Chapter 7 - VICTORIA CHOOSES A SIDE
Victoria had chosen revenge over loyalty.
Charles discovered that at 6:15 the next morning.
His daughter did not answer his calls.
Jonathan did.
“Charles.”
Charles nearly dropped the phone.
“You were told never to contact my family.”
Jonathan laughed.
“Your family?”
“You mean the daughter you built by teaching her everyone else was disposable?”
“Where is Victoria?”
“With me.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I don't need to hurt Victoria.”
Jonathan replied.
“She hates Ethan enough to help me willingly.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth.”
“Which truth?”
“All the useful parts.”
Charles's face drained.
Jonathan continued.
“She knows about Alexander.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Careful.”
“You left him too.”
“No.”
Jonathan's voice became colder.
“You left him.”
“I simply decided your secret was more valuable than your forgiveness.”
Charles gripped the desk.
“What do you want?”
“The same thing I have always wanted.”
“The original settlement records.”
“I don't have them.”
“Ethan does.”
“No.”
“Then find them before I do.”
Jonathan ended the call.
Charles sat motionless.
For the first time in decades, he was afraid.
Not for money.
Not for Haynes Capital.
For Victoria.
Because his daughter had just allied herself with the one man Charles knew had no line he would not cross.
At the safe house, Ethan watched the Caldwell estate footage.
Victoria stood beside Jonathan as if they were old friends.
Rosa looked over his shoulder.
“Why would she help him?”
“Because she wants to hurt me.”
“That's not enough.”
“For Victoria?”
Ethan looked at the screen.
“It might be.”
Daniel entered.
“We intercepted a message.”
“To who?”
“Rosa.”
Rosa's phone buzzed almost immediately.
A video appeared.
Victoria sat inside Ethan's sunroom.
At his mother's piano.
Jonathan stood behind her.
Victoria looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, Rosa.”
Rosa's stomach tightened.
Victoria continued.
“You're probably hiding somewhere with Ethan.”
“Enjoy it.”
“Because you should know something.”
She placed one hand on the piano.
“This house was supposed to be mine.”
“This family was supposed to be mine.”
“And then your daughter touched one piano key.”
Victoria smiled bitterly.
“Funny how little things destroy big plans.”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Then Jonathan entered the frame.
“Hello, son.”
Lily walked into the study.
“Daddy?”
Ethan immediately closed the video.
Too late.
Lily had seen the man.
“Who's that?”
“No one you need to worry about.”
“He looks like you.”
Ethan froze.
Children saw everything.
Rosa crouched.
“Baby, why don't we go find breakfast?”
“I want pancakes.”
“Good.”
Rosa took her hand.
Before leaving, Lily looked at Ethan.
“Is that your daddy?”
Ethan couldn't lie.
“Yes.”
Lily smiled.
“Then he's Grandpa.”
Ethan's face changed.
“No.”
The word came too quickly.
Too sharply.
Lily flinched.
Ethan immediately crouched.
“Sorry.”
Her eyes filled.
“I didn't mean to scare you.”
“Is he bad?”
Ethan struggled.
How did you explain betrayal to a three-year-old?
“He made some bad choices.”
“Like the pretty lady?”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Ethan almost laughed despite everything.
“Yes.”
“Like the pretty lady.”
Lily thought about it.
“Then he needs timeout.”
Ethan smiled sadly.
“A very long one.”
Lily seemed satisfied.
Rosa took her to breakfast.
Ethan reopened the video.
Victoria continued.
“You want to know what Jonathan told me?”
“He said your mother left something inside this house.”
“Something Ethan doesn't know about.”
“Something worth more than the company.”
Jonathan leaned toward the camera.
“Bring me Margaret's key.”
Ethan frowned.
Daniel looked at him.
“What key?”
Ethan didn't know.
The video ended.
Then Margaret Dunn entered the study behind them.
Her face was white.
“I know.”
Everyone turned.
She held an old brass key.
Ethan stared.
“What does it open?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“The piano.”
Silence.
Rosa returned just in time to hear it.
“What?”
Margaret looked toward the screen.
“Your mother had a compartment installed beneath the soundboard.”
Ethan stood.
“You knew?”
“She made me promise.”
“What is inside?”
“I don't know.”
“Margaret.”
“I swear.”
“She gave me the key before she died.”
“She said if Jonathan ever returned, I was to destroy whatever was inside without opening it.”
Ethan looked toward the video image of his father's hand resting on the piano.
Jonathan had taken the house.
But not the key.
Not yet.
“What happens if he breaks the compartment open?”
Margaret's face changed.
“It isn't a normal lock.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your mother had the mechanism designed so forcing it destroys the contents.”
Ethan stared.
Jonathan needed the key.
That meant he needed Margaret.
Or Ethan.
Rosa looked at the brass object.
“Why hide something in a piano?”
Ethan's eyes moved toward the screen.
His mother's piano.
The one Lily had touched.
The object Victoria had tried to protect.
The object that had accidentally revealed Lily's identity.
Suddenly it was at the center of everything again.
Ethan felt a chill.
Maybe Lily had not simply touched an old family instrument.
Maybe she had touched the hiding place of a secret people had killed to protect.
Then the safe house alarm sounded.
Ben's voice came over the radio.
“Perimeter breach.”
Ethan stood.
“How many?”
“Unknown.”
Rosa ran toward Lily.
Another guard shouted.
“Vehicle at the north gate.”
“Do not engage until identified.”
Seconds later, the camera feed appeared.
A black sedan waited beyond the gate.
The driver's door opened.
Charles Haynes stepped out.
Alone.
His hands raised.
Ben looked at Ethan.
“Do we let him in?”
Ethan stared at the man who had stolen three years from him.
Charles looked directly into the security camera.
Then held up a handwritten sign.
JONATHAN WILL KILL VICTORIA.
May you like
Below it were four more words.
AND THEN YOUR DAUGHTER.
