Chapter 4 - The Secret Her Mother Took to the Grave
Mave stared at the woman.
She appeared to be in her late fifties.
Silver-blond hair.
Dark wool coat.
No visible weapon.
Marco immediately moved between her and the room.
“How did you get inside?”
The woman raised both hands.
“Your east service entrance has a maintenance tunnel.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“That tunnel was sealed ten years ago.”
“It was supposed to be.”
Adrian looked at Marco.
“Fix it.”
Then he turned back to the woman.
“Name.”
“Rebecca Shaw.”
Thomas whispered, “Elaine’s sister.”
Mave looked sharply at him.
“My mother didn’t have a sister.”
Rebecca’s expression tightened.
“She did.”
Mave laughed once.
“Wonderful. Another dead relative who apparently wasn’t dead.”
“I was never dead.”
“You might as well have been.”
Rebecca took the accusation without protest.
“I deserve that.”
Mave looked at Thomas.
“And he isn’t my father.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“No.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Adrian stepped closer to Mave.
She did not notice until his hand rested lightly against her back.
“Tell her,” he said to Thomas.
Thomas looked at Rebecca.
She nodded.
Then Thomas began.
Before Elaine met him, she had briefly worked as an accountant for one of Luca Vale’s businesses.
Mave’s breath caught.
Adrian went still.
Thomas continued.
“She met someone there.”
Mave stared at Adrian.
“No.”
Adrian understood where her mind had gone.
“Not my father.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
Mave exhaled.
But only slightly.
“Then who?”
Rebecca answered.
“Martin Kessler.”
Silence.
Mave looked from Rebecca to Thomas.
“That’s not funny.”
“No,” Rebecca said. “It isn’t.”
Mave backed away.
“Kessler is my biological father?”
“Yes.”
Her stomach turned.
The man who had destroyed her apartment.
Ordered Curtis to threaten her.
Framed her.
Used her to lure Adrian.
Her father.
“No.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Mave—”
“Don’t.”
Rebecca stopped.
Mave looked at Thomas.
“You knew?”
“Since you were three.”
“And you stayed.”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“You were my daughter.”
“But then you left.”
Pain hit him visibly.
“Yes.”
Mave turned away.
Adrian followed her upstairs.
She walked into the small backyard.
The rain had finally stopped.
She wrapped her arms around herself.
Adrian remained several feet away.
“I don’t want comfort.”
“I wasn’t going to give you any.”
She looked at him.
“That’s terrible.”
“You said you didn’t want it.”
She let out a broken laugh.
Then immediately began crying.
Adrian approached.
This time he did not ask.
He put his arms around her.
Mave resisted for one second.
Then collapsed against him.
“I’m Kessler’s daughter.”
“Biologically.”
“That isn’t a small detail.”
“No.”
“What if I’m like him?”
Adrian pulled back enough to look at her.
“You cried because you thought your mother’s photographs were lost.”
“So?”
“Kessler destroyed those photographs to scare you.”
His gaze stayed on hers.
“People are choices, Mave. Not blood.”
She swallowed.
“You believe that?”
“I have to.”
His father had been a mafia leader.
Adrian had inherited power he had never entirely wanted.
He understood blood better than most.
Mave wiped her face.
“What does Kessler mean when he calls me the key?”
Adrian looked toward the house.
“We find out.”
Rebecca explained the answer.
Twenty-eight years earlier, Kessler had placed a huge percentage of his early criminal profits into a private international trust.
To hide ownership, he registered the trust through a legal structure tied to Elaine.
He assumed he could control her.
Then she became pregnant.
When Elaine realized the money came from criminal activity, she secretly changed the trust conditions.
Kessler could access the assets only with authorization from Elaine—or, after her death, their biological daughter.
Mave.
“How much?” Mave asked.
Rebecca hesitated.
“Approximately six hundred million dollars.”
Mave stared.
“I was evicted over eighteen hundred dollars.”
No one spoke.
She laughed in disbelief.
“I sold my mother’s bracelet to buy groceries.”
Adrian’s mouth tightened.
Rebecca continued.
“Kessler cannot directly force your authorization because the trust requires independent biometric consent.”
“So he needs me alive.”
“Yes.”
Mave’s eyes hardened.
“That’s why he didn’t kill me.”
“Yes.”
“And he wants Adrian involved because…”
Adrian answered.
“He needs my financial network to move the money without triggering investigations.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He needs both of you.”
Mave looked at him.
“The accidental call connected us exactly the way he wanted.”
“Except he expected me to treat you as leverage.”
“And instead?”
Adrian met her eyes.
“Instead, I became inconvenient.”
Rebecca almost smiled.
“Very.”
Adrian opened the original ledger again.
“If Kessler needs Mave’s consent, we can use that.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Your objections are becoming repetitive.”
“He’ll kill her the moment the transfer finishes.”
“Then it doesn’t finish.”
Mave understood.
“You want to pretend I’ll cooperate.”
“Yes.”
“Set a meeting.”
“Yes.”
Thomas stood.
“Absolutely not.”
Mave turned toward him.
“You don’t get to disappear for twelve years and return with parental veto power.”
Thomas flinched.
She softened only slightly.
“I know you were trying to protect me.”
“I failed.”
“Yes.”
Her words hurt, but they were true.
“But I’m not hiding anymore.”
Adrian watched her with something close to admiration.
Mave looked at him.
“I’ll do it.”
“You follow every instruction.”
“I’ll consider every instruction.”
“That wasn’t what I said.”
“I know.”
He sighed.
Rebecca explained that Kessler maintained a private bank facility inside the top floor of the Bellmont tower.
If he believed Mave was willing to authorize access, he would likely meet there.
Adrian called him.
Kessler answered on the first ring.
“You finally figured it out.”
Adrian replied, “Your daughter wants to talk.”
Silence.
Then:
“Put her on.”
Mave took the phone.
Her hand was steady.
“Hello, Martin.”
Kessler inhaled.
“Mave.”
“You destroyed my home.”
“You’ll have better ones.”
“You had me assaulted.”
“Curtis exceeded instructions.”
“You took my money.”
“You have more money than you understand.”
She looked at Adrian.
He nodded.
Mave continued.
“I want a deal.”
Kessler sounded pleased.
“Now you’re thinking like my daughter.”
Mave’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not your daughter.”
“You are in every way that matters.”
“No.”
Her voice remained calm.
“But I’ll authorize the trust.”
Everyone in the room went still.
Kessler asked, “In exchange for what?”
“My life.”
“You already have that.”
“My father’s life.”
Thomas looked at her.
“And Adrian’s.”
Adrian’s eyes shifted to Mave.
Kessler chuckled.
“Attachment happened faster than expected.”
Mave did not react.
“Do we have a deal?”
“Tomorrow. Midnight. Bellmont Tower.”
“I’ll be there.”
“No security.”
Mave looked at Adrian.
“Fine.”
Kessler added, “And Mave?”
“Yes?”
“Bring the original ledger.”
The call ended.
Thomas stared at her.
“You’re walking into a trap.”
Mave replied, “Obviously.”
Adrian began issuing instructions.
Marco would establish surveillance from two buildings away.
Rebecca would prepare a fake trust authorization portal.
Thomas would remain hidden.
Mave would wear a concealed transmitter.
Adrian would enter separately.
“You said no security,” Mave reminded him.
“I lie.”
She smiled faintly.
“I’m starting to see the occupational skill set.”
That night, Mave could not sleep.
She found Adrian alone in the kitchen around three in the morning.
He was reading his father’s letter again.
Mave sat across from him.
“Do you miss him?”
“Every day.”
“Was he good?”
Adrian thought.
“Sometimes.”
“That’s not a glowing review.”
“He loved me. He also made decisions that hurt people.”
Mave nodded.
“My mom loved Thomas.”
“I think so.”
“She loved my biological father once too.”
“Probably.”
“I hate that.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes him human.”
Adrian folded the letter.
“Monsters being human is what makes them dangerous.”
Mave studied him.
“You don’t talk like the mafia boss in my imagination.”
“What did he sound like?”
“More threats. Possibly a cigar.”
“I hate cigars.”
She smiled.
Then became serious.
“Why did you really come for me that first night?”
Adrian was quiet for a long time.
“Because you sounded alone.”
Mave’s breath caught.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“You sent three SUVs because a stranger sounded lonely?”
“One SUV felt insufficient.”
She laughed.
Adrian smiled.
It changed his entire face.
Mave noticed.
So did he.
The moment lingered.
Then Marco entered.
“Sorry.”
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“We intercepted a message from Kessler.”
“To whom?”
Marco placed a tablet on the table.
Thomas Carter’s photograph appeared.
Mave stood.
“What about him?”
Marco scrolled.
A money transfer.
Five million dollars.
Scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Recipient:
THOMAS CARTER.
Mave stared.
“No.”
Marco spoke quietly.
“Kessler paid him.”
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
“Where is Thomas?”
Marco checked his phone.
Then cursed.
“His room is empty.”
Mave ran upstairs.
Thomas’s window was open.
A rope hung from the balcony.
On the bed lay a note.
Mave picked it up.
Three words.
I’M SORRY, MAVE.
Her phone vibrated.
A video call.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Kessler appeared on screen.
Behind him sat Thomas, tied to a chair.
Mave whispered, “Dad.”
Kessler smiled.
“Midnight is too late.”
A gun appeared beside Thomas’s head.
May you like
“Come alone now,” Kessler said, “or the only father you ever loved dies before sunrise.”
Then the screen went black.
