Chapter 6 - The Man Who Tried To Kill Us Wanted The Ledger—But He Never Expected Me To Fight Back

The first shot shattered the library window.

Lucian pulled me to the floor.

"Stay down."

Security moved into the room.

More shots echoed outside.

I felt strangely calm.

Fear had lived inside me for so long that it had become familiar.

But this was different.

This wasn't Ryan.

This wasn't a threat.

This was a coordinated attack.

Lucian crawled toward the door.

"Where's Marco?"

"East side."

He looked at me.

"You stay here."

"No."

His eyes narrowed.

"Not this time."

"I know the house better than you."

He blinked.

"I live here."

"I've spent three days exploring every room."

Despite everything, he almost smiled.

"You're impossible."

"Yes."

He handed me a flashlight.

"Stay close."

We moved through the service corridor.

A hidden passage led beneath the kitchen.

I had discovered it earlier.

It opened behind the garage.

Marco was waiting.

"Boss."

"Status?"

"Six intruders."

"Victor?"

"No sign."

I handed him the ledger.

Marco looked surprised.

"You found it."

"Yes."

"Then this is bigger than we thought."

A car engine roared outside.

Lucian looked toward the driveway.

"Move."

We escaped.

For the next forty minutes, we drove through Manhattan's back roads.

No one spoke.

Then Lucian's phone rang.

He answered.

The voice on the other end was Ryan.

"Do you have the ledger?"

Lucian's expression changed.

"How did you get this number?"

"I know everything about Amanda."

My stomach twisted.

Ryan continued.

"You don't understand."

"I understand enough."

"No."

He laughed.

"She isn't the only one who will suffer."

Lucian's voice turned deadly.

"If you touch her—"

"She's already lost."

The line went dead.

I stared at Lucian.

"He knows where we are?"

"Not yet."

"Then why call?"

"To make me angry."

"Why?"

"Because angry people make mistakes."

I thought about it.

Then I understood.

"He wants you to chase him."

Lucian looked at me.

"Yes."

"So don't."

His eyes narrowed.

"Explain."

"Make him think you're chasing him."

I pointed at the ledger.

"Then we follow the money instead."

Lucian stared.

"You want to investigate him."

"I've been doing that my entire career."

"You're a nurse."

"I read medical records."

He smiled.

"That's why I like you."

I looked away before he could see me blush.

We traced Ryan's transactions.

He wasn't working alone.

Daniel Price had been connected to a shell company.

Victor funded it.

And one of Lucian's own men had provided access.

Marco's expression hardened when we found the name.

"Impossible."

Lucian asked:

"Who?"

Marco hesitated.

"Jonathan."

Jonathan had worked for the family for nine years.

He handled security logistics.

He knew the house.

The routes.

The cameras.

Everything.

He had betrayed them.

And he wasn't acting alone.

His daughter had medical debts.

Victor had promised to pay them.

That didn't excuse it.

But it explained how someone so trusted could fall.

We found Jonathan at a storage facility.

He surrendered without a fight.

"I never wanted anyone hurt."

"Where is Victor?" Lucian asked.

Jonathan shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Where's Ryan?"

Silence.

Jonathan looked at me.

"He took your apartment."

"What?"

"He found the key."

My stomach dropped.

"My father's key?"

Jonathan nodded.

"Your mother left a second trust document."

"What does it say?"

"You can only access the final funds if you bring the ledger to the original family property."

I stared.

"The property?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

He gave us an address.

A farmhouse in upstate New York.

My parents had lived there before moving to the city.

I had never seen it.

The next day, we went.

The house looked abandoned.

Inside was an old nursery.

A small wooden crib.

Photographs.

My childhood blanket.

I cried.

My mother had kept everything.

Lucian stood in the doorway.

"You okay?"

"No."

He came closer.

"This is where you grew up?"

"For a while."

He looked around.

"It's beautiful."

"It was."

I found another letter.

This one was from my mother.

She explained the trust.

It wasn't designed to enrich me.

It was designed to give me freedom.

If I ever chose to leave the dangerous world surrounding my father, the trust would support me.

There was no obligation to join anything.

The ledger wasn't an inheritance.

It was evidence.

My father had wanted me to have the truth, not his empire.

I cried harder.

Lucian knelt beside me.

"Your father was a good man."

"How do you know?"

"Because he chose you."

I looked at him.

He took my hand.

"I choose you too."

My heart stopped.

He swallowed.

"I know the timing is terrible."

I laughed through tears.

"Very."

"I don't want you because you need protection."

"Good."

"I don't want you because of the trust."

"Even better."

"I want you because you are the strongest person I've ever met."

I smiled.

"I don't feel strong."

"You kept getting up."

He kissed my forehead.

The moment was interrupted by an engine outside.

A car stopped.

Ryan stepped from it.

And beside him stood Victor.

Ryan shouted:

"Bring me the ledger!"

Lucian stood.

I stepped beside him.

Victor smiled.

"Family reunion."

I looked at him.

"You don't get to call this family."

Victor's eyes hardened.

"Then let's discuss money."

He held up a document.

"The trust."

I looked at the paper.

The final beneficiary clause had been altered.

Forged.

Ryan had tried to steal the entire inheritance.

But I knew exactly where the original was.

In my father's handwriting.

I smiled.

"You forged the wrong version."

Victor's face changed.

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For the first time, he looked uncertain.

I had finally stopped being afraid.