Chapter 7 - THE ECHO OF A CONFESSION
"Loud and clear, Mr. Cole," a voice crackled through the phone speaker. "Units are moving in now."
Claudia’s smug expression shattered.
She lunged for the box on the table, but the two men in suits beside her didn't help her.
Instead, one of them grabbed her wrist and twisted it sharply behind her back.
"Hey! Let go of me! I pay you!" Claudia shrieked.
"You pay them, Claudia," Marcus said calmly. "But they work for my security firm. You really should read the contracts you sign."
Panic flooded Claudia's eyes.
"Marcus, please. We're family."
"You lost the right to use that word ten years ago," he replied, his voice devoid of any mercy.
The real police flooded into the vault seconds later.
They read Claudia her rights as they dragged her away. She screamed obscenities, her perfect hair unravelling, her expensive clothes wrinkling.
I watched her go, clutching Lily to my chest.
It was over.
The threat was gone.
But the hole in my heart where David used to be felt wider than ever.
Marcus walked over to us. He looked older, exhausted.
He gently picked up the USB drive and the letter.
"He loved you," Marcus said, looking at me. "My boy loved you more than he feared her."
I nodded, the tears finally falling freely.
"He was a good man."
"He was," Marcus agreed. He looked down at Lily. "And he gave me the greatest gift I could ever ask for."
Lily held up Bun Bun.
"Does the mean lady go in timeout now?"
Marcus gave a weak, genuine laugh. "Yes, little one. A very long timeout."
He turned to me.
"Rosa, I know I am a stranger to you. I know David kept me a secret. But you are my family. You and Lily are the only family I have left."
I looked at this billionaire.
I thought about the rent. The electric bill. The winter coat.
But mostly, I thought about the look in his eyes when Lily sang that song.
"We don't need your money, Mr. Cole," I said softly.
Marcus's face fell.
"I'm not offering money, Rosa," he said, his voice cracking. "I'm asking for a second chance. For both of us. Please. Come home."
I looked down at Lily.
"What do you think, baby?"
Lily looked at Marcus.
"Do you know the words to my song?" she asked him.
Marcus knelt down on the cold vault floor.
May you like
"I wrote them," he whispered.
"Then you can sing it with me," she said.
