Clara locked the apartment door.
Victor stood near the window, watching the street.
Elise gathered the documents.
Evan remained motionless beside the table.
Clara faced him.
“If you're lying again, I won't forgive you.”
“I know.”
“That's not enough.”
“No.”
He met her eyes.
“So tell me what you want.”
“The truth.”
“You'll have it.”
“Everything.”
Evan nodded.
“I started working for Barton, Reed and Pike after the divorce papers were filed.”
Clara's expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Debt.”
“That isn't the whole answer.”
“No.”
He looked at the floor.
“My father left money problems behind when he died. The firm offered me a contract.”
“To find the heirs.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know one of them was me?”
“No.”
“When did you realize?”
“The night I received the property notice.”
Clara remembered the envelope on her kitchen table.
“You came here that night because you already suspected.”
“I knew the house was connected to the trust.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“I was trying to find proof before the firm knew I had changed sides.”
Victor interrupted.
“You should have told her.”
Evan nodded.
“I should have.”
Clara looked at Victor.
“And you?”
“I worked for them before I worked against them.”
“When?”
“Thirty years ago.”
“You helped find Lydia.”
“Yes.”
“Did you hurt her?”
Victor's face tightened.
“No.”
“Did you help them take Jonah?”
“No.”
“But you knew where he was.”
“Not until recently.”
Clara looked at Elise.
“Do you trust him?”
Elise shook her head.
“Not completely.”
“Good.”
Clara picked up the ledger documents.
“Then nobody gets blind trust.”
A heavy sound came from the hallway outside.
Someone had entered the building.
Victor checked his watch.
“We have perhaps five minutes.”
“Where do we go?”
“There's another exit.”
He pointed toward the kitchen.
They moved quickly.
Elise carried the photographs.
Evan carried the legal documents.
Clara kept the brass key.
Victor led them through a narrow stairwell into the basement.
They emerged into an alley.
A black sedan waited at the curb.
Clara stopped.
“Whose car?”
“Mine.”
“You expect me to get into it?”
“No.”
Victor handed Evan the keys.
“You drive.”
Evan looked surprised.
Victor nodded toward Clara.
“She needs to know where you're taking her.”
They climbed in.
The car moved through the city.
Clara watched the buildings pass.
“Where are we going?”
Evan answered.
“To the courthouse.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel works there tomorrow.”
Elise looked at him.
“No.”
“He's going to be there.”
“How do you know?”
“I've seen his schedule.”
Clara stared.
“You've been watching him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he is the third heir.”
Evan turned onto a quiet street.
“More importantly, he has access to the firm's trust files.”
Clara understood.
“We need him.”
“Yes.”
Elise shook her head.
“He won't believe us.”
“Then we'll show him.”
They reached the courthouse before sunrise.
Daniel Mercer entered through a side door at 7:42.
Clara saw him through the glass.
For the first time, she was looking at her brother.
He was taller than she expected.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A small scar beside his eyebrow.
He paused to check his phone.
Clara felt an inexplicable familiarity.
Not memory.
Something quieter.
A recognition without a story.
Evan touched her shoulder.
“Ready?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Neither am I.”
They approached Daniel.
He looked at Evan first.
Then Clara.
His expression changed.
“You.”
Clara stopped.
“You know me?”
Daniel looked at Evan.
“You told me she didn't know.”
Clara turned.
“What did he tell you?”
Daniel's face tightened.
“That the third heir was dead.”
Clara stared at Evan.
“I never said that,” Evan said.
Daniel stepped back.
“Then someone lied to both of us.”
Victor came forward.
“Daniel.”
Daniel froze.
“You're Victor Shaw.”
“Yes.”
“You were looking for me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor looked at Clara and Elise.
“Because they found the other two.”
Daniel looked at Elise.
Something flickered across his face.
Elise stepped forward.
“Jonah.”
He shook his head.
“Don't call me that.”
“You are Jonah.”
“No.”
She showed him the photograph.
Daniel stared.
The color drained from his face.
“That isn't me.”
“It is.”
“My mother told me I was born in Boston.”
“Your mother wasn't your birth mother.”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“Who are you?”
Clara swallowed.
“I'm Clara.”
He stared at her.
Something in his expression softened.
Then he looked at Elise.
“Who are you?”
“Elise.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
He looked at the photograph again.
His hands began to tremble.
“I've seen this.”
“Where?”
“In my father's house.”
Clara's heart raced.
“What did you see?”
“A box.”
“What box?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“My father told me never to open it.”
Victor whispered, “Martin.”
Daniel nodded.
“He died believing someone would come for me.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Did he know who you were?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about us?”
Daniel looked at her.
“He said there were two girls.”
Elise covered her mouth.
“Where is the box?”
Daniel hesitated.
“At Barton, Reed and Pike.”
Evan cursed under his breath.
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you still brought her here?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Clara stepped between them.
“Enough.”
All three men fell silent.
She looked at Daniel.
“What is in the box?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“My father's confession.”
Victor's face went pale.
“Does it name the ledger?”
Daniel nodded.
“It names where Thomas hid it.”
Clara's hand closed around the brass key.
“Where?”
Daniel looked toward the courthouse.
“Your house.”
Clara stared.
“We already searched.”
“You searched the room.”
“What are we missing?”
Daniel looked at the key.
“The key doesn't open room seventeen.”
He pointed toward Clara.
“It opens the foundation.”
A vehicle turned onto the street.
Victor recognized it.
“They're here.”
Clara looked at Daniel.
“You're coming with us.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he nodded.
Elise took his hand.
The gesture was awkward at first.
Then Daniel held on.
For the first time in thirty-seven years, the three siblings stood together.
Clara looked at Evan.
“Can you get us back to the house?”
“Yes.”
“Can you protect the documents?”
“Yes.”
“Can you stop lying?”
Evan swallowed.
“Yes.”
They ran toward the car.
Behind them, the courthouse doors opened.
Several men emerged.
One shouted Daniel's name.
Daniel turned.
Clara grabbed his arm.
“Don't look back.”
They reached the car.
As Evan started the engine, Daniel suddenly spoke.
“Clara.”
She turned.
“I remember something.”
“What?”
“The night I was taken.”
Clara waited.
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“My father wasn't alone.”
“Who was with him?”
Daniel looked directly at Evan.
“Your mother.”
Clara froze.
Her mother had been dead for twenty-six years.
Daniel continued.
“She told my father that if he separated us, she'd make sure he never found the ledger.”
The car fell silent.
Clara looked at Evan.
Then at Elise.
Then at Daniel.
The old story she had believed about her family had just broken open again.
And this time, the person at its center was the mother she had spent half her life grieving.
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: The Mother I Had Buried in My Memories Was Suddenly Part of the Mystery, and Her Last Warning Pointed Toward Something Beneath the House
My Ex-Husband Appeared at My Door After Midnight, Carrying One Envelope and a Reason I Couldn’t Afford to Ignore
Part 8 of 20
