Chapter 6 - I Was the Secret the Volkov Family Had Been Hunting for Twenty-Five Years
My mother had lied to me about almost everything.
But the letter told me why.
Twenty-five years ago, before Lila existed, before Damian inherited Grayhaven, before Gabriel disappeared, I had been born inside the Volkov estate.
Not as a servant's child.
As Elara's closest friend's daughter.
My mother had been involved in a secret agreement.
She was supposed to help Elara escape.
Instead, she became a witness.
She had seen Victor arrange the deaths of several members of the family.
She had seen a ledger.
A black ledger containing every payment, every betrayal, every hidden identity.
And she had stolen it.
That was why she disappeared.
The ledger had never been found.
Until now.
I finished reading.
Then looked at Victor.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Why hire me?”
Victor stared at me.
“Because I wanted to see whether the ledger was with you.”
I felt sick.
“So all this time…”
“I didn't know where it was.”
“Did Damian?”
“No.”
I looked at Damian.
His face was hard.
“He had nothing to do with it.”
I believed him.
For some reason, that mattered.
Lila came toward me.
She touched my hand.
Then placed my fingers against her little chest.
Her heartbeat was steady.
Mine wasn't.
A man entered.
Viktor.
He held an old leather journal.
“We found this in Dr. Hale's office.”
Damian took it.
It contained dates.
Medication.
Symptoms.
And one recurring note.
The girl must remain alive.
Damian looked at me.
“The girl?”
Viktor nodded.
“Not Lila.”
“Who then?”
“Emma.”
My heart stopped.
I realized something.
The poisoning.
The break-ins.
The photographs.
They weren't centered on Damian.
They were centered on me.
Why?
Because my mother had hidden the ledger.
And the only surviving clue was encoded in the silver bracelet.
I opened the bracelet.
The numbers were coordinates.
Damian recognized them.
“That's an old warehouse.”
“Where?”
“Baltimore Harbor.”
We went there that night.
The warehouse looked abandoned.
Inside were crates stacked to the ceiling.
Lila stopped.
She touched the floor.
Then she shook her head.
Something was wrong.
“What is it?”
She pointed upward.
A wire.
A hidden camera.
Damian removed it.
Then another.
And another.
Someone was watching us.
A light switched on.
Dr. Hale stepped from the shadows.
He wasn't alone.
Three armed men surrounded us.
He smiled.
“You finally brought the girl.”
I grabbed Lila.
Damian stepped forward.
“Let them go.”
Dr. Hale shook his head.
“Not until Emma gives us the ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I don't.”
He looked at my daughter.
“Search her.”
A man moved.
Damian attacked.
The warehouse erupted into violence.
I ran.
Lila followed.
We hid behind a stack of crates.
She pressed her hand to the metal.
Then pointed left.
A man approached.
I pulled Lila behind me.
He stopped suddenly.
A burst of gunfire came from the opposite side.
Viktor.
He had entered.
The attackers turned.
Damian took the opportunity.
Within seconds, the warehouse was silent.
Dr. Hale tried to escape.
Gabriel caught him.
“You poisoned my brother.”
Hale smiled.
“I did what I was paid to do.”
“By whom?”
Hale looked at Victor.
Everyone froze.
Victor had arrived.
Dr. Hale laughed.
“Ask him.”
Victor's face was emotionless.
Damian pointed his weapon.
“You hired him.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Hale's smile widened.
“Not Victor.”
He pointed.
At Nadia.
The old aunt.
She stood behind us.
Damian looked shocked.
“You?”
Nadia sighed.
“I never wanted anyone to suffer.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You killed Mother.”
“I saved her.”
“You poisoned Damian.”
“I needed him weak.”
“Why?”
“Because the family was destroying itself.”
Nadia looked at me.
“Until you returned.”
“Why am I important?”
She whispered,
“Because you are the legal heir.”
Silence.
I laughed in disbelief.
“I’m a maid.”
“You are the daughter of Elara's eldest sister.”
“What?”
“She left you the bloodline through your father.”
I looked at Lila.
Nadia continued.
“Your claim predates Damian's.”
Damian lowered his weapon.
“I never wanted the claim.”
“I know.”
Nadia looked at him.
“That is why you were always dangerous.”
Dr. Hale suddenly lunged.
A gunshot rang out.
Nadia fell.
But before she hit the floor, she whispered one thing.
“The ledger is under the heart.”
Lila touched Damian's chest.
Her eyes widened.
Then she pointed at the tattoo over his ribs.
The wolf.
The same symbol as the bracelet.
The same symbol from the hidden files.
Damian pulled up his shirt.
There, beneath the tattoo, was a small surgical scar.
Inside the scar was a tiny capsule.
The ledger's key.
May you like
The one nobody had found.
Because it had been inside Damian all along.
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