Chapter 4 - The Ledger Beneath the City
The caller had used an old voice filter.
But Roman recognized the words.
“It's Vincent.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because he always speaks like he's already won.”
The next morning, Roman took me to the Valen Financial Archives.
The building had been closed for years.
Dust covered the lobby.
Shelves of old records filled the basement.
I carried my mother's notebook.
Roman stayed close.
Not because I asked.
Because he knew I was frightened.
We searched for six hours.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a line in my mother's handwriting.
RICHARD ALWAYS HID THE TRUTH WHERE NO EXECUTIVE WOULD LOOK.
I stared at the room.
“Where would my father have hidden something?”
Roman thought.
“Somewhere boring.”
I walked toward the boiler room.
There was a metal maintenance panel.
Behind it was a locked compartment.
The key from the storage unit fit.
Inside was a leather ledger.
I pulled it out.
Roman didn't touch it.
“That's it.”
The pages were filled with names, payments, dates.
Then I saw Vincent.
He had been receiving money for years.
So had several powerful officials.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
Trevor.
Roman looked at me.
“He wasn't just a victim.”
“No.”
I turned the page.
Trevor had signed documents transferring money through accounts created in my name.
“He betrayed me twice.”
The building lights went out.
Roman reached for me.
“Stay behind me.”
A noise came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Two men appeared.
Arthur's security team was outside.
But inside, it was only us.
Roman grabbed the ledger.
The men charged.
The fight lasted less than a minute.
When it ended, one man escaped.
The other was caught.
He refused to speak.
Roman looked at me.
“We leave.”
Outside, Chloe called.
She was crying.
“Trevor is missing.”
“What?”
“I came home and he was gone.”
Roman's voice sharpened.
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Trevor was tied to a chair.
Beneath it:
BRING THE LEDGER.
Roman looked at me.
“They're using Trevor as leverage.”
I shook my head.
“Let them know we're coming.”
“No.”
“Roman.”
“I will not trade your safety for him.”
“He was terrible to me.”
“I know.”
“But he doesn't deserve to die.”
Roman stared at me.
“You're still kind.”
“Don't mistake kindness for weakness.”
A slight smile touched his mouth.
“I would never make that mistake.”
We arranged the exchange in an abandoned warehouse near the river.
Arthur objected.
Roman insisted.
The warehouse was empty except for Trevor.
Vincent stepped from the shadows.
He looked older than his photographs.
“Roman.”
“Vincent.”
“You brought the ledger?”
Roman held it up.
“Release him.”
Vincent laughed.
“You still think you're negotiating.”
He looked at me.
“You have your mother's eyes.”
I stepped forward.
“You knew her.”
“I knew what she found.”
“Did you kill her?”
He paused.
“No.”
For some reason, that answer frightened me more.
“Then who did?”
“Richard.”
Roman moved.
Vincent raised a gun.
“He killed the woman because she knew too much.”
Roman's face shattered for one second.
Only one.
Then he became cold.
“Why did you keep the truth?”
Vincent smiled.
“Because I needed leverage.”
“Against me?”
“No.”
Against Roman's father.
Vincent's story slowly emerged.
Richard had planned to expose Vincent before he died.
Vincent needed the ledger buried.
But Richard trusted Elena.
He asked her to hide it.
Then Vincent discovered her.
Everything that happened afterward had been covered up.
Roman looked at his father's signature.
“He used my mother's life to protect his reputation.”
Vincent nodded.
“And now you know why I want the ledger.”
“What will you do with it?”
“Destroy it.”
“Then why threaten Sadi?”
“Because you're more predictable when she's in danger.”
Roman raised the ledger.
“You're done.”
Vincent smiled.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
A screen lit up behind him.
Bank records.
Court documents.
Photographs.
And one shocking image.
Roman and I standing outside the courthouse on our wedding day.
Vincent had known about our marriage from the beginning.
“You were watching us.”
“Always.”
Then Trevor screamed.
“It's a trap!”
The warehouse doors exploded open.
Police entered from both sides.
Vincent ran.
Roman chased him.
I stayed with Trevor.
Arthur pulled me away from the chaos.
Outside, Vincent was caught.
The ledger was secure.
Trevor was alive.
But Roman did not return.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
I stood beside the police cars, frozen.
At 1:14 a.m., Arthur's phone rang.
He listened.
His face changed.
“What?”
He lowered the phone.
“Mrs. Valen…”
May you like
“What happened?”
“Roman is missing.”
