Chapter 4 - They Took Lily From Inside My Own Estate—But They Made One Mistake by Leaving Her Rabbit BehindThe entire estate became a battlefield.
Security searched every room.
Every closet.
Every basement.
Every vehicle.
Nothing.
Lily was gone.
I stood in her empty bedroom staring at the stuffed rabbit.
It was torn near the ear.
There was mud on one foot.
I picked it up.
“Find the source.”
Marco looked confused.
“What?”
“The mud.”
He understood.
Twenty minutes later, our lab confirmed it.
Red clay.
There was only one place within thirty miles with that exact soil.
An abandoned summer property owned by the Shaw family.
Gabriel.
We drove there.
The building was empty.
But Lily's nightgown was on a chair.
She had been there.
Recently.
I found a child's drawing on the floor.
A house.
Three stick figures.
A little girl.
A woman.
And a tall man.
I recognized myself.
Underneath it, Lily had written:
MY FAMILY.
I closed my eyes.
Then I heard movement.
A child crying.
I ran upstairs.
Lily was hiding inside a closet.
I opened it.
She threw herself into my arms.
“You came.”
I held her tightly.
“Of course I came.”
“Mommy said you would.”
“Where is your mother?”
“She's downstairs.”
We found Elena tied to a chair.
Alive.
Shaken.
But alive.
I freed her.
“Who did this?”
She looked at Lily.
“Gabriel.”
I froze.
“Where is he?”
“He left.”
“Why?”
“He wanted information.”
“What information?”
She looked at me.
“Where Marcus was.”
I frowned.
“You don't know.”
“I do now.”
Silence.
“Where?”
She whispered:
“Boston.”
Marcus was waiting in an abandoned church.
When I saw him, I stopped.
He looked older.
Thinner.
A scar crossed his cheek.
But his eyes were the same.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he smiled.
“You got old.”
I laughed.
“You died.”
“Apparently.”
I walked toward him.
Then punched him.
He stumbled.
I punched him again.
“That's for twelve years.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
I grabbed his shirt.
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had every choice.”
“No.”
His voice broke.
“If I had told you, they would have killed you too.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
He looked toward Lily.
She was asleep beside Elena.
“The man who betrayed us.”
“Name.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You won't believe me.”
“Try.”
He looked directly at me.
“Your father.”
I froze.
My father had died fifteen years earlier.
Marcus continued.
“He wasn't the traitor.”
I stared.
“Then what?”
“His name was used.”
“By whom?”
“The man who inherited everything after him.”
I understood.
My uncle.
Richard Moretti.
My father's younger brother.
I had trusted him.
He had helped me build the organization.
He had stayed beside me after my father's death.
He had become my adviser.
My family.
Marcus whispered:
“He sold information to the Marcellis.”
I shook my head.
“Why?”
“Money.”
“That's it?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at Lily.
“He wanted something else.”
“What?”
“Your throne.”
I felt cold.
Then Marcus reached into his coat.
He handed me a file.
Inside were bank records.
Shell companies.
Payments.
Names.
Richard's name appeared again and again.
I stared at the evidence.
“He's been financing the Marcellis for twelve years.”
“Yes.”
“And Gabriel?”
“His man.”
“Evelyn?”
“Paid.”
“Someone inside my estate?”
“Several.”
I closed the file.
“Then why target Lily?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Because she's the only person who can expose him.”
“How?”
He hesitated.
“Because Richard believes she inherited something from me.”
“What?”
Marcus reached into his pocket.
A small key.
“The original ledger.”
I stared at it.
“Where is it?”
Marcus smiled.
“Your house.”
My heart stopped.
“The estate?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere only Lily knows.”
I looked at the sleeping child.
“She doesn't know anything.”
Marcus shook his head.
“She does.”
May you like
I frowned.
“She was born carrying the answer.”
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