Chapter 14: The Key Victoria Hid
Daniel stared at the silver key in Victoria's hand.
“Where did you get it?”
Victoria didn't answer.
“Victoria.”
Her fingers tightened around the key.
“I found it five years ago.”
Michael's expression changed.
“Where?”
Victoria looked at him.
“At Claire's old apartment.”
Daniel's jaw clenched.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Because Evelyn sent me.”
The room went silent.
Daniel took a slow step toward her.
“You knew?”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You knew my mother was manipulating me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Claire was pregnant.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I suspected.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“And you still married me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of my mother?”
Victoria shook her head.
“Of everyone.”
She placed the key on the table.
“Evelyn told me that if I didn't cooperate, she'd destroy my family.”
Michael picked up the key.
“This isn't for a door.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then what is it?”
Michael turned the key over.
Engraved on the back were three numbers:
7 — 2 — 9
Michael's face went pale.
“That's a vault code.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Where?”
“Carter Foundation headquarters.”
Daniel immediately understood.
“The basement vault.”
Michael nodded.
“That's where Claire stored the original evidence.”
Daniel looked at Victoria.
“Then why didn't you tell me five years ago?”
Victoria's voice broke.
“Because I thought Claire was dead.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Evelyn told me she had been killed.”
Michael shook his head.
“She wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
Victoria wiped away a tear.
“But five years ago, I believed her.”
Daniel stared at her.
“And the children?”
Victoria looked down.
“I didn't know about them until today.”
Another silence.
Then Michael suddenly looked toward the stairs.
“We need to leave.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn knows about the key.”
A faint sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Then another.
Michael grabbed the hard drive.
“They're coming.”
Daniel looked at Victoria.
“Can you drive?”
“Yes.”
“Then get the car.”
She nodded and ran.
Michael turned to Daniel.
“If we reach the vault before Evelyn, we may finally have enough evidence to bring her down.”
“And Claire?”
“She'll be waiting at the lake house.”
Daniel looked at him sharply.
“You said she was there.”
“I said that's where the twins were taken.”
“Taken by whom?”
Michael hesitated.
“I'm not sure.”
Daniel's phone vibrated.
A video appeared.
He opened it.
Emma and Ethan were sitting on the couch.
Emma was crying silently.
Ethan was holding her hand.
Then a man stepped into frame.
He wore a black coat.
His face remained hidden.
He placed a phone on the table.
A message appeared on the screen:
COME ALONE.
Daniel's blood ran cold.
Then the camera moved.
A second room appeared.
Claire was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Her wrists were tied.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Claire.”
Her eyes lifted toward the camera.
She looked exhausted.
But when she saw Daniel's face on the screen, she shook her head desperately.
“No.”
Her lips formed the word silently.
Don't come.
Then the video ended.
Daniel stood frozen.
Michael touched his shoulder.
“Daniel.”
He pulled away.
“I’m going to her.”
“We need a plan.”
“I've waited five years.”
“You could lose all three of them.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then give me a plan.”
Before Michael could answer, Victoria rushed back inside.
“Car's ready.”
Then she stopped.
“What happened?”
Daniel handed her the phone.
She watched the video.
Her face went pale.
“I know that room.”
Daniel turned.
“How?”
Victoria pointed at the screen.
“That's not the lake house.”
“What?”
“That room is beneath the old Carter Foundation building.”
Michael's eyes widened.
“The vault.”
Victoria nodded.
“They moved Claire and the twins there.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The key.
The vault.
The evidence.
Claire.
The twins.
Evelyn had never wanted Daniel to go to the lake house.
She wanted him away from the foundation.
Because the truth was buried beneath it.
Michael grabbed his coat.
“Then we go to the foundation.”
Daniel nodded.
But before they could leave, the mansion doors slammed shut.
The lights came back on.
Evelyn stood at the top of the staircase.
And this time, she wasn't alone.
Four armed men stood behind her.
Evelyn looked down at Daniel.
“You've become very difficult to control.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where are my children?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Safe.”
“Where is Claire?”
“Safe.”
“Then let them go.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
Evelyn slowly descended the stairs.
“Because Claire found something five years ago that could destroy this family.”
Daniel's eyes hardened.
“What?”
Evelyn stopped three steps above him.
“The real owner of the Carter fortune.”
Daniel frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Your father isn't the owner.”
She looked directly at Daniel.
“And neither are you.”
Daniel went still.
“Then who is?”
Evelyn reached into her coat and pulled out a document.
She dropped it onto the floor.
Daniel picked it up.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then his entire expression changed.
Because the name written on the ownership document wasn't Evelyn's.
It wasn't Arthur's.
It wasn't Daniel's.
It belonged to someone Daniel had believed was dead for twenty-three years.
His hands began to shake.
MICHAEL REED.
Daniel slowly looked up.
Michael was standing behind him.
And for the first time that night—
May you like
Michael wasn't surprised.
He was smiling.
