Chapter 5 - THE BROKEN HEIRESS
Daniel lowered the iron poker, staring in shock at the woman who had publicly humiliated him hours earlier. The haughty, calculating heiress from the ballroom was gone. In her place stood a terrified, broken woman.
"Get inside," Daniel ordered, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the freezing rain.
Isabella stumbled into the cabin, shivering violently. Rosa, instinctively maternal despite the betrayal, hurried to the kitchen area and grabbed a clean towel, wrapping it tightly around Isabella’s shoulders.
Isabella flinched when Rosa touched her, shrinking away. "Don't," she cried softly. "After what I did to you... don't be kind to me."
"Sit down," Daniel commanded, pulling a chair out from the table. "Who did this to you?"
"My father," Isabella choked out, clutching the towel. "When you called off the engagement... when you stopped the deal... he lost his mind. He hit me, Daniel. He told me I was useless, that I couldn't even keep a man trapped long enough to sign a piece of paper."
Daniel’s jaw tightened. "The pregnancy. The miscarriage."
Isabella broke down, sobbing into her hands. "It was real. The pregnancy was real. But I lost the baby twelve weeks ago." She looked up, her mascara running in dark tracks down her bruised face. "I didn't lose the baby because of stress, Daniel. I lost it because Conrad shoved me against a marble staircase when I told him I wanted to leave you. I fell."
The air in the room seemed to vanish. Daniel felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Conrad had killed his own grandchild in a fit of rage, and then forced his grieving daughter to wear a prosthetic belly to publicly trap Daniel into a toxic real estate deal.
"He threatened to destroy me," Isabella whispered. "He said he had photos of me forging documents for his company. He said I would go to federal prison if I didn't frame Rosa for the leak." She looked at Rosa, tears streaming down her face. "I am so sorry. I slipped the photos into Tomas's room. I gave Mia the flash drive to hide because I knew my father would search my things. I was trying to keep the evidence safe."
"The evidence of the toxic dumping at Harbor Commons," Daniel said, pointing to the laptop. "I decrypted it. Marcus is working with him."
Isabella nodded frantically. "Marcus has been on Conrad’s payroll for three years. He’s the one who leaked the memo tonight to force the board's hand. But Daniel, you don't understand. Conrad isn't just coming here to force you to sign. He’s coming to erase you."
"How did he find this place?" Daniel demanded. "The deed is buried under three shell companies."
Isabella reached into her torn sweater and pulled out a small, heavy object. She set it on the wooden table.
It was a vintage, gold pocket watch.
Daniel stared at it. All the breath left his lungs.
It was his father’s watch. The watch that had gone missing from his father’s locker at the brickyard the day he was fired, twenty years ago. The watch Daniel had spent a decade searching pawn shops for.
"My father gave this to me tonight," Isabella said, trembling. "He told me to give it to you as a message. He said... he said he ruined the father, and tonight, he’ll bury the son in the exact same dirt."
Before Daniel could process the horrifying revelation, a blinding white spotlight tore through the cabin window, illuminating the room like daylight.
The roar of heavy diesel engines surrounded the cabin. It wasn't one car. It was three armored SUVs.
Daniel rushed to the window and peered through the blinds. Six men in tactical gear stepped out into the rain, fanning out around the perimeter of the cabin.
And from the lead vehicle, holding a heavy black umbrella, stepped Conrad Vaughn.
Conrad didn't walk toward the door. Instead, he walked to the trunk of his SUV. He opened it and pulled something out, holding it up in the harsh glare of the headlights.
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
It was a small, worn stuffed bear. Mia’s bear. The one she had dropped by the gate when Daniel carried her inside.
May you like
A loudspeaker crackled to life outside.
"Daniel!" Conrad’s voice boomed over the rain. "It’s a terrible night for a board meeting. But I brought the contracts. And I see you left a toy out in the rain. Bring out the flash drive, and sign the papers, or we’re going to have a very tragic accident at the old brickyard tonight."
