Chapter 8 - THE CHOICE MY MOTHER LEFT ME
My mother had designed the archive so no one could own the truth without paying for it.
That was Evelyn’s genius.
Or cruelty.
Depending on the day.
The microfilm led to a numbered deposit box in Manhattan.
Inside was an encrypted drive.
One screen.
One question.
ENTER PATERNAL NAME.
I typed:
CALVIN REDDICK.
The drive unlocked.
Adrien stood beside me.
Nora behind us.
Matteo across the room.
For once, three crime families were quiet.
Folders appeared.
REDDICK.
VISCARI.
MORETTI.
BLAKE.
JUDICIARY.
POLICE.
CONSTRUCTION.
MURDERS.
My stomach turned.
“This can ruin hundreds of people.”
Adrien looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Some guilty.”
“Yes.”
“Some connected but innocent.”
“Yes.”
Matteo leaned forward.
“We need to control the release.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“You don’t understand what happens if this becomes public.”
“That sentence is exactly why my mother built it.”
Adrien said nothing.
I looked at him.
“Well?”
“What?”
“Are you going to tell me not to release it?”
His jaw tightened.
“No.”
Matteo stared.
“Adrien.”
He ignored him.
“It belongs to Lena.”
“Those files contain your father.”
“I know.”
“Your organization.”
“I know.”
“You could lose everything.”
Adrien looked at me.
“That does not make it mine to decide.”
Something inside me shifted.
The man who ruled by control was handing me the choice.
I opened the Viscari folder.
Vittorio had paid judges.
Threatened witnesses.
Ordered beatings.
Bought unions.
But one file stood apart.
EVACUATION FUND.
Millions had been moved secretly to relocate families endangered by Reddick.
Evelyn had helped.
Vittorio had been criminal.
Also, sometimes, protector.
People were complicated enough to be both.
Then we opened REDDICK.
Murders.
Blackmail.
Election fraud.
Extortion.
The attempted killing of Evelyn.
Orders to monitor me.
Payments to Henry Blake.
Payments to Marcus.
And one current instruction.
ELIMINATE LENA AFTER ACCESS CONFIRMATION.
I felt nothing.
Perhaps I had exhausted fear.
Then Adrien’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Reddick.
“Did she open it?”
Adrien’s face became cold.
“Come ask her.”
Reddick laughed.
“Put Lena on.”
I took the phone.
“Hello, Dad.”
Silence.
For the first time, Calvin Reddick had nothing to say.
Then:
“Your mother poisoned you against me.”
“My mother kept me alive.”
“She stole you.”
“You threatened to take me.”
“You were my daughter.”
“I was not property.”
His breathing changed.
“You have no idea what’s on that drive.”
“I’m looking at it.”
“You release it, Adrien falls too.”
I looked at Adrien.
He did not move.
“Maybe.”
Reddick continued.
“You love him?”
The question shocked me.
“What?”
“Viscari.”
I said nothing.
He laughed softly.
“I’ve watched you long enough to know.”
Adrien’s gaze locked on mine.
My face burned.
Reddick knew.
Of course he knew.
He had watched everything.
“Release those files and you destroy the man protecting you.”
I answered quietly.
“If Adrien’s protection depends on hiding crimes, then it isn’t protection.”
Adrien’s expression changed.
Reddick became silent.
Then cold.
“You sound exactly like Evelyn.”
“Good.”
I ended the call.
And for the first time, Adrien smiled.
Not because the situation was funny.
Because I had chosen my mother’s side.
Then Nora noticed something.
A live access log.
Someone else was inside the archive.
At that exact moment.
Using Evelyn’s backup credentials.
Only one person besides my mother had ever received them.
Teresa Cole.
But Teresa was still in Connecticut.
May you like
Someone had stolen her identity.
And the login location was inside Viscari Tower.
