Chapter 9 - THE PLAN THAT STARTED BEFORE MY HUSBAND DIED
The next morning, Ryan and I returned to the city.
But this time, we weren’t running.
We were searching.
There was a difference.
For the first time since my son closed that door, I wasn’t afraid.
I was angry.
Claire had taken my trust.
David had taken my family’s loyalty.
But they made one mistake.
They underestimated a mother.
Ryan looked at me while driving.
“You’re quiet.”
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“About how long they planned this.”
Ryan nodded.
“That’s what worries me.”
We stopped at an old office building.
“This is where Dad kept his private records.”
I looked at the abandoned building.
“Why didn’t anyone know about this?”
“Because Dad didn’t trust anyone.”
The words hurt.
But I understood why.
Inside the office, dust covered everything.
Ryan searched through cabinets.
I looked around.
Then something caught my attention.
A picture frame.
I picked it up.
Behind it was a small hidden compartment.
“Ryan.”
He rushed over.
Inside was another envelope.
This time, it wasn’t from my husband.
It was from Claire.
My hands trembled.
“Why would she leave something here?”
Ryan opened it carefully.
Inside was a letter.
Not written to us.
Written to David.
The first sentence made my stomach turn.
The old woman still doesn’t suspect anything.
I felt anger rise inside me.
Ryan kept reading.
Once Ryan signs the final papers, everything belongs to us.
I looked at my son.
“Final papers?”
Ryan grabbed the letter.
He scanned the page.
Then his face went pale.
“What?”
He handed it to me.
The letter mentioned a meeting.
A date.
A location.
And one sentence that made my blood run cold.
After the signing, Ruth will no longer be a problem.
I couldn’t breathe.
No longer be a problem.
Those words weren’t about money.
They were about me.
Ryan immediately grabbed his phone.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because that meeting is today.”
Before we reached the door, the lights went out.
The entire building went dark.
I heard footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming closer.
Ryan grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.”
A voice echoed through the hallway.
“You two really should have stopped looking.”
I recognized that voice.
My heart dropped.
Because the person standing in the darkness…
Was someone I never expected.
Someone who knew my family.
Someone who had been pretending to help us.
Ryan whispered:
“Mom…”
Then he said the words that made me freeze.
May you like
“He was working with them the whole time.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
