THE BILLIONAIRE STOOD UP FROM HIS WHEELCHAIR AFTER HIS EX HUMILIATED HIM—BUT THE WAITRESS REFUSED HIS HAND

On the twelfth attempt, Gabriel Cruz picked up.

"Isa?"

His voice was shaking.

"Gabriel, listen to me. Where are you?"

"At home."

"Where's Mom?"

"She's here."

"And the woman?"

A pause.

"She's sitting in our kitchen."

Isabella closed her eyes.

"Don't tell her anything. Don't let her take you anywhere. I'm coming."

"Isa, she says Dad—"

"I heard you."

"No. You don't understand."

Gabriel lowered his voice.

"She has a video of him."

Isabella felt the chapel floor tilt beneath her.

"Put her on."

There was a rustling sound.

Then a woman's voice.

"Miss Cruz. My name is Caroline Whitmore."

Isabella's fingers tightened around the phone.

"I know who you are."

"Then you know we have very little time."

"If you touch my family—"

"I'm not here to hurt them."

"That's what people said before my father died."

A long silence.

Then Caroline spoke softly.

"Your father didn't die in that garage."

Isabella couldn't answer.

"The body was identified using records supplied by Sterling Automotive. There was no independent family identification."

Isabella remembered the closed casket.

The explanation about catastrophic injuries.

Her mother's trembling hands as she signed the funeral paperwork.

"You're lying."

"I wish I were."

"Then where is he?"

"I don't know anymore."

Isabella's eyes filled.

"What do you mean, anymore?"

"I helped move him."

The words landed like a blow.

Caroline continued.

"After he discovered what happened to Ethan's car, he was taken to a private medical facility. He suffered a head injury during the confrontation. He was conscious, but confused."

"You kidnapped my father?"

"I participated in keeping him hidden."

Isabella could barely breathe.

"And now you want forgiveness?"

"No. I want to keep your family alive long enough for the truth to come out."

Ethan moved closer.

"Caroline," he said.

The line went silent.

"Ethan?"

"Where is my father?"

Caroline inhaled sharply.

"I don't know where Richard is now."

"You treated him?"

"Yes."

"Was he injured?"

"He had an old neurological condition that required monitoring. His disappearance wasn't entirely voluntary, but he later became involved in protecting evidence against the Sterling network."

Ethan gripped the back of a pew.

"You knew my father was alive while you were treating me?"

"Yes."

"And you said nothing?"

"I was being threatened."

"By whom?"

Caroline hesitated.

Then said, "Chad Miller."

Ethan looked toward Isabella.

Brooke's boyfriend.

The man who had laughed while Brooke humiliated him.

"Chad is a real-estate investor," Ethan said.

"That's what he wants you to believe."

Caroline's voice sharpened.

"He's been handling the Sterling family's offshore financial operations since Victor disappeared from public life."

Ethan frowned.

"Victor Sterling died."

"No," Caroline said.

"Don't tell me he's alive too."

"Victor Sterling is dead. I saw his medical records. But Chad inherited control of several entities Victor had used."

"Why would Chad want me dead?"

"Because your father found evidence that the Sterling companies were laundering money through charitable trusts and development projects. Richard hid copies before he disappeared."

"And my accident?"

"Chad believed you were about to receive those files."

Ethan stared at the phone.

"I didn't even know they existed."

"Someone told him you did."

"Who?"

Caroline went quiet.

Then she said something unexpected.

"Ask Daniel Mercer."

Ethan's jaw tightened.

"Daniel?"

"He knew Richard had contacted you."

"No. Richard contacted Daniel."

"That's not what I was told."

A sound came from the other end of the call.

A door opening.

Gabriel shouted, "Who are you?"

Caroline's voice changed.

"Miss Cruz, get your mother out through the back entrance. Now."

The line went dead.

Isabella ran.

Ethan tried to follow, but Grace stopped him.

"You can't drive there in this condition."

"My father may be alive, and her family is in danger."

"Then let us get there without creating another emergency."

Ethan looked down at his trembling leg.

He hated being stopped.

But he knew Grace was right.

They reached the Cruz apartment building twenty-five minutes later.

Two private security officers stood outside.

One had blood on his collar.

Isabella pushed past him.

"What happened?"

"Three men entered through the rear stairwell. We intercepted them."

"Where's my family?"

"Safe. Upstairs."

She rushed into the building.

Ethan followed in his wheelchair.

Inside the apartment, Gabriel stood beside their mother, Rosa.

Rosa Cruz was a small woman with silver streaks in her dark hair.

When she saw Isabella, she began to cry.

"Mi hija."

Isabella wrapped her arms around her.

"You're okay."

Rosa nodded.

Then looked toward Ethan.

Her expression changed.

"You're Richard's son."

Ethan stopped.

"You knew my father?"

Rosa looked at Isabella.

"Your father never told you?"

Isabella shook her head.

Rosa sat down slowly.

"Mateo worked for Richard Vance before he worked for Sterling Automotive."

Ethan stared.

"Doing what?"

"Security maintenance. Vehicles. Communications equipment. Anything Richard needed."

"Why did he leave?"

Rosa's hands trembled.

"Because Richard discovered something terrible."

"What?"

"Someone was stealing money from construction projects. But it wasn't just theft. Workers were being injured. Buildings were being approved without proper inspections. People were dying because someone wanted bigger profits."

Ethan thought of the Sterling family's enormous real-estate empire.

"And my father tried to expose it?"

Rosa nodded.

"He asked Mateo to preserve copies of maintenance records and financial documents. Then Richard disappeared."

"Why didn't Mateo tell me?"

"Because he thought you were being watched."

Isabella looked at her mother.

"Mom, why didn't you tell us?"

Rosa began to cry.

"Your father made me promise. He said if anyone knew what he had, they would come for all of us."

Ethan leaned forward.

"What did he have?"

Rosa stood.

She crossed the kitchen and opened a drawer.

Inside was an old wooden watch box.

She placed it on the table.

"Mateo told me never to open this unless someone came asking about Richard Vance."

Isabella stared.

"You've had this the whole time?"

Rosa nodded.

"He said the right person would know what to do."

Ethan opened the box.

Inside was a broken silver wristwatch.

The hands were stopped at 11:47.

Beneath it lay a small brass key.

And a photograph of Richard Vance standing beside Mateo Cruz.

On the back, in Richard's handwriting, were six words.

THE TRUTH IS BENEATH THE WATER.

Ethan turned the photograph over again.

He knew that phrase.

His father had used it when Ethan was a child.

Whenever they went sailing, Richard would point toward the harbor and say, "The truth is beneath the water, son. The surface only shows what the wind wants you to see."

It had been their private joke.

But there was something else.

The silver watch.

Ethan recognized it.

His father had worn it every day for twenty years.

Until the morning he supposedly died.

Ethan picked it up.

The back casing felt loose.

He twisted it carefully.

A tiny compartment opened.

Inside was a memory card.

Grace stepped closer.