Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO SOLD HER EVERYTHINGDavid refused to believe it.
“There has to be an explanation.”
Stella sat at the kitchen table, trembling.
Their mother had locked herself in the bedroom.
“Then explain the photograph.”
“I can't.”
“Explain the money.”
“I can't.”
“Explain the woman.”
“I can't!”
Her scream echoed through the kitchen.
Then silence.
David sat across from her.
“You're hiding something.”
Stella looked down.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three months.”
Three months.
That was when everything had changed.
Stella had started coming home late.
She stopped talking about work.
She bought expensive clothes.
She suddenly paid off debts she had complained about for years.
David had assumed she'd found a better job.
He had been wrong.
“Tell me everything.”
Stella closed her eyes.
“His name was Adrian Vale.”
David frowned.
“Who is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“At a restaurant.”
“And he offered you money?”
“He offered me something more valuable.”
“What?”
“A contract.”
She reached into her purse.
David took the document.
It was handwritten.
No company name.
No address.
No legal seal.
Only a series of conditions.
David read the first line.
THE RECEIVER ACCEPTS THE GIFT WITHOUT QUESTION.
The second:
THE RECEIVER SHALL NOT SEEK THE ORIGIN OF THE GIFT.
The third:
THE RECEIVER SHALL NOT TRANSFER THE GIFT TO ANOTHER.
The fourth:
THE RECEIVER SHALL NEVER SPEAK HIS NAME THREE TIMES.
David looked up.
“This isn't a contract.”
Stella nodded.
“I know.”
“Why sign it?”
“Because he told me Mom would die without the money.”
David stared.
“He knew about her illness?”
“He knew everything.”
“What did he demand?”
Stella went silent.
David waited.
Finally she said:
“Nothing.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I asked him the same thing.”
“And?”
“He smiled.”
“What did he say?”
Stella whispered:
“He said I'd understand later.”
The room became cold.
David looked at the document again.
At the bottom was Stella's signature.
But beneath it was another name.
DAVID.
He stared.
“I never signed this.”
Stella's face changed.
“I know.”
“Then why is my name here?”
She slowly shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Suddenly the bedroom door slammed open.
Their mother screamed.
David ran.
Linda stood in front of the bed.
The walls were covered in black writing.
Hundreds of names.
All written in dark, wet-looking ink.
David recognized some.
Neighbors.
Former friends.
People Stella had mentioned over the years.
Then he saw one name that made his blood turn cold.
His own.
Written thirteen times.
“Mom?”
Linda stared at the wall.
“I should have told you.”
“Told me what?”
She began crying.
“Adrian Vale came to this family before.”
David froze.
“When?”
“Twenty-seven years ago.”
“Why?”
Linda's voice dropped to a whisper.
“He made the same offer.”
“To whom?”
She looked at herself in the mirror.
“To your father.”
David went silent.
Their father had died when David was five.
A heart attack.
That was what he'd always been told.
“What happened?”
Linda didn't answer.
Instead, she pointed toward the wall.
“Your father signed.”
David looked closer.
At the bottom of the names was another sentence.
THE DEBT WAS NEVER PAID.
Then someone knocked on the front door.
Three times.
David walked downstairs.
He knew before opening it.
Adrian Vale was standing outside.
Perfect suit.
Silver cane.
Calm smile.
“You're David,” he said.
David's hands clenched.
“You know my name.”
Adrian smiled.
“I've known your family for a very long time.”
David stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
Adrian looked past him.
At Stella.
May you like
Then at Linda.
“I've come to collect.”
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