Chapter 4 - THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST I dropped the flashlight. It rolled across the dusty tiles, casting wild, spinning shadows.
Nico stood in the doorway, wearing a silk robe, a heavy crystal tumbler in his right hand. He didn’t look angry. He looked profoundly tired.
“A red ledger,” Nico murmured, stepping inside. “Lily told you about it, didn’t she?”
I stood up, holding the book tightly against my chest. “You’re the one paying off the doctors. You’re the one trying to get her declared incompetent.”
“Do you honestly believe that?” Nico asked, stepping closer.
He didn’t try to take the book from me. He just gestured to it.
“Open it. Look at the dates.”
I hesitated, then opened the ledger to a random page. The entries were from five years ago.
Payment to Dr. Aris. $50,000. For silence.Payment to Crestview Police Dept. $100,000. For redaction.
“You covered up a crime,” I breathed.
“I covered up a tragedy,” Nico corrected, his voice cracking. “To save my family.”
“To save Bianca.”
Nico closed his eyes. “Bianca was driving the boat the night my wife drowned. She was drunk. She was terrified. I paid to make the toxicology report disappear. I wrote everything in that ledger so I would never forget the cost of my sins.”
I stared at the powerful billionaire. He looked like a broken old man.
“If you love your daughters so much, why is Bianca trying to destroy Lily?” I asked.
“Because Bianca found the ledger last month,” Nico said quietly. “And she realized that I am leaving the entire estate to Lily. I altered my will. Bianca is getting nothing.”
The locket felt heavy against my skin.
“Then what is the two million dollar deposit slip from the day your wife died?” I demanded.
Nico frowned. “What deposit slip?”
Before I could answer, a sharp click echoed through the pool house.
We both turned.
May you like
Bianca stood in the doorway, holding a sleek, silver handgun. It was pointed directly at her father.
“You really should have left it alone, Hannah,” she said.
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