Chapter 10 - The Unopened Safe

Six months later.
The campus of Columbia University was blanketed in crisp autumn leaves. Alice walked across the quad, a heavy backpack slung over her shoulder, holding a stack of economics textbooks. Her grandmother was settled in a lovely, sun-filled brownstone near the campus, her health fully stabilized under top-tier medical care.
Admila visited every Sunday, leaving his security detail at the curb, sitting at Evelyn’s kitchen table to eat simple home-cooked meals and play chess.
For the first time in her life, Alice felt true peace.
Her phone vibrated in her coat pocket. It was an alert from the Johnson Foundation portal—a new batch of full-ride scholarships had just been approved for the daughters of domestic workers in three states. She smiled, feeling the warmth of true accomplishment.
Then, a second notification popped up. An encrypted text from an unknown international number.
Alice stopped beneath the shadow of the university library, her brow furrowing. She opened the message.
Attached was a photograph of a scorched, yellowed document, stamped with a private seal from the Swiss Banking Syndicate in Zurich.
Beneath the image was a short message:
“You think you saved the empire, Alice. But you only saw the files Admila wanted you to find. Look into Mary’s medical records from June 14, 2004. You weren't the only child born that night. Ask your grandfather who was in the second crib.”
Alice’s breath hitched in her throat. The bustling campus noise around her seemed to fade into a dead, ringing silence.
She looked at the photograph again. In the bottom corner, clear as day, was Admila Johnson’s private signature—dated three days after her mother had supposedly died alone.
May you like
Alice gripped her phone, turned on her heel, and walked briskly away from the campus toward the waiting town car at the gate.
The story was far from over.