Chapter 7 - Ken Voss Was Accused of Betraying Me—But the Evidence Pointed Directly at Him
The power returned.
Ken was gone.
So was Reeve.
So was the pendant.
Mercer raised his gun.
"Where is Voss?"
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
The evidence looked terrible.
Ken had the access codes.
He had the security team.
He knew the trust existed.
He knew where the pendant was.
And he had been the last person beside me.
But I refused to believe it.
Not yet.
We searched the estate.
Nothing.
Then a bodyguard found a safe opened in Ken's office.
Inside were copies of the trust documents.
And my mother's photograph.
The room went silent.
Mercer looked at me.
"I need you to come with us."
"No."
"Marin."
"Ken didn't do this."
"You don't know that."
"I know him."
Mercer stared.
"You have known him three years."
"And you've known the files longer than I have."
"Which is why I know how dangerous he is."
That wasn't enough.
I left.
Alone.
I returned to the place where I first met Ken.
The lobby of Voss Enterprises.
I sat in the same chair.
And remembered him.
The first day.
The first time he smiled.
The first time he stayed late because I had missed the last train.
The first time he noticed I was sick.
The first time he said my name when nobody else was around.
None of those things felt like a lie.
Then I heard a voice behind me.
"You're getting very good at ignoring orders."
Ken.
I turned.
He was bleeding.
A cut across his forehead.
His shirt was torn.
He looked exhausted.
But he was alive.
I stood.
"Where were you?"
"Tracking Victor."
"You disappeared."
"To keep him from tracking you."
"Why take the pendant?"
"I didn't."
He handed me a small evidence bag.
Inside was the real pendant.
I stared.
"Then what did Victor steal?"
Ken looked at me.
"A copy."
My heart stopped.
"Someone made a duplicate."
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Reeve."
I froze.
Ken continued.
"He was working with Victor."
"No."
"He has been feeding him information for months."
I remembered Reeve's expression.
The way he always knew where I was.
The way he had been beside Ken at every critical moment.
My stomach turned.
"Where is he?"
Ken looked at me.
"With Victor."
We found them at a warehouse outside the city.
Reeve had Elena.
Victor had the false documents.
And the real target was me.
"Give me the trust key," Victor said.
I stepped forward.
"No."
He smiled.
"Then your mother dies."
Ken whispered:
"Don't."
I looked at him.
He shook his head.
He had a plan.
I trusted him.
I handed Victor the pendant.
He smiled.
Reeve grabbed me.
But the pendant was a fake.
The real key was hidden inside my shoe.
Ken attacked first.
Gunfire erupted.
Mercer and federal agents stormed the warehouse.
Reeve tried to escape.
He was arrested.
Victor ran.
I chased him.
Through the warehouse.
Across a loading platform.
Down to the river.
He turned.
"You think you've won?"
I kept my distance.
"No."
He laughed.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"You were never the real heir."
I froze.
May you like
Victor smiled.
"Ken is."
