Chapter 10: The Secret Inside the Gold Locket
Dominic's men moved toward me.
Adrian stepped in front of them.
"Nobody touches my sister.""
Dominic laughed.
"You're in no position to make demands, Adrian. Your guards are outside, your mother is tied up, and your precious inheritance is sitting around your sister's neck.""
He pointed at the locket.
"Give it to me, Isabella.""
I closed my fingers around the pendant.
"No.""
Dominic's smile disappeared.
He nodded toward one of his men.
The man grabbed my arm.
Adrian immediately struck him across the face, sending him crashing into a glass table.
"RUN!"" Adrian shouted.
Victoria grabbed my hand.
We rushed toward the adjoining bedroom as Marco and two security officers burst through the suite entrance.
Gunshots exploded behind us.
Victoria slammed the bedroom door.
"There's another exit!""
She pulled a painting away from the wall, revealing a narrow service door.
I stared at her.
"How do you know about this?""
"I've stayed here with Vincent dozens of times. He uses this hotel for private meetings.""
We slipped into the service corridor.
Behind us, I heard Adrian shouting orders.
Then a gunshot.
I stopped.
"Adrian!""
Victoria grabbed my shoulders.
"Keep moving! Marco will get him out.""
"But—"
"Bella, listen to me. If Dominic gets that locket, our parents die.""
We reached the underground parking garage.
A black sedan waited near the exit.
Victoria unlocked it.
"Get in.""
I hesitated.
"How do I know I can trust you?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You don't. But I'm asking you to remember one thing.""
She touched the crescent birthmark behind her ear.
"When we were little, you used to hold my hand whenever you were frightened. You called me Vicky because you couldn't pronounce Victoria.""
A memory flickered.
Two little girls.
A yellow blanket.
A whispered promise.
I climbed into the car.
Victoria drove us away from the hotel.
For twenty minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then she pulled into an underground garage beneath an abandoned office building.
She locked the doors and turned toward me.
"Show me the locket.""
I removed it from my neck.
The tiny key she'd given me fit into a hidden opening beneath the heart-shaped clasp.
I turned it.
A soft click sounded.
The back panel opened.
Inside was a thin metal compartment containing a folded document and a small memory card.
I unfolded the paper.
It was a handwritten letter from my grandfather.
To Isabella and Victoria,
If you are reading this together, then my greatest fear has finally come true, but perhaps my greatest hope has survived.
Your father discovered that Vincent was stealing from Kane Holdings. When he confronted him, Vincent arranged to have him removed.
I attempted to protect both of you, but I made a terrible mistake. I believed separating you would keep you safe.
The original trust documents are recorded on the enclosed storage device. They establish that neither Vincent nor any other family member may control your inheritance without the consent of both granddaughters.
Most importantly, the two of you together hold the authority to remove any trustee who has violated the terms of this agreement.
I looked at Victoria.
"So we can remove Vincent?""
She nodded.
"That's what he has been trying to prevent.""
I picked up the memory card.
"What is on this?""
"Probably the original documents.""
Victoria connected it to a small laptop.
A folder appeared.
Inside were bank records, property transfers, and scanned legal agreements.
But one file had a different name.
*THE NIGHT OF OCTOBER 14.*
I opened it.
A video began playing.
My grandfather appeared on the screen, sitting behind his office desk.
He looked exhausted.
"My name is Charles Kane. If this recording is being viewed, I am either dead or unable to speak freely.""
He looked directly into the camera.
"Vincent Kane arranged the Whitmore estate fire. He intended to kill Thomas and both of my granddaughters.""
Victoria covered her mouth.
The video continued.
"He wanted the inheritance. But the fire was not his only crime.""
My grandfather leaned closer.
"He had help from someone inside our family.""
A second person entered the recording.
A woman.
Elena.
She looked younger, frightened, and visibly bruised.
"I signed the adoption papers," she said.
"Vincent threatened to kill Thomas if I refused.""
I felt tears fill my eyes.
My mother hadn't betrayed us willingly.
She had been trying to keep our father alive.
The video continued.
Then my grandfather said something that made both of us freeze.
"However, there is one person who knows where Thomas was taken after the fire. Someone who has been living under a false identity for eleven years.""
The screen went black.
A final audio recording started.
It was Vincent's voice.
"Once the girls are separated, nobody will ever prove what happened. Elena will take the blame, Thomas will disappear, and the company will belong to me.""
Then another voice answered.
A woman's voice.
"Make sure Isabella never remembers her sister.""
Victoria stopped the recording.
She was shaking.
"Who was that?""
I replayed the final seconds.
The voice was familiar.
Too familiar.
Then Victoria whispered the name.
"Margaret.""
The nurse who had supposedly protected me.
The woman who had disappeared.
The woman who had helped Vincent separate us.
Suddenly, my phone rang.
Adrian.
I answered immediately.
"Are you okay?""
His voice was strained.
"I'm alive. Marco got us out.""
"Where are you?""
"On our way to the mansion.""
I looked at Victoria.
"Adrian, we found the original trust.""
There was silence.
Then he said:
"Good. Because there's something you need to know.""
"What?""
"Your mother and father have been moved.""
My heart stopped.
"Where?""
Adrian's voice dropped.
"Vincent's private estate.""
May you like
Then he added:
"And Margaret is there with them.""
