Chapter 8 - ROBERT'S DEATH WASN'T AN ACCIDENTWe escaped the vault through an emergency tunnel.
By 3 a.m., Arthur had uncovered something horrifying.
Robert's death certificate.
The official cause was heart failure.
But the medical report showed a discrepancy.
A drug had been administered six hours before his death.
A drug that could trigger cardiac arrest.
I stared at the report.
“You think he was murdered?”
Arthur nodded.
“I'm certain.”
“Who administered it?”
“The hospital says a nurse.”
“Which nurse?”
“She doesn't exist.”
I felt sick.
A fake nurse.
A fake signature.
A fake medication record.
This wasn't a family dispute.
It was an operation.
Arthur sent the hospital file to a forensic specialist.
Within hours, we found a hidden surveillance recording from the hospital.
Robert was alive.
Weak, but conscious.
A man entered his room.
I didn't recognize him.
Then Robert said something.
“Victor.”
The man stepped closer.
“You should have stayed out of it.”
Robert whispered,
“I protected her.”
Victor's voice was low.
“You failed.”
Then the recording ended.
I stared at Arthur.
“Victor killed my husband.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Arthur pointed to the timestamp.
The recording was from two days before Robert died.
“What happened after that?”
We found another recording.
Robert was talking to someone else.
This time, Daniel.
Daniel stood beside his father's bed.
Robert looked furious.
“You cannot trust her.”
Daniel answered,
“She loves me.”
“That's what makes you vulnerable.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't understand.”
“You will.”
Robert grabbed Daniel's wrist.
“Listen to me. If I die, do not let Vanessa near Eleanor.”
I stopped breathing.
Arthur paused the recording.
There was more.
Daniel leaned closer.
“Dad, what are you hiding?”
Robert whispered,
“Your mother.”
Then the recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur looked troubled.
“We need to find Daniel.”
But Daniel disappeared.
His phone was off.
His house was empty.
Vanessa was gone too.
The police issued no public alert.
Then my phone received a text.
A photograph.
Daniel tied to a chair.
Blood on his face.
Underneath:
YOU WANT YOUR SON?
Then another message.
BRING THE RED LEDGER.
My heart stopped.
Arthur grabbed the phone.
“This is a trap.”
“I know.”
“You cannot go.”
“He's my son.”
“They know you'll say that.”
I looked at the photograph.
Daniel's eyes were open.
Terrified.
Then another message arrived.
YOU HAVE TWO HOURS.
Arthur stared at me.
“Eleanor…”
I picked up the red ledger.
“Where?”
The reply came instantly.
“Your old house.”
I froze.
The house they'd taken from me.
The house where Vanessa had told me to live on the streets.
Arthur whispered,
“They want you to walk back into your old life.”
I tightened my grip on the ledger.
“No.”
I stood.
“They want me to walk into a trap.”
May you like
Then I smiled for the first time since Robert died.
“So let's give them one.”
