Chapter 3 - The Locker My Missing Sister Opened Contained a Letter Telling Me to Never Trust the Man I Had Begun to LoveThe locker was in an old bank building downtown.
Abandoned.
Dusty.
Locked for years.
The key fit.
Inside was a wooden box.
Empty.
Except for one folded piece of paper.
My sister's handwriting.
Grace,
If you found this, they found you.
My hands shook.
Adrian stood beside me.
I read every word.
Emma explained that our mother had created the trust to protect us.
But our father had discovered it.
He wanted control.
He had borrowed money from criminal organizations.
He pledged the trust as collateral.
When our mother died, the debt remained.
Emma discovered it.
She tried to stop him.
He threatened her.
Then he died.
But the debt didn't disappear.
It transferred to someone else.
Someone named Malcolm Voss.
Adrian's enemy.
I looked at him.
“Voss.”
He nodded.
“I know him.”
Emma's letter continued.
Don't trust the man who saved you.
I stopped.
My heart sank.
I looked at Adrian.
The next line:
He will say he wants to protect you.
He will tell you I betrayed him.
He will tell you the trust belongs to you.
None of it matters.
What matters is that he knows where I am.
I stared.
“Where is she?”
Adrian looked confused.
“I don't know.”
The letter continued.
Grace, if Adrian Moretti brings you into his home, leave.
My hands froze.
Adrian read over my shoulder.
His expression became unreadable.
I stepped away.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“Then why did she warn me about you?”
“I don't know.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I saw her.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
I stared.
“You said eleven months.”
“She disappeared eleven months ago.”
“And three months ago?”
He looked away.
“She contacted me.”
My heart pounded.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She told me not to tell you.”
“Why?”
“She said she was being watched.”
“By whom?”
“She wouldn't say.”
I felt betrayed.
“You let me stay here knowing my sister was alive.”
“I didn't know where she was.”
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't risk you.”
“And now?”
“Now she's gone again.”
I shook my head.
“You can't decide everything for me.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
He stared at me.
“I don't know how.”
The honesty broke something.
I stepped back.
“You're dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“I should leave.”
“Yes.”
But he didn't move.
That surprised me.
He didn't stop me.
He simply stood there.
Then Lila appeared at the doorway.
She was holding my coat.
“Mommy.”
I looked at her.
“I need to go.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
“Lila…”
“You promised.”
“I didn't.”
“Yes.”
She walked toward me.
“You promised one night.”
I closed my eyes.
I had.
One night.
It had become three days.
Three days of warmth.
Three days of food.
Three days of sleeping without fear.
Three days of being treated like a person.
I looked at Adrian.
Then at Lila.
“I need answers.”
He nodded.
“You'll get them.”
“How?”
“We find Emma.”
“Together?”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
We spent the next week searching.
We found nothing.
Then a package arrived.
It contained Emma's passport.
A blood-stained scarf.
And a note.
She chose the money over you.
I refused to believe it.
Adrian didn't either.
He investigated the origin.
The package came from a warehouse owned by Malcolm Voss.
We went there.
Inside were photographs.
Emma.
Me.
Lila.
Adrian.
All of us.
Someone had been watching for months.
Then I saw one photograph that terrified me.
Adrian and Emma together.
Emma was handing him something.
A USB drive.
The picture was taken six weeks before I ever met Adrian.
I stared.
“You said you didn't see her.”
“I did.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she told me someone was hunting you.”
He took a step toward me.
“She begged me to keep you away from this.”
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the photograph.
“What did she give you?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Nothing.”
“You're lying.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
He pulled a USB drive from his jacket.
I stared.
He handed it to me.
“Your sister asked me to wait.”
“Until when?”
“Until you were safe.”
“When is that?”
He looked at Lila.
“Never.”
The drive contained a single video.
Emma appeared on the screen.
Alive.
Tired.
Terrified.
“Grace.”
I started crying.
“I'm sorry.”
She looked toward the camera.
“I couldn't contact you.”
“Everyone around you was compromised.”
“Your father.”
“Your uncle.”
“Evan.”
I froze.
Evan.
The name of the man who had been my sister's fiancé.
He had disappeared too.
Emma continued.
“Don't trust him.”
Then she looked away.
“And don't trust Adrian.”
My heart stopped.
“But not because he is what they say.”
“What?”
“Because he is hiding what he knows about our mother.”
The video ended.
I looked at Adrian.
“What does he know?”
He didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
He remained silent.
I shouted.
“Tell me!”
He finally spoke.
“Your mother didn't die naturally.”
My entire body froze.
“What?”
“She was killed.”
“By whom?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“By someone in my family.”
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