Chapter 7 - The Safe-Deposit Box
The bank manager looked at Ava's identification and went pale.
He examined it again.
Then he glanced at the silver key resting on the counter.
“Where did you get this?”
“It belonged to my mother.”
The manager's eyes lifted.
“Which mother?”
Ava felt Daniel stiffen beside her.
“Excuse me?”
The man swallowed.
“I'm sorry. That was inappropriate.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Mr. Harris, we have a court order authorizing access to this box. Your legal department has already verified it.”
The manager nodded.
“Yes, Mr. Choi.”
They were escorted into a private vault beneath the bank.
Ava's heart pounded as the manager inserted his key beside hers.
The lock clicked.
Inside the box were three envelopes, a flash drive, and a small velvet pouch.
Ava reached for the first envelope.
Her name was written across the front.
For Ava, when she is old enough to understand.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
Her fingers trembled as she opened it.
The letter began:
My beautiful daughter,
Ava stopped reading.
Tears blurred the words.
Daniel quietly moved away, giving her privacy.
She continued.
If you are reading this, then Rebecca has kept her promise. I pray she was able to give you the childhood I could not.
I did not leave because I didn't love you.
I left because people were willing to kill for what your grandfather placed in your name.
Ava pressed the letter against her chest.
For twenty-eight years, she had lived believing her biological mother was someone she would never know.
Now that woman was speaking to her through paper.
She forced herself to continue.
Never believe the people who tell you the Choi family has only one rightful heir.
There is a second trust.
And the evidence is hidden where they will never think to look.
The letter ended with a sentence that made Ava's hands go cold.
If Daniel Choi ever finds you, ask him what happened on November seventeenth.
Ava looked up.
Daniel was standing near the vault door.
“What's November seventeenth?”
He turned.
“What?”
She held up the letter.
“My mother says I should ask you.”
Daniel frowned.
“November seventeenth?”
“Yes.”
He thought for a moment.
“That's the date my father died.”
Ava stared.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
“Where?”
“Outside Baltimore.”
She looked down at the letter.
The same city.
The same family.
Another death.
“Daniel, I don't think your father's accident was an accident.”
He took the letter carefully.
As he read, his expression hardened.
The second envelope contained documents showing a series of transfers from the original Choi family trust into companies controlled by Victor's father.
The third contained copies of birth records, adoption papers, and a handwritten statement from Rebecca Bennett.
The flash drive was encrypted.
Daniel called Marcus.
“We need a forensic specialist. Someone independent.”
Ava opened the velvet pouch.
Inside was a small gold pendant shaped like a crescent moon.
She recognized it immediately.
Rebecca had worn an identical pendant every day until she died.
Ava turned it over.
Tiny numbers were engraved along the back.
“Daniel.”
He looked up.
“What?”
She showed him.
“Could this be a code?”
He studied it.
“Possibly.”
The bank manager returned.
“Mrs. Choi, there's something I need to tell you.”
Ava looked at him.
“Three months ago, a woman came here asking about this box.”
“Isabella?”
“She presented identification under that name.”
“Did she open it?”
“No. She didn't have the key.”
Ava's heart raced.
“Did you see her face?”
“Yes.”
“Was she around fifty?”
The manager nodded.
“Perhaps.”
“Do you have surveillance footage?”
“It's been retained under a legal preservation request.”
Daniel looked at him sharply.
“Requested by whom?”
The manager hesitated.
“An attorney representing the Choi family.”
“Which attorney?”
“Mr. Victor Choi's office.”
Ava felt her stomach turn.
Victor knew Isabella might be alive.
And he had kept it hidden.
Outside the bank, Daniel's security team escorted them toward the waiting SUV.
Ava stopped beside the vehicle.
“Daniel.”
He turned.
“I want to find her.”
“I know.”
“No. I mean I don't care what it costs. I don't care what secrets your family has. I want to know whether my mother is alive.”
Daniel took her hand.
For the first time, she didn't pull away.
“We'll find out.”
Ava looked at their joined hands.
“You lied to me in Baltimore.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me at our wedding.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept making decisions for me.”
Daniel's expression tightened.
“I did.”
She swallowed.
“If we're going to do this, you don't get to decide what I can handle.”
He nodded.
“No more secrets.”
Ava studied his face.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
For a moment, she wanted to believe him.
Then Marcus opened the SUV door.
His phone rang.
He listened briefly.
His expression changed.
“Daniel, we have a problem.”
“What now?”
“The forensic team decrypted the first folder on the flash drive.”
Daniel frowned.
“That quickly?”
“The pendant numbers matched the password format.”
Ava stepped closer.
“What did they find?”
Marcus looked directly at her.
“A recording.”
“Of what?”
He swallowed.
“Your biological mother.”
Ava's knees nearly buckled.
“Is she alive?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The recording is dated three months ago.”
Ava covered her mouth.
May you like
Then Marcus added:
“And in the video, she's sitting across a table from Eleanor Choi.”
