Chapter 3 - The Mother Who Sold Her Daughter
Jasmine refused to believe her mother had betrayed her.
For two days, she defended her fiercely.
“She wouldn’t do that.”
Derek said nothing.
He had seen people lie for money.
He had seen people kill for power.
But family was the one variable even he couldn't predict.
On the third night, they found proof.
Jasmine’s mother had transferred $40,000 into an offshore account.
The money had come from Victor Vale.
Jasmine sat in Derek’s office, staring at the transaction report.
Her face had gone pale.
“No.”
Derek remained silent.
“She borrowed money.”
“Forty thousand dollars?”
“She could owe someone.”
“She received forty thousand.”
Jasmine looked up.
“That’s different.”
“Yes.”
Derek sat beside her.
“I'm not asking you to hate her.”
Jasmine's eyes filled with tears.
“I just need to understand.”
“So do I.”
His phone rang.
Marcus.
“They have her.”
Derek stood.
“Where?”
“Private clinic in Queens.”
Jasmine immediately rose.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Take me there.”
“No.”
“Derek.”
“No.”
“She could be hurt.”
“She could be bait.”
“I don't care.”
Derek stared at her.
“You should.”
He stepped closer.
“If your mother is working with Victor, she may have been waiting for you to come.”
Jasmine’s voice cracked.
“What if she isn’t?”
Derek had no answer.
They went.
But Derek surrounded the clinic with his men.
Jasmine remained in the armored SUV until Marcus confirmed the building was secure.
Then they found her mother.
She was sitting alone in a dim examination room.
Older than Jasmine remembered.
More frightened.
“Mom?”
Her mother looked up.
“Jasmine.”
Jasmine ran to her.
Derek remained by the door.
Her mother glanced toward him.
“You’re with him.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn't have come.”
Jasmine froze.
“Why?”
Her mother started crying.
“Because he's exactly who I was trying to protect you from.”
Derek stepped forward.
“You’re going to explain.”
Her mother looked at him.
“You think you know everything, Mr. Drake.”
“I know you accepted money from Victor.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“Not when your daughter is involved.”
Jasmine stared between them.
“What are you talking about?”
Her mother took a shaking breath.
“Your father didn’t die because he discovered money was missing.”
Derek became still.
“What happened?”
“He discovered something much worse.”
She looked at Jasmine.
“Victor’s father had infiltrated the police, the courts, the banks, even parts of the Drake organization.”
Jasmine whispered, “Why?”
“Because he wanted control of the entire city’s underground network.”
“And Dad had proof.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
Her mother looked terrified.
“He hid it.”
“Where?”
“I never knew.”
Derek frowned.
“But you knew he hid something.”
“Samuel told me that if anything happened to him, Jasmine would one day find it.”
Jasmine’s lips parted.
“Find what?”
“A red ledger.”
Derek's face changed.
The legendary Carter Ledger.
A book rumored to contain names, accounts, bribes, and evidence connecting criminal organizations to respectable businessmen.
Derek had spent years searching for it.
Victor had as well.
And all this time, Jasmine had unknowingly been carrying part of the answer.
Her mother continued.
“Your father gave me one instruction.”
“What?”
“When Jasmine turned twenty-six, I was supposed to give her the key.”
Jasmine frowned.
“What key?”
Her mother pulled a small object from beneath the mattress.
An old silver key.
Jasmine stared.
She recognized it.
She had seen it hanging from her mother’s necklace since childhood.
“You always told me it was sentimental.”
“I lied.”
Derek took the key.
There was a number engraved on it.
Jasmine whispered, “What does that mean?”
Derek looked at Marcus.
“The old Drake storage vaults.”
Jasmine stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Her mother suddenly grabbed Jasmine's wrist.
“Listen to me.”
Jasmine leaned closer.
“The people who killed your father know the ledger may still exist.”
She looked toward Derek.
“And they will destroy anyone who gets in their way.”
Derek’s voice was cold.
“They already tried.”
Her mother began crying again.
“Victor promised he would leave Jasmine alone if I told him everything.”
Derek's eyes narrowed.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
“You took his money.”
“I needed him to believe I had.”
Jasmine looked confused.
Her mother reached for her hand.
“I wanted to buy time.”
Derek stepped forward.
“Then why did you let him access her records?”
Her mother went pale.
“I didn’t.”
The realization struck Derek.
Someone else had used her account.
The money had been deposited without her permission.
Derek turned.
“Marcus, check the source again.”
Marcus left immediately.
Seconds later, he returned.
“The account was hacked.”
Derek looked at Jasmine.
“Your mother was framed.”
Jasmine closed her eyes.
Relief and fear collided inside her.
Then her mother's voice broke.
“There’s more.”
Everyone became still.
“Whoever is doing this doesn't just want the ledger.”
She looked at Derek.
“They want Jasmine.”
“Why?”
Her mother swallowed.
“Because Samuel didn’t hide the ledger alone.”
Jasmine stared.
“What do you mean?”
“He encrypted the names into something only his daughter could unlock.”
Derek's blood ran cold.
“What?”
May you like
Her mother whispered the words that changed everything.
“The ledger is hidden inside Jasmine’s memory.”
