Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE WITHIN THE HOUSE
The key changed everything.
Victor recognized the name immediately.
The Mercer family had owned a private bank in Boston before Victor was born.
The bank had closed decades earlier.
Its underground vault supposedly no longer existed.
But Victor's father had once warned him never to investigate it.
Now Tessa's father had left them a key.
Victor took Tessa and Liam to a secure apartment outside the city.
For the first time, she saw Victor without his estate, guards, expensive suits, and intimidating surroundings.
He cooked breakfast.
Badly.
Tessa stared at the burnt eggs.
“You're terrible at this.”
Victor looked offended.
“I've never had to cook.”
“That explains it.”
Liam laughed from the table.
It was the first genuine laugh Tessa had heard from her brother in months.
Victor looked at him.
“Eat.”
Liam obeyed.
Later, Tessa found Victor standing alone on the balcony.
“You saved my brother.”
Victor looked toward the city.
“Not yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“He still owes me the truth.”
Tessa folded her arms.
“You don't trust anyone.”
“No.”
“Do you trust me?”
Victor looked at her.
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
She wasn't prepared for it.
Neither was he.
Tessa looked away.
“Why?”
“Because you had every opportunity to betray me.”
She smiled faintly.
“And I didn't.”
“You also fell asleep on me.”
She groaned.
“Please don't remind me.”
“I find it memorable.”
Tessa looked at him.
For the first time, she saw humor in his eyes.
Then her smile disappeared.
“Victor.”
“Yes?”
“If my father really was involved in all this, does that make me part of your world?”
“No.”
“But my family is.”
“Your family history isn't your identity.”
She stared at him.
That sentence stayed with her.
That evening, they entered the Mercer vault.
The entrance was beneath an abandoned office building.
Inside, they discovered shelves filled with documents.
Not money.
Evidence.
Names.
Dates.
Accounts.
Photographs.
Victor slowly understood.
His father had not been the mastermind.
He had been documenting the people who were.
Politicians.
Judges.
Business owners.
Police officials.
And one name appeared repeatedly.
Richard Vale.
Victor's current financial adviser.
Tessa stared at the documents.
“That's impossible.”
Victor looked at her.
“What?”
“Richard Vale was my father's lawyer.”
Silence.
Liam suddenly stepped backward.
“I know him.”
Victor turned.
“How?”
Liam looked terrified.
“He recruited me.”
Tessa's face changed.
“Liam?”
“He told me he could erase my gambling debt.”
Victor's voice hardened.
“What did he ask you to do?”
Liam swallowed.
“Work inside the Romano estate.”
Tessa stared at her brother.
“You were spying on Victor?”
“I didn't know why.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You put me inside his house!”
“I didn't know they would use you!”
Victor remained silent.
Tessa turned toward him.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew someone had planted me.”
“I suspected it.”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“You let me stay.”
“I protected you.”
“You manipulated me.”
Victor stepped closer.
“I kept you alive.”
“That doesn't give you the right to decide everything for me.”
She walked away.
Victor didn't follow.
For the first time in years, he realized something terrifying.
He didn't fear losing control of his empire.
He feared losing her.
May you like
And neither of them noticed the small red light blinking inside the vault.
Someone was watching.
