Chapter 4 - My Father's Final Confession
The room had no windows.
The steel door wouldn't move.
I tried the electronic panel.
Nothing.
“Victor?”
No answer.
Clara was breathing too quickly.
“Emma.”
“What?”
“I can't breathe.”
I moved toward her.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“Slow breaths.”
“I thought this was over.”
“It isn't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if Victor wanted us dead, he wouldn't lock us in a room filled with evidence.”
She stared at me.
“What would he want?”
“Time.”
I searched the room.
There had to be another exit.
My father never trusted one-way rooms.
Behind a row of cabinets, I found a narrow service hatch.
We crawled through it.
It opened into the basement.
When we emerged, the mansion was quiet.
Too quiet.
Security had been dismissed.
The staff was gone.
Only Mother remained.
She sat in the sitting room.
Waiting.
“You found it.”
I stared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Victor had hidden this?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I needed you to believe the truth when you found it.”
I was furious.
“My mother was kidnapped inside her own house.”
“She wasn't kidnapped.”
“What?”
Mother looked at Clara.
“I sent you both there.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“You needed to find your father's recordings before Victor realized the search had begun.”
Clara shook her head.
“You could have gotten us killed.”
Mother smiled.
“My dear, I have stage-four cancer.”
She touched her chest.
“I'm not afraid of dying.”
I stepped toward her.
“But I am afraid of leaving my son surrounded by liars.”
Her words silenced me.
Mother pointed toward the table.
“There is one more thing.”
A package sat there.
I opened it.
Inside was a notebook.
My father's handwriting.
I read.
Adrian Hale's confession.
He admitted he had built the family business inside a dangerous world.
He admitted he had made terrible decisions.
He admitted he had trusted Victor longer than he should have.
But one thing was clear.
He had not ordered Thomas's murder.
He had tried to save Thomas after Victor discovered the ledger.
The night Thomas died, Adrian had confronted Victor.
Victor had staged the warehouse explosion.
Thomas had been there because he was trying to retrieve evidence.
My father's final entry ended with one sentence.
“Eleanor, if I fail, protect Thomas's daughter as though she were our own.”
I looked at Clara.
She was crying silently.
“He knew me?”
Mother nodded.
“He met you many times when you were little.”
“You never told me.”
“I promised him.”
“Why?”
“Because if Victor learned Thomas had survived the first attack, he would have hunted everyone connected to him.”
I froze.
“Survived?”
Mother's eyes met mine.
“That is where the story changes.”
Clara stood.
“You mean my father wasn't killed in the explosion?”
Mother looked at her.
“Not immediately.”
Clara's lips parted.
“He survived?”
“For three days.”
I stared.
“What happened?”
“Thomas was badly injured.”
Mother's voice trembled.
“He was taken to a private clinic under another name.”
“Who took him?”
“Your father.”
“Then why did everyone think he died?”
“Because Victor was watching every hospital.”
Mother closed her eyes.
“Thomas knew he would not survive.”
Clara was shaking.
“He died?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three days later.”
Clara cried.
“But he wasn't abandoned.”
“No.”
“He was with my father.”
“Yes.”
For the first time since I knew Clara, I saw the anger leave her face.
She had carried the wrong story for twelve years.
I reached for her hand.
She let me.
Mother watched us.
Then she said quietly:
“There is something else you both need to know.”
I already knew I wasn't going to like it.
“Victor has the original Northstar ledger.”
“Then why did we find the copies?”
“Because your father made copies.”
Mother pointed toward Clara.
“Thomas gave one to him.”
“And the original?”
“To me.”
I stared.
“You have it?”
“No.”
“Then who does?”
Mother smiled sadly.
“Victor.”
I frowned.
“Why would he keep the original if it can destroy him?”
“Because he believes no one knows where it is.”
“Where is it?”
Mother looked at Clara.
“She has it.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
Mother smiled.
“Your father hid it inside something you inherited.”
Clara remembered.
“My mother's necklace.”
“Yes.”
She touched the pendant around her neck.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a tiny folded strip of paper.
A code.
No ledger.
Only coordinates.
I looked at Mother.
“Where does it lead?”
“To the old Hale estate.”
The one we hadn't used in twenty years.
The one my father had abandoned.
Mother's eyes filled with tears.
“That is where Adrian kept everything he wanted to bury.”
I looked at Clara.
“We're going.”
Mother grabbed my wrist.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor expects you to.”
I went still.
“How does he know?”
Mother's voice was almost a whisper.
“Because there is a traitor inside this house.”
We both turned toward the door.
The mansion was silent.
May you like
Then Mother said:
“And I know exactly who it is.”
