CHAPTER 7 — THE SECRET CHLOE WAS HIDING
CHAPTER 7 — THE SECRET CHLOE WAS HIDING
Chloe's last sentence seemed to drain all the air from the room.
“He's number twelve.”
I stared at her.
“Marcus is number twelve?”
She nodded.
“On the list.”
“What list?”
“The people who were paid.”
“Paid to do what?”
Chloe looked toward the locked study door.
“To destroy your family.”
Marcus went completely still.
David closed the laptop.
“Where is this list?”
Chloe didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at me.
“You're going to hate me.”
I crossed my arms.
“That stopped being a concern a long time ago.”
She swallowed.
“I stole it.”
“From whom?”
“Marcus.”
I frowned.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
My heart tightened.
“You had the list for six months?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I was scared.”
“You were living in my house.”
“I know.”
“You were sleeping under my roof.”
“I know.”
“You were watching me.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Yes.”
I looked away.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I said quietly:
“Tell me everything.”
Chloe sat at the dining table.
David remained standing.
Marcus refused to sit.
He looked like a man watching his entire life collapse in slow motion.
Chloe took a breath.
“I wasn't hired by Eleanor.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“I was recruited by Marcus.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That isn't true.”
“It is.”
“You came through my mother's friend.”
“That was part of the cover.”
I stared at Marcus.
“You personally chose her?”
“Yes.”
Chloe nodded.
“He interviewed me before Clara ever met me.”
My stomach turned.
“Where?”
“At a hotel.”
“Why?”
“To make sure I could get close to you.”
Marcus said nothing.
Chloe continued.
“He gave me instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“Learn your routine.”
My fingers tightened.
“Learn your passwords.”
I stared at her.
“Learn who you trusted.”
She lowered her eyes.
“Learn what frightened you.”
I couldn't breathe.
“And?”
“Find the ledger.”
I looked at Marcus.
“What ledger?”
“The original ledger.”
“Not the one Adrian had?”
“No.”
“There were two?”
Chloe nodded.
“One is a copy.”
My blood ran cold.
“Where is the original?”
She whispered:
“Your mother had it.”
My chair scraped against the floor.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“But she disappeared.”
“She was hidden.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
I stared at her.
“Then how did you know?”
“Because Marcus found the location.”
I looked at him.
“You found my mother?”
He shook his head.
“I never met her.”
“But you knew where she was.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian wanted to find her.”
“And you helped him.”
“I tried.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you hurt her?”
“No.”
“Did you threaten her?”
“No.”
“Did you ever speak to her?”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
Marcus swallowed.
“I found the hospital.”
The room became silent.
I remembered the discharge record.
Eight years ago.
My mother had survived.
She had been transferred to a private facility.
And someone had erased her existence.
“Where is she now?”
Marcus looked at Chloe.
Chloe shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You know something.”
“I know where she was last seen.”
“Where?”
“Montclair.”
I froze.
Montclair.
A small town three hours away.
My father had taken me there once when I was a child.
He told me it was where he learned to ride a bicycle.
I had never thought about it again.
“Why Montclair?”
“Because your grandmother owned a property there.”
I looked at David.
“Can you verify that?”
He was already typing.
A few seconds later, he nodded.
“She did.”
I closed my eyes.
Another hidden piece.
Another secret.
Another lie.
I had spent my entire life surrounded by doors.
And everyone else seemed to have the keys.
“Tell me about account 0001.”
Chloe took a small USB drive from her pocket.
“This contains a copy.”
David stepped forward.
“Where did you get it?”
“Marcus's private office.”
Marcus glared at her.
“You stole from me.”
She looked at him.
“You stole from Clara.”
He had no answer.
David plugged the drive into the laptop.
A spreadsheet appeared.
Rows and rows of names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Locations.
Payments.
At the top:
PROJECT VANCE
I scrolled.
The first name was unfamiliar.
The second.
The third.
Then I saw a familiar one.
ELEANOR VANCE.
I stopped.
“How much?”
David checked.
“$12 million.”
My stomach dropped.
“Paid for what?”
Chloe whispered:
“Your mother's disappearance.”
I couldn't speak.
I kept scrolling.
Another name.
ADRIAN VALE — $40 million.
Another.
MARCUS VANCE — $8 million.
Another.
A politician.
A judge.
A private investigator.
A security company.
A hospital administrator.
A banker.
Dozens of people.
All paid.
All connected to my family.
Then I saw something that made my heart stop.
CLARA VANCE — $0.
I stared at the row.
“What does this mean?”
Chloe looked frightened.
“It means you were never a participant.”
I frowned.
“Then what was I?”
She whispered:
“The target.”
I kept scrolling.
At the bottom was a column labeled:
FINAL OBJECTIVE.
Beside it:
TRANSFER CONTROL TO CLARA'S SPOUSE.
I looked at Marcus.
He closed his eyes.
“You knew.”
“I knew the objective.”
“You knew they wanted you to control everything.”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed.”
“At first.”
“When did you stop?”
He looked at me.
“I don't know.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You always say that.”
He stepped toward me.
“Clara, listen.”
“No.”
“I did love you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“Then prove it.”
He froze.
I pointed toward the spreadsheet.
“Tell me when you stopped being their man.”
He looked at the list.
Then at me.
“Three years ago.”
I frowned.
“What happened three years ago?”
“You almost died.”
I remembered.
A car accident.
I had been driving home from the third bakery.
My brakes had failed.
I had lost control.
The car crashed into a concrete barrier.
I survived with a broken wrist.
Marcus had told me it was an accident.
He had held my hand in the hospital.
He had cried.
I had believed him.
I stared at him.
“That wasn't an accident.”
“No.”
“Who did it?”
He looked at Chloe.
She answered.
“Eleanor.”
My heart stopped.
“My mother-in-law tried to kill me.”
Marcus nodded.
“I found out afterward.”
“And that's when you changed?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Eleanor had proof that she could destroy you.”
“What proof?”
“Your father's original contracts.”
I frowned.
“What did they prove?”
“That your entire fortune was connected to the Founders.”
“So?”
“So if those documents became public, the government could seize everything.”
I stared.
“And you were protecting me.”
“I was trying.”
I laughed.
“By stealing from me?”
“I needed money to buy evidence.”
“You could have asked.”
“You wouldn't have believed me.”
He was right.
And I hated that.
Chloe suddenly stood.
“There is something else.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
She reached into her bag.
A small envelope.
She placed it on the table.
“My sister.”
I frowned.
“What about her?”
“My sister isn't sick.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The story I told you when I came here.”
She looked at me.
“It was a lie.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Marcus told me to use it.”
“You don't have a sister?”
“I do.”
“Is she in Ohio?”
“No.”
“Where?”
Chloe looked down.
“She's here.”
My blood went cold.
“Here?”
“In this city.”
“Why?”
“Because she works for Adrian.”
I stared.
“Doing what?”
“Accounting.”
David looked at the spreadsheet.
“Your sister has access to the money.”
Chloe nodded.
“She has been tracking the transfers for years.”
“Then why didn't she expose them?”
“Because she was threatened.”
“By whom?”
“Adrian.”
I sat down.
This was bigger than Marcus.
Bigger than Eleanor.
Bigger than even Adrian.
There was an entire network around my family.
And everyone had been hiding something.
Then Chloe whispered:
“My sister knows where your mother is.”
I stood.
“Call her.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“She disappeared yesterday.”
My heart dropped.
“What?”
“Her apartment was empty.”
“Did Adrian take her?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find her.”
“I tried.”
I looked at David.
“Can we trace her?”
“Yes.”
“Do it.”
He started typing.
Then stopped.
“Clara.”
“What?”
“This is strange.”
“What?”
“Her phone is still active.”
“Where?”
David looked at the location.
My blood froze.
“She isn't missing.”
“Where is she?”
He turned the screen toward me.
The location was only five minutes away.
I recognized the address.
It was an old building.
Abandoned for years.
And it belonged to my grandmother.
We drove there before sunrise.
I refused to let Marcus come.
Adrian insisted on following us.
I told him no.
He followed anyway.
Chloe sat beside me in the back seat.
She was shaking.
“You're scared.”
“Yes.”
“Of what?”
“My sister.”
“Why?”
“Because if she's there…”
She stopped.
“What?”
“She may not be my sister anymore.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She has been working for Adrian for eight years.”
I stared out the window.
“Maybe she has a reason.”
Chloe shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“She was the one who found your mother's hospital record.”
I turned.
“She knows where my mother is?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn't she told me?”
Chloe looked at me.
“Because she was paid not to.”
The building was dark.
Broken windows.
Dusty hallways.
An old elevator that didn't work.
We climbed three flights.
At the end of the corridor was one door.
Unlocked.
I pushed it open.
Inside was a small room.
A desk.
Two chairs.
A computer.
And hundreds of files.
David walked toward the desk.
“These are financial records.”
I picked up one folder.
My name.
Another.
My father.
Another.
My mother.
Then one labeled:
MARCUS VANCE — ASSET TRANSFER.
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Marcus meeting Adrian.
Marcus meeting Eleanor.
Marcus meeting politicians.
Marcus meeting bankers.
Then I found one photograph that made my blood run cold.
Marcus.
Chloe.
And a third person.
A woman.
I looked at Chloe.
“Is that your sister?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“When was this taken?”
“Last month.”
I stared.
“Then she's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Chloe pointed to the photograph.
“Behind you.”
I turned.
The door was closed.
A woman's voice spoke from the darkness.
“Hello, Clara.”
I froze.
Chloe gasped.
David reached for his phone.
A woman stepped into the light.
She looked remarkably like Chloe.
Same eyes.
Same dark hair.
But there was something cold in her expression.
Chloe whispered:
“Lena…”
Her sister smiled.
“I've been waiting for you.”
I stared at her.
“Where is my mother?”
Lena looked at me.
Then slowly raised a key.
“Your mother is alive.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Lena smiled.
“She's been waiting for you too.”
“Where?”
Lena pointed toward the floor.
“Under the house.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The original house.”
“What original house?”
She looked at me.
“The house your father built before he disappeared.”
I shook my head.
“My house?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Your father's house.”
Then she added the words that made my blood run cold.
“Your current house was built on top of it.”
Lena walked toward the computer.
She pressed a key.
An old architectural blueprint appeared.
My house.
But beneath it was another structure.
A hidden underground complex.
Larger than the wine cellar.
Much larger.
I stared.
“How deep?”
“Four levels.”
“Four?”
“Yes.”
“What is down there?”
Lena looked at me.
“Everything your father was hiding.”
“Money?”
“Yes.”
“Documents?”
“Yes.”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Then why hasn't anyone found it?”
“Because the entrance isn't in the cellar.”
“Where?”
Lena smiled.
“In your bedroom.”
I stared at her.
The room suddenly felt very far away.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
CLARA, DO NOT GO HOME.
Another followed.
THEY KNOW YOU FOUND THE BLUEPRINT.
Then:
YOUR MOTHER IS NOT ALONE.
I looked at Lena.
“Who sent that?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then the building lights went out.
Chloe screamed.
A door slammed somewhere downstairs.
Footsteps began climbing the stairs.
Slow.
Heavy.
Several people.
David whispered:
“We need to leave.”
Lena shook her head.
“Too late.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
She pointed toward the only exit.
“That's why I brought you here.”
“What?”
She smiled.
“Because the people coming upstairs aren't here for me.”
The footsteps stopped outside.
A man's voice spoke through the door.
“Clara.”
I knew that voice.
Marcus.
Then another voice.
Eleanor.
Then another.
Adrian.
All three were outside.
I looked at Chloe.
Then Lena.
Then the locked door.
I finally understood.
They hadn't been chasing the money.
They had been chasing me.
Because I had found the one secret none of them could afford to let me discover.
The truth wasn't hidden inside the money.
It was hidden beneath my home.
And my mother was waiting there.
Alive.
For eight years.
But the final question terrified me more than anything else.
May you like
If my mother had been alive all this time...
why had she never come looking for me?
