Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
We moved quickly.
Dad pulled Ethan toward the hallway while I grabbed Leah's hand.
The house remained dark.
Then footsteps sounded downstairs.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone wasn't searching.
They were waiting.
My phone vibrated.
A text appeared.
COME TO THE STUDY ALONE.
I showed Ethan.
He shook his head.
“No.”
“I have to know who it is.”
“You don't have to do anything alone.”
We moved together.
When we reached the study, the door was open.
The window stood broken.
And on the desk was another photograph.
My mother.
Thomas Vale.
And a third person.
Me.
But I was only a child.
I looked closer.
The photograph had been taken outside my grandfather's house seventeen years earlier.
The night before he died.
A shadow moved behind us.
We turned.
My mother stood in the doorway.
She was crying.
“Jake.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to warn you.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“About Thomas?”
She froze.
“You know?”
Dad walked into the room.
“It's time, Vivian.”
Mom looked at him with hatred.
“You should have told them years ago.”
“I tried.”
“No. You protected yourself.”
She looked at me.
“I never wanted you to know this way.”
I held up the photograph.
“Is Thomas alive?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
“I am not lying.”
She took a breath.
“He contacted me six months ago.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“What did he want?”
“The trust.”
“And you helped him?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” I said.
She looked at me.
“You don't understand what he threatened.”
“What?”
“Your wife.”
Leah went still.
Mom continued.
“He knew about Northbridge. He knew the company had been registered using Leah's identity. He threatened to frame her for fraud.”
Leah whispered:
“So that's why you used my name?”
Mom shook her head.
“Not me.”
“Then who?”
She looked toward Dad.
“Your father.”
Everyone turned.
Dad's face went pale.
“You knew?”
Mom nodded.
“Edward created Northbridge.”
I stared at him.
Dad closed his eyes.
“I did it to protect the trust.”
“By putting Leah's name on it?”
“I thought I could hide the assets.”
“From Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“But then why did you keep paying?”
Dad looked at me.
“Because Thomas discovered the company.”
The room fell silent.
Mom stepped closer.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“Thomas isn't working alone.”
“Who is?”
She looked at Ethan.
“Your brother's wife.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Brielle?”
Mom nodded.
“She contacted Thomas months ago.”
Ethan looked stunned.
“My wife?”
“She wanted access to the trust.”
“Why?”
Mom's voice dropped.
“Because Thomas promised her half.”
Leah grabbed my arm.
“Jake…”
My mother reached into her purse.
She pulled out a flash drive.
“This contains everything.”
“Everything?”
“Bank transfers. Emails. Recordings.”
I took it.
Then my mother whispered:
“There's one recording you need to hear last.”
“Why?”
“Because it proves who ordered your grandfather's death.”
Before I could ask another question, sirens sounded outside.
Police lights flooded the windows.
My mother looked terrified.
“Thomas found us.”
Then the front door exploded open.
And a man walked inside.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
He looked directly at Ethan.
“My son.”
May you like
Ethan stopped breathing.
Thomas Vale had come home.
