Chapter 6 — The Secret Isabella Buried
Chapter 6 — The Secret Isabella Buried
For several seconds, Marcus could not breathe.
The woman standing beneath the warehouse lights was supposed to be dead.
He had attended her funeral.
He had watched the coffin disappear beneath the earth.
He had spent years believing that his mother had died after a long battle with illness.
Yet there she stood.
Older.
Thinner.
Her silver hair pulled tightly behind her head.
But unmistakable.
Evelyn Thorne.
His mother.
Marcus took one step backward.
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“Hello, son.”
David closed his eyes.
Thomas lowered his head.
And suddenly Marcus understood why everyone had been afraid to tell him the truth.
“You're dead.”
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
“I needed the world to believe that.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had no choice?”
His voice cracked.
“You let me believe my mother was dead for twelve years.”
“I was protecting you.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“From what?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“From your father.”
The warehouse fell silent.
Marcus stared at her.
“My father died.”
“I know.”
“He died twelve years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you disappeared before him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evelyn took a slow breath.
“Because your father wanted me dead.”
Marcus felt the words hit him like a physical blow.
David finally spoke.
“Marcus, listen to her.”
He turned.
“You knew?”
David didn't answer.
Marcus's voice became dangerously quiet.
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Eleven years.”
Marcus stared at him.
Then he looked at Thomas.
“And you?”
Thomas nodded.
“Three years.”
Marcus looked back at Evelyn.
“And Isabella?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“She knew the truth before you ever met her.”
Marcus's stomach tightened.
“What secret?”
Evelyn glanced toward the darkened warehouse.
“The secret Isabella buried.”
Twelve years earlier, Isabella Rossi had not been a glamorous socialite.
She had been twenty-one.
Poor.
Desperate.
And working as a personal assistant for a woman named Evelyn Thorne.
Evelyn had trusted her.
More than she should have.
At the time, Evelyn was investigating her husband's financial dealings.
She had discovered that millions of dollars were disappearing from the family business.
Not through ordinary theft.
Through a network of shell companies.
Money was being moved into offshore trusts.
Names were being erased.
Records were being rewritten.
And someone inside the company was covering everything.
Evelyn believed her husband was responsible.
Until she found evidence proving otherwise.
The person controlling the network was someone she never suspected.
Her own brother.
David Sterling.
Marcus looked at David.
“No.”
David said nothing.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father and David built the company together.”
“He was my uncle.”
“He was also his partner.”
Marcus shook his head.
“David saved our family.”
Evelyn looked at him sadly.
“That is what he wanted you to believe.”
David stepped forward.
“That's not the whole story.”
“Then tell him.”
David remained silent.
Evelyn looked at Marcus.
“Your father discovered the money was being stolen.”
“And Daniel Parker?”
“He helped him investigate.”
Marcus remembered Khloe's story.
“That's why Daniel disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with sadness.
“He was threatened.”
“By David?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Your father.”
Marcus froze.
“My father?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father wanted to stop the investigation before it exposed the entire family.”
Marcus stared at her.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
She walked toward an old wooden table.
On it sat a black metal box.
She opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
Contracts.
And handwritten notes.
Marcus picked up one photograph.
His father stood beside David.
Behind them was the old Sterling headquarters.
On the back was a date.
October 14, 2013.
Evelyn pointed to another document.
“This is the original transfer agreement.”
Marcus read it.
His father's signature appeared at the bottom.
So did David's.
He looked up.
“What am I looking at?”
“The first trust.”
“The one everyone said never existed?”
“Yes.”
Marcus's pulse quickened.
“Who was the beneficiary?”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“You.”
Marcus stared.
“Me?”
“You were twelve.”
“Why would my father create a trust for me?”
“Because he knew the company would eventually become dangerous.”
Marcus looked at the documents.
“And the baby?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“The baby was never supposed to be involved.”
Marcus's face tightened.
“Then why are they after Khloe?”
“Because someone discovered the second trust.”
“What second trust?”
Evelyn's expression became grim.
“The one your father created for your future child.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
Across town, Khloe sat alone in the dark room.
Thomas had left her.
He had promised to return.
She didn't believe him.
She was terrified.
But she was thinking.
The conversation with Isabella kept replaying in her head.
Your father wasn't the victim.
He was the one who started it.
Khloe had spent years searching for answers.
Now she had more questions than ever.
The door opened.
Isabella entered.
Khloe immediately moved backward.
“You.”
Isabella closed the door.
“You look frightened.”
“Stay away from me.”
“I don't want to hurt you.”
“You already did.”
Isabella looked at her stomach.
“The baby is still safe.”
“For now?”
Isabella smiled faintly.
“You're learning.”
Khloe stared at her.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I didn't have a choice.”
“Everyone says that.”
“Because it's true.”
“Who controls you?”
Isabella remained silent.
Khloe's voice became stronger.
“You've been lying from the beginning.”
“Yes.”
“You attacked me.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“You stole my medical records.”
“I didn't.”
Khloe frowned.
“Then who did?”
Isabella looked toward the door.
“Someone much more powerful.”
“Who?”
Isabella stepped closer.
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
“I didn't choose you.”
Khloe's face hardened.
“Then who did?”
Isabella whispered:
“Your father.”
Khloe froze.
“My father is dead.”
Isabella smiled.
“That is what you were told.”
Back at the warehouse, Marcus turned toward his mother.
“Is Daniel Parker alive?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why did Isabella say he chose me?”
“Because she misunderstood the message.”
“What message?”
Evelyn opened the metal box again.
She pulled out a small cassette recorder.
“This.”
Marcus stared.
“You kept that for twelve years?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because I wasn't sure who I could trust.”
Marcus looked at David.
“You still aren't sure.”
Evelyn didn't answer.
She pressed PLAY.
Static filled the warehouse.
Then a man's voice.
Marcus recognized it instantly.
His father.
“If Marcus ever hears this, it means I've failed.”
Marcus's eyes filled with tears.
His father continued.
“I need you to know that everything I did was to protect you.”
A pause.
“Your mother will tell you I betrayed her.”
Another pause.
“She is right.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“I made terrible choices.”
The recording crackled.
“But the money was never mine.”
Marcus opened his eyes.
“David knows where it is.”
David's face changed.
The recording continued.
“Don't trust the first person who claims to have the ledger.”
Then another voice could be heard.
A woman's voice.
Isabella.
Young.
Terrified.
“Mr. Thorne, we have to leave.”
Marcus stared at the recorder.
His father continued:
“If something happens to me, Isabella knows what I hid.”
The recording ended.
Marcus slowly turned toward Evelyn.
“What did Isabella bury?”
Evelyn's face became pale.
“The truth.”
Khloe looked at Isabella.
“What did my father know?”
Isabella sat down.
“He knew the money wasn't stolen.”
“What?”
“It was transferred deliberately.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
Khloe shook her head.
“Why?”
“To expose someone.”
“Who?”
Isabella looked at her.
“David Sterling.”
Khloe stopped breathing.
“My uncle?”
“He isn't your uncle.”
Khloe stared.
“What?”
“David Sterling was your father's partner.”
“That doesn't make him my uncle?”
“No.”
Khloe's voice trembled.
“Then why did he act like family?”
“Because he needed access to your family.”
“Why?”
“Because your father discovered the ledger.”
Khloe whispered:
“The ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Isabella smiled sadly.
“That's the secret.”
Marcus walked toward David.
“You knew.”
David looked at him.
“I knew there was a ledger.”
“You knew my father left it.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Khloe's father disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Marcus's eyes hardened.
“What else have you been hiding?”
David swallowed.
“I didn't betray you.”
“Then prove it.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, they'll come for you.”
“They already came for my wife.”
David looked away.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Who are they?”
David finally whispered:
“The Blackwell Group.”
Thomas's face changed.
“No.”
Marcus turned.
“What's the Blackwell Group?”
Thomas shook his head.
“A private network.”
“Of what?”
“Investors.”
David corrected him.
“Not investors.”
He looked at Marcus.
“Owners.”
Marcus frowned.
“Owners of what?”
“Governments.”
“That's impossible.”
“They don't control governments directly.”
David's voice dropped.
“They control the people who control them.”
Marcus stared at him.
“So my father was fighting them?”
“Yes.”
“And Khloe's father?”
“Yes.”
“And Isabella?”
David nodded.
“She worked for them.”
Marcus's stomach turned.
“But you said Isabella worked for my mother.”
“She did.”
“For them.”
“Yes.”
Marcus understood.
Isabella had never been independent.
She had been planted.
Khloe suddenly heard footsteps.
She looked toward the door.
It opened.
A man entered.
Not Thomas.
Not Isabella.
Someone she had never seen before.
He carried a briefcase.
He placed it on the table.
“You're Khloe Parker.”
“Yes.”
“My name is Victor Kane.”
“What do you want?”
He opened the briefcase.
Inside was a stack of documents.
“Your signature.”
Khloe stared.
“On what?”
“A transfer.”
“I won't sign anything.”
“You will.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your husband is on his way.”
Khloe's heart raced.
“What did you do to him?”
“Nothing.”
“Then let me go.”
“Soon.”
He pushed a document toward her.
“Sign this.”
She read it.
It transferred control of the family trust.
To an unknown corporation.
“No.”
Victor leaned forward.
“You should read the final clause.”
She did.
Her face went white.
“If I refuse?”
Victor pointed to the bottom.
“Then the beneficiary becomes the next eligible heir.”
Khloe looked up.
“There is no next heir.”
Victor smiled.
“There will be.”
At the warehouse, Marcus received a call.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You have thirty minutes.”
“Where is my wife?”
“Alive.”
“Let me hear her.”
Silence.
Then Khloe's voice.
“Marcus!”
He stepped forward.
“Khloe!”
“I love you!”
The call cut off.
Marcus turned to Evelyn.
“What do they want?”
“The ledger.”
“Where is it?”
She looked at David.
David looked at Marcus.
Then he said:
“Your father hid it in the one place nobody would search.”
“Where?”
David pointed toward the black metal box.
“Inside your mother's grave.”
Marcus stared.
Evelyn whispered:
“Because everyone believed I was dead.”
Marcus understood.
The funeral.
The coffin.
The sealed records.
The grave.
Everything had been a lie.
He looked at his mother.
“Is the ledger there?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't they find it?”
“Because there was never a body in that coffin.”
Marcus's face went blank.
“They buried an empty coffin?”
“Yes.”
“Then whose body?”
Evelyn looked away.
“That's what Isabella buried.”
Marcus's voice dropped.
“Whose?”
Evelyn finally answered.
“Daniel Parker's.”
The warehouse became silent.
Marcus stared at her.
Khloe's father had been buried under his mother's name.
And Isabella had known.
She had helped hide the truth.
She had buried the one man who could expose everything.
But now Marcus knew where the ledger was.
He reached for his coat.
David stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“To the cemetery.”
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because they know.”
Marcus froze.
“How?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with fear.
“Because I told them.”
“What?”
“I made a deal twelve years ago.”
Marcus stared at her.
“What deal?”
Evelyn whispered:
“To keep you alive.”
Then her phone rang.
Everyone froze.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice said:
“Hello, Evelyn.”
Her face went white.
Marcus watched her.
“Who is it?”
She slowly lowered the phone.
“They know where we are.”
The warehouse lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed through the darkness.
Then another.
Thomas shouted.
“DOWN!”
Marcus dropped behind the table.
David pulled Evelyn to the floor.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
Then the emergency lights came on.
Thomas was standing in the doorway.
Blood covered his shoulder.
He looked at Marcus.
“They found us.”
Marcus looked toward the entrance.
Armed men were moving through the warehouse.
And somewhere far away, Khloe was still being held.
The clock was ticking.
But now Marcus knew the truth.
Isabella had buried a secret for twelve years.
And that secret wasn't simply a ledger.
It was proof that three families had been connected by betrayal, murder, and stolen money.
May you like
And if Marcus reached the cemetery before his enemies did—
he might finally discover why his unborn child had become the most valuable person in the entire war.
