Chapter 7 - The Woman Married to My Uncle Offered Me a Deal I Could Never AcceptMargaret was calm.
Too calm.
“You don't have to be afraid.”
I almost laughed.
“You're standing in my house.”
She smiled.
“I'm here to help.”
“With what?”
“Anthony.”
“He's a criminal.”
“He is.”
“And you married him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone had to survive.”
I stared.
“You're saying you were forced?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
She looked at Emma.
“Her.”
I stepped between them.
“No.”
“She needs protection.”
“She has me.”
“You can't protect her.”
“I will.”
Margaret handed me the folder.
“Read.”
Inside were photographs.
Anthony meeting judges.
Police.
Politicians.
People I had never seen.
Then one image.
My mother.
Alive.
Years earlier.
Margaret explained.
“Anthony didn't kill Sofia because I stopped him.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew what he was doing.”
“Then why stay?”
“He threatened my daughter.”
I froze.
“You have a daughter?”
“She died.”
Silence.
“That was the leverage.”
Margaret sat.
“Anthony made me choose.”
I understood.
She was another victim.
But why come now?
“Because I want him stopped.”
She looked at Emma.
“He will never stop.”
I asked:
“What do you want in return?”
“Nothing.”
That surprised me.
“I want protection for myself.”
“You'll get it.”
“And for Emma.”
“You have my word.”
Margaret looked relieved.
She gave us a location.
Anthony was hiding in a private compound outside Boston.
We surrounded it.
But the compound was empty.
He had escaped.
Again.
There was one message:
YOU'RE GETTING CLOSER.
We found another clue.
A tunnel.
It led beneath an old Moretti warehouse.
Inside was a room.
Photos of Emma.
Her school.
Her favorite playground.
Her doctor.
Her nanny.
Someone had been watching her since birth.
I felt rage.
I broke the table.
“He knows everything.”
Sofia cried.
“He's been waiting.”
“For what?”
“Until she was old enough to activate the trust.”
Emma stood quietly.
Then said:
“Maybe we should give him what he wants.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he is bad.”
She frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because he hurts people.”
She thought.
“Then we should stop him.”
I smiled.
“Exactly.”
We built a new plan.
We would make Anthony believe Emma was ready to sign.
We would lure him out.
Then capture him.
But Anthony wasn't alone.
His men attacked the convoy.
Cars crashed.
Gunfire.
Sofia was wounded.
Emma disappeared.
I screamed her name.
“Emma!”
Nothing.
A phone rang.
Anthony.
“Hello, Daniel.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I won't.”
“What do you want?”
“The trust.”
“I'll give it.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“I don't want the money.”
“I want the child.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“She is the only one who can unlock something even bigger.”
“What?”
“The original Blackwood fortune.”
I froze.
“There is another fortune?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the place where your father died.”
My heart stopped.
My father.
May you like
The old Moretti manor.
Anthony had taken Emma there.
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