Chapter 14 - THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD
The car stopped so suddenly that everyone was thrown forward.
Ryan turned around.
“Maya?”
I couldn't answer.
Evelyn.
My mother's older sister.
The woman whose funeral I had attended when I was six.
The woman whose photographs had disappeared from our house after my father died.
The woman my mother had refused to discuss for decades.
I looked at my mother.
“You said she was dead.”
My mother was crying.
“I thought she was.”
“You thought?”
She covered her face.
“My sister disappeared.”
“When?”
“Three years before your father's supposed death.”
“And you never told me?”
“We were afraid.”
“Of Victor?”
She nodded.
My father interrupted.
“Not just Victor.”
He looked at Ethan.
“Evelyn knew about the trust.”
“What did she know?”
“She knew Victor was trying to control the Sterling assets.”
“And?”
My father hesitated.
“She discovered something else.”
“What?”
He reached into his coat.
Then pulled out an old cassette recorder.
My father pressed PLAY.
Static filled the car.
Then a woman's voice.
My mother's voice.
Young.
Terrified.
“If anything happens to Maya, tell her the truth.”
My heart stopped.
The recording continued.
“Victor isn't trying to steal the company.”
A pause.
“He's trying to erase the Sterling bloodline.”
I stared at my mother.
The recording continued.
“Ethan is the key.”
Then the tape ended.
Silence.
Ethan looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
My father answered.
“It means Victor needs Ethan alive.”
“Why?”
“Because only Ethan can activate the final part of your grandfather's trust.”
Daniel suddenly leaned forward.
“Wait.”
He grabbed the documents.
“The final beneficiary clause.”
He turned pages quickly.
Then stopped.
“Maya.”
“What?”
“Your grandfather didn't leave the controlling shares to Ethan.”
He pointed at the clause.
“They belong to whoever holds the Sterling bloodline certificate.”
I frowned.
“What certificate?”
My father looked at me.
“One document.”
“Where is it?”
He didn't answer.
“Dad.”
“It disappeared the night your mother was attacked.”
My mother whispered:
“Evelyn took it.”
The entire car went silent.
“So Evelyn has it?”
My father nodded.
“If she's alive.”
Ethan suddenly spoke.
“She is.”
Everyone looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw her last month.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“At Victor's house.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“She came into my room.”
“What did she say?”
Ethan looked at me.
“She told me…”
He swallowed.
“She said my mother would come for me soon.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Did she tell you where she was going?”
Ethan nodded.
“She said she had one thing left to do.”
“What?”
He looked toward the city skyline.
“She said she was going to destroy Victor.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Maya.”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
It belonged to my aunt.
Evelyn.
She said only one sentence.
May you like
“Your father is lying to you.”
The call ended.
