniture had been overturned.
Drawers were pulled out.
Pictures had been smashed.
Someone had searched the entire house.
Daniel.
We entered carefully.
The strange thing was that only one room seemed untouched.
Our bedroom.
Everything looked exactly as it had before.
The bed.
The curtains.
The wedding photograph.
The wardrobe.
Even Daniel's shoes.
Edward walked to the framed photograph.
“You said he hid the key behind this.”
“Yes.”
He examined the frame.
Then the wall.
Nothing.
I walked to the wardrobe.
I opened Daniel's side.
Empty.
He had taken almost everything.
Except one suit.
The suit he had worn when he proposed to me.
I touched the pocket.
Something hard was inside.
A key.
I stared at it.
Edward took it.
“Storage unit.”
A number was engraved on the tag.
Detective Alvarez called it in.
The storage unit was registered under a company name.
The same shell company Vanessa owned.
We went there that night.
Unit 47 was locked.
The key worked.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Photographs.
Documents.
Hard drives.
And one large wooden chest.
I lifted the lid.
Inside was a ledger.
Handwritten.
My father's handwriting.
Page after page of payments.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
Bankers.
Judges.
And at the bottom of every page was one recurring name.
Richard Voss.
“This is the evidence,” Edward whispered.
But then I noticed something.
The final pages had been torn out.
“Where are the rest?”
Detective Alvarez searched the boxes.
Nothing.
Then she found an envelope.
My name was written on it.
I opened it.
My father's letter began:
Marian,
If you're reading this, Daniel has already betrayed you.
I felt tears burn my eyes.
He knew.
He had known what was coming.
Don't trust anyone connected to Meridian.
Not even the police.
Especially not the police.
I looked up.
Detective Alvarez went still.
“What does that mean?”
My father's letter continued.
The ledger is not enough.
The final pages contain names that could destroy people who believe they are untouchable.
I hid the pages where Daniel would never look.
I looked around.
“Where?”
The final sentence was circled.
Where my daughter would first learn what love was.
My wedding photograph.
I grabbed it.
Behind the frame was a hidden compartment.
Inside was a small envelope.
But it was empty.
Someone had already taken the pages.
Then we heard footsteps behind us.
We turned.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
He was holding a gun.
“You should have left this alone.”
I stared at the man I had once loved.
“Where is Vanessa?”
He smiled.
“Safe.”
“Where are the pages?”
His smile vanished.
“You don't know what you're holding.”
I held the ledger against my chest.
“You married me to get it.”
“No.”
His answer surprised me.
“I married you because I needed you to trust me.”
He raised the gun.
“And because your father left out one important detail.”
“What?”
Daniel's voice became almost a whisper.
“The ledger isn't the weapon.”
May you like
He pointed at my necklace.
“You are.”
