Chapter 10 - The SuccessorThe document was real.
Or real enough.
It carried seals.
Bank transfers.
Corporate registrations.
Lawyer signatures.
Vincent's name.
Daniel read the pages.
“This cannot happen.”
Vale looked at him.
“It already has.”
Vincent tossed the file onto the table.
“My mother forged my signature.”
“No.”
Vale's answer was immediate.
“Your father prepared it.”
Vincent frowned.
“My father died eighteen years ago.”
“He prepared it before he died.”
“Why?”
“To protect the family.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“He always called control protection.”
Vincent looked at Vale.
“You expect me to believe my father wanted me to inherit everything?”
“No.”
Vale leaned closer.
“He wanted you to be blamed for everything.”
Silence.
That was the missing piece.
Vincent looked at the documents again.
Every crime could now be tied to him.
Every account.
Every bribe.
Every property.
Every hidden transaction.
And if his name had been attached to the organization before he knew it existed, he could be erased as the final culprit.
“Your father knew he was dying,” Vale said.
“He created a successor who didn't know he was a successor.”
Vincent's face hardened.
“Then why did my mother disappear?”
“She didn't.”
Vale looked at Daniel.
“Daniel did.”
Vincent turned.
Daniel's eyes closed.
It took him several seconds to speak.
“I left because she asked me to.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to see what Carlo would do.”
“To Lily?”
“To you.”
Vincent stared.
Daniel swallowed.
“She believed Carlo would reveal himself if he thought you were about to inherit.”
Vincent stepped back.
“So all of this…”
“Was a test.”
“The diner?”
“Controlled.”
“The jar?”
“Real.”
“The coins?”
“Real.”
“The attacks?”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“Some.”
Vincent's voice became cold.
“Some?”
“Carlo went off script.”
That explained the blood.
The broken window.
The gunmen.
The kidnapped Elena.
“Where is my mother?”
Daniel pointed toward the garage door.
Outside, a black sedan waited.
Inside sat an old woman with white hair.
She lowered the window.
Vincent stopped breathing.
His mother looked exactly the same.
Older, yes.
But unmistakably her.
“Vincent.”
He stood frozen.
She stepped out.
Daniel remained where he was.
Lily whispered:
“Is that my grandmother?”
Elena looked at her.
And smiled.
“Yes.”
Lily took one step forward.
Vincent grabbed her hand.
Something was wrong.
He couldn't explain it.
Maybe it was the fact that his mother had been alive for eighteen years.
Maybe it was the army of armed men surrounding the garage.
Maybe it was the way everyone suddenly looked at her.
Not like a woman.
Like a queen.
Elena approached Vincent.
“You have your father's eyes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I needed you angry enough to stay away.”
“From what?”
“From this.”
She gestured around them.
“The family.”
Vincent laughed without humor.
“You're the family.”
Elena's expression changed.
“No.”
She looked at Lily.
“The family belongs to whoever holds the ledger.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“Then where is it?”
Elena smiled.
“Ask the little girl.”
Lily froze.
Vincent looked down at her.
“What does she have?”
Elena pointed toward Lily's backpack.
“The key.”
Lily slowly opened it.
Inside was a silver object.
Not a key.
A small metal cassette case.
Vincent stared.
The same case Daniel had been searching for.
Elena looked at it.
Then at Vincent.
“Your father hid the truth inside that recording.”
“What truth?”
Elena's voice became almost a whisper.
“That Daniel is not your father's son.”
Vincent stared.
Daniel looked up sharply.
“What?”
Elena nodded.
“And Carlo knows.”
The garage suddenly filled with gunfire.
Everyone dropped.
May you like
When Vincent looked back up, Elena was gone.
And Lily was missing.
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