Chapter 5 - The Debt Was A Trap
Mave stopped speaking to Dominic for two days.
She refused meals with him.
Refused conversations.
Refused to sleep in the main house.
Rosa found her sitting in the greenhouse one afternoon.
"You don't trust him."
"No."
"Do you believe Samuel?"
"I don't know."
Rosa sat beside her.
"Dominic has never lied to me."
"That doesn't mean he isn't lying to me."
Rosa considered that.
"Maybe."
Mave looked at the flowers.
"I've spent twenty-two years believing I had one family."
"You have more than one."
"Now I have too many."
Rosa smiled.
"That's usually how families work."
Mave looked toward the house.
"What was Dominic like before this?"
"Before what?"
"Before my mother disappeared."
Rosa's expression softened.
"He was different."
"How?"
"He laughed."
Mave looked at her.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Hard to imagine."
"He was reckless. Protective. Stubborn."
"Sounds familiar."
Rosa smiled.
"You sound like Eleanor."
Mave looked down.
Before she could answer, the greenhouse doors opened.
Dominic entered.
He carried a cup of coffee.
He put it on the table.
"I thought you might want this."
Mave didn't touch it.
"Why did Samuel say don't trust the man who saved you?"
Dominic sat opposite her.
"He wasn't talking about me."
"Then who?"
"My father."
Mave frowned.
"But Samuel said your father."
"I know."
"And he called you the man who saved me."
Dominic's gaze sharpened.
"Because that is what I was."
He leaned forward.
"But there are two meanings to saving someone."
Mave waited.
"I saved you from being killed."
His voice lowered.
"And I may have saved you from the person who wanted to use you."
"Who?"
Dominic looked at her.
"The person who created your debt."
Mave frowned.
"My debt?"
"The Ashcrofts did not owe me ninety-two million."
She stared.
"What?"
"They owed me sixteen million."
Mave's mouth opened.
"Then why did Gerald say ninety-two?"
"Because he needed you to believe you had no choice."
Mave stood.
"You let him say that."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to know whether you would come willingly."
She stared at him.
"You used me."
"I tested the situation."
"You used me."
He didn't argue.
That made her angrier.
"Why?"
"Because someone had spent twenty-two years hiding you."
"What does my family's debt have to do with that?"
"Everything."
Dominic stood.
"The Ashcrofts created the marriage proposal."
Mave's eyes widened.
"Then why did you agree?"
"Because it gave me access to you."
Silence.
"So I'm an investigation."
"No."
"What am I?"
He hesitated.
Then said the words he had been trying not to say.
"Family."
Mave couldn't answer.
Dominic walked away.
The next morning, Gerald was found unconscious in his office.
Karen disappeared.
The Ashcroft estate was empty.
Mave knew immediately.
"They took her."
Dominic's men searched the city.
Nothing.
Then a video appeared.
Karen sat in a dark room.
A man's voice spoke behind the camera.
"You have twenty-four hours."
Mave watched.
"Bring Dominic Vale to the old rail yard."
Dominic's expression hardened.
The voice continued.
"And bring the girl."
The screen went black.
Mave turned.
"I'm going."
"No."
"It's my mother."
"You're not a bargaining chip."
"I'm the reason they called you."
"No."
Mave looked at him.
"You said you would keep me alive."
"I will."
"Then let me help."
Dominic stared at her.
Then he nodded once.
"You're staying beside me."
The rail yard was empty.
Fog rolled across the tracks.
Dominic arrived with six men.
Mave stood beside him.
Then a figure appeared.
Gerald.
He was bleeding.
Dominic raised his weapon.
Gerald smiled.
"You finally understand."
Dominic stepped forward.
"Where is Karen?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
Gerald looked at Mave.
"Ask your father."
Mave froze.
"Who?"
Gerald smiled wider.
"The man you've spent your whole life believing was dead."
A second figure stepped out of the fog.
Mave saw his face.
She stopped breathing.
Anthony Donnelly.
May you like
Her father.
Alive.
