Chapter 6 - The Ring That Changed Everything
I watched Callum for three days.
He noticed.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
“Maybe I like your face.”
He smiled.
“Dangerous answer.”
I looked at his hand.
The ring was gone.
I froze.
“Where's your ring?”
He glanced down.
“This?”
“Yes.”
He removed it.
“My father gave it to me.”
“Why?”
“Family.”
“What's the symbol?”
“A ship.”
It wasn't a raven.
I felt relief.
Then he asked:
“Why?”
I told him about the dream.
He listened.
“My grandmother warned me about a silver ring.”
His expression changed.
“Then we need to find out who wore it.”
The answer came from my father's old files.
Daniel's ring.
Raven.
He had been the man in the dream.
I told Callum.
He became very still.
“Daniel is working with Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“Then why give us the photograph?”
“To make us distrust each other.”
Callum nodded.
That was exactly what Gabriel wanted.
Divide us.
Make me question Callum.
Make Callum question me.
Break the trust.
Because the trust was the real weapon.
Then my mother was kidnapped.
The message was simple.
BRING MARIN TO THE OLD DOCKS.
Callum wanted to go alone.
I refused.
He finally said:
“Stay behind me.”
We entered the warehouse.
My mother was tied to a chair.
Daniel stood beside her.
Gabriel watched from above.
“Marin.”
“Let her go.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Daniel smiled.
“I want the final ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“You do.”
“No.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You've had it your entire life.”
He was right.
My grandmother had left me a recipe book.
Inside it were handwritten notes.
Ingredients.
Measurements.
Dates.
I had never considered that the recipes might be codes.
Callum realized it.
“The sourdough.”
“What?”
“Your grandmother's recipe.”
We translated the notes.
Numbers.
Coordinates.
Account references.
Names.
The final ledger wasn't in the basement.
It had been hidden inside the bakery's recipes.
My grandmother had disguised evidence as food.
Gabriel demanded the book.
I handed it over.
But I had already memorized the important pages.
Callum realized what I had done.
He smiled.
Gabriel didn't.
The lights went out.
Security stormed the warehouse.
Gabriel escaped.
Daniel was captured.
My mother was rescued.
The ledger was reconstructed.
Then we discovered the true secret.
The trust wasn't only about money.
It contained ownership of a shipping route.
A legal route through three major ports.
Whoever controlled it could cripple or control half the East Coast freight network.
Gabriel wanted it.
But there was one problem.
The trust required two signatures.
Mine.
And Callum's.
Not his blood.
His choice.
My grandmother had deliberately connected us.
Callum sat with the papers.
“She knew.”
“What?”
“She knew we would need each other.”
I laughed.
“That's terrifying.”
“She was clever.”
“She manipulated us from beyond the grave.”
He smiled.
“Sounds like your grandmother.”
I looked at him.
“You know what I hate?”
“What?”
“That I'm falling for you.”
He went quiet.
“You are?”
I immediately regretted saying it.
“Yes.”
He stood.
“I've been hoping you would.”
He kissed me.
Then he whispered:
“I love you.”
My heart broke open.
But the happiness lasted less than a day.
Daniel escaped custody.
Before disappearing, he sent one message.
YOU'RE TRUSTING THE WRONG MERCER.
Callum stared at it.
I asked:
“Which Mercer?”
He didn't answer.
Then his mother walked into the room.
“Callum.”
“Yes?”
She looked at me.
“Your father wasn't the only Mercer who survived that night.”
My heart stopped.
“What night?”
May you like
She whispered:
“Your parents' deaths were connected.”
