Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO SAVED MEI stared at Grandmother.
“You erased me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Northbridge was preparing to eliminate you.”
Dad looked at her.
“You told me she ran away.”
“I needed him to believe that.”
Mom started crying.
“You never told me.”
“Because you would have followed her.”
I looked at her.
“And the fake letters?”
“Maya.”
“The fake identity?”
“Northbridge.”
“The surveillance?”
“To keep you alive.”
I shook my head.
“You made my family believe I abandoned them.”
“I made your family believe what would keep you safe.”
“That isn't protection.”
Grandmother sighed.
“No.”
Her expression softened.
“It was the only way I knew.”
For the first time, she looked old.
Not powerful.
Not frightening.
Just exhausted.
Daniel opened another file.
“Maya wants to speak.”
We called the jail.
Her face appeared on screen.
She looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I swallowed.
“Why did you pretend to be me?”
“Because Northbridge was hunting you.”
“You could have told me.”
“They were monitoring every communication.”
“So you wrote fake letters.”
“Yes.”
“To make them think I hated my family.”
“Yes.”
“And the money?”
“I moved it.”
“What?”
“Your real savings.”
She gave a bitter smile.
“Your father had access to the account. I took the money before Northbridge could.”
I stared.
“How much?”
“About twenty-nine thousand.”
I nearly laughed.
“Dad said twenty-eight.”
“I left some.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted them to think you were careless.”
I looked at her.
“You saved my money.”
“Yes.”
I didn't know what to say.
Then Maya's expression changed.
“Taylor, listen carefully.”
“What?”
“Northbridge isn't trying to frame you anymore.”
“Then what?”
“They've decided to kill the trust.”
“What happens then?”
She leaned closer.
“Everything in your name disappears.”
“The money?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Your identity.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“They can legally erase your ownership.”
Daniel nodded.
“If the archive validates a fraudulent identity, every document tied to Taylor Hayes can be challenged.”
My stomach dropped.
“My birth certificate.”
“Yes.”
“My social security number.”
“Yes.”
“My bank accounts.”
“Yes.”
“My apartment?”
“Yes.”
“My job?”
“Potentially.”
I stared at the screen.
“They can erase me.”
Maya nodded.
“That was always the plan.”
Then she gave me one last piece of information.
“There is a master key.”
“Where?”
“With the only person Northbridge still fears.”
“Who?”
She smiled sadly.
“Your mother.”
I turned.
Mom was crying.
“Why me?”
Maya answered.
“Because you were the original architect.”
Mom closed her eyes.
Then whispered,
“I know where the master server is.”
Daniel stood.
“Where?”
Mom looked at me.
“Under the house.”
I frowned.
“We were just in the basement.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“There's another room.”
A hidden room beneath the hidden room.
And when we opened the second door, I saw something that made my blood turn to ice.
May you like
A wall of monitors.
All displaying my face.
