Chapter 6 - Emma’s Mother Was Alive—and She Had Been Protecting a Secret No One Expected
Emma looked like the world had disappeared beneath her feet.
“My mother is dead.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“No.”
“I saw her coffin.”
“A sealed coffin.”
“My father identified her.”
“Your father was lying.”
Emma turned toward me.
“Daniel.”
I stepped closer.
“I don't know.”
Sebastian laughed.
“Of course you don't.”
Then a woman appeared behind him.
Older.
Elegant.
Tired.
Emma stopped breathing.
“Mom?”
The woman began to cry.
“Emma.”
Emma stumbled backward.
“No.”
Her mother stepped forward.
“I tried to protect you.”
“Why did you leave me?”
“Because they were hunting you.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
Emma's mother looked at me.
“Your father asked me to hide.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor had already betrayed him.”
I stared at my uncle.
He didn't deny it.
Emma's mother continued.
“I carried the second half of the ledger.”
I froze.
There were two ledgers.
My father possessed one.
Emma's father possessed the second.
Together, they exposed the entire network.
Sebastian had spent decades searching for both.
“Where is yours?” I asked.
She looked at Emma.
“She has it.”
Emma's eyes widened.
The pendant.
Again.
Her mother smiled sadly.
“I gave it to you when you were a child.”
Emma touched the necklace.
“I thought it was just jewelry.”
“It was the only thing I could leave you.”
Sebastian looked furious.
“You ruined everything.”
Emma's mother shook her head.
“No.”
Then she looked at me.
“Your father always believed you'd become better than him.”
I glanced at the armed men.
“I don't know about that.”
“You already are.”
Victor suddenly raised his weapon.
He aimed at Emma.
I stepped in front of her.
A shot rang out.
I felt impact.
Pain exploded through my shoulder.
Emma screamed.
Thomas returned fire.
Victor fled.
Sebastian was captured by the Black Guard.
I collapsed.
Emma caught me.
“Daniel!”
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding!”
“It's a scratch.”
“It isn't!”
I smiled weakly.
“You sound like me now.”
She cried while pressing her hands against the wound.
“Don't ever do that again.”
“I'll try.”
I woke in a hospital two days later.
Emma sat beside me.
Her mother was there too.
For the first time in twenty-five years, mother and daughter had slept in the same house.
My mother came to visit.
She looked older.
Smaller.
She stood at the door.
“I owe you an apology.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
She cried.
“I failed you.”
“Yes.”
“I failed Emma.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
She placed a key on the table.
“The last vault.”
I frowned.
“I thought we found it.”
“This one is different.”
“What is inside?”
She looked at me.
“Your father's final instructions.”
After she left, Emma looked at me.
“Do you want to open it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm tired of discovering secrets.”
She smiled.
“So am I.”
We didn't open it that day.
Instead, we went home.
Our home.
Not my mother's.
Not Jennifer's.
Ours.
For the first time in five years, Emma slept beside me without fear.
The next morning, she asked a question.
“What happens to your empire?”
I looked out the window.
“I think I end it.”
She stared.
“You can?”
“Yes.”
“My father built it.”
“And I can choose what comes after.”
We spent the next six months dismantling the criminal side of the organization.
Companies became legitimate.
Illegal operations ended.
Employees were offered legal positions.
Those who refused were removed.
The Black Ledger was given to federal investigators.
Some people went to prison.
Some disappeared.
Some testified.
Sebastian faced trial.
Victor was arrested after being found hiding under an assumed name.
My mother cooperated with investigators.
Jennifer pleaded guilty to financial crimes.
Michael disappeared before trial but was later arrested abroad.
The mansion changed.
The party rooms became offices.
The dining hall became a conference room.
The old outdoor kitchen was demolished.
But Emma kept one thing.
The metal sink.
The same sink she had stood beside, washing pots with raw hands.
She had it turned into an art piece.
May you like
A reminder.
Never again.
