Chapter 6 - THE VAULT OF SECRETS
I didn't sleep that night.
Marcus had his security team stationed outside my building.
At 9:00 AM, we walked into the First Manhattan Bank.
I held Lily’s hand so tightly my knuckles were white.
Marcus walked beside us, radiating a quiet, lethal authority.
"She can't take my daughter," I whispered to him in the elevator. "I work hard. I provide for her."
"Claudia has judges in her pocket, Rosa. But she forgets that I own the bank."
The bank manager looked terrified when he saw Marcus.
He immediately escorted us to the vault.
I handed him the small brass key.
Box 402.
The manager pulled out a long, heavy metal drawer and set it on a private table.
He bowed out of the room.
My hands shook as I lifted the lid.
Inside was a stack of legal documents, a USB drive, and a handwritten letter addressed to me.
I opened the letter.
My dearest Rosa,If you are reading this, I am gone. I never meant to lie to you about my name. I just wanted a normal life. A life with you. But I found out what my Aunt Claudia did to her own son, Thomas.Thomas isn't dead. She gave him away to a private broker to ensure her own inheritance wouldn't be split. I found the financial transfers. They are on the USB drive.She knows I have them. She threatened to hurt you and our unborn baby if I went to the police. I took the rabbit as proof—Thomas's favorite toy. I am going to meet her tonight to try and end this.I love you, Rosa. Protect our Lily.
Tears blurred my vision.
David hadn't died in a random car crash.
He had gone to confront a monster to keep us safe.
And she had killed him.
I looked at Marcus. He was reading the documents. His face was a mask of pure grief and rage.
"She murdered my son," Marcus whispered.
Suddenly, the vault door swung open.
Claudia stood there, flanked by two men in suits.
"Actually, Marcus," Claudia smiled thinly. "He ran his own car off the road. I just made sure the brakes were properly lubricated beforehand."
I pulled Lily behind me.
"You're a monster," I choked out.
Claudia sighed, looking at the USB drive in the box.
"I am a pragmatist. And right now, Rosa, you have a choice. Hand over the drive, and you get to keep your charming little poverty life. Keep it, and my friends at CPS are waiting upstairs to take Lily away. She'll be lost in the foster system by sunset."
I looked at the drive. Then at Lily.
"Give it to her," I told Marcus, my voice breaking. "Nothing is worth my daughter."
Marcus didn't move.
Instead, he smiled. A cold, terrifying smile.
"You always were predictable, Claudia."
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
May you like
The call was active.
"Did you get all of that, Detective?" Marcus asked into the receiver.
