Chapter 17 The Grandmother Who Disappeared
Nobody moved.
Hannah Foster stood in the doorway with rainwater shining on the shoulders of her gray coat.
She looked nothing like the frightened old woman Emilia had imagined from the few stories she had heard.
She was straight-backed.
Calm.
Her silver hair was cut neatly around her face, and her eyes were the same deep brown as Emilia's.
There was something familiar about her expression.
Not because Emilia remembered her.
Because she recognized herself in it.
Thomas stared at her as if he had seen a ghost.
“Mother?”
Hannah looked at him.
“Yes.”
Thomas took one unsteady step forward.
“You're alive.”
Hannah's expression softened.
“So are you.”
His eyes filled.
“You let us believe you were dead.”
“I let you believe I was gone.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Hannah glanced around the observatory.
“After thirty years, I've learned that words matter.”
Marcus watched her carefully.
He had spent the last several hours discovering that almost every person he trusted had been keeping something from him.
He wasn't going to make another mistake.
“Who are you really?”
Hannah looked at him.
“You're Richard's son.”
“Yes.”
“You have his eyes.”
Marcus didn't react.
“You knew my father?”
“I knew him better than most.”
“Then tell me where he is.”
Hannah's expression changed.
“I don't know.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect nothing from you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To stop Victor.”
Victor stood motionless above them.
His face had changed completely.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
Hannah looked up at him.
“So were you, according to several records.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
Charlotte stared between them.
“You knew each other.”
Hannah nodded.
“Unfortunately.”
Victor descended the stairs slowly.
“What did you tell them?”
“Enough.”
“You should have stayed hidden.”
“I did for thirty years.”
Hannah looked at Emilia.
“I'm tired of hiding.”
Emilia could barely hear the others.
She was staring at the woman who had just claimed to be her grandmother.
Her grandmother.
The person she had spent her childhood imagining through photographs and stories.
The woman who had supposedly died before Emilia was born.
The woman whose absence had always been treated as an ordinary tragedy.
But she was standing there.
Alive.
Watching her.
Emilia finally spoke.
“Why didn't you come back?”
Hannah's face tightened.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Many times.”
“Then why didn't I see you?”
“Because I was told you would be safer without me.”
Emilia looked toward Thomas.
He lowered his eyes.
“You knew?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I knew she was alive.”
Emilia's heart sank.
“But you didn't tell me.”
“I was ordered not to.”
“By whom?”
Thomas hesitated.
Hannah answered.
“By me.”
Emilia stared at her.
“You made that decision for my whole family?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Hannah stepped closer.
“Because when I disappeared, people were looking for me.”
“Who?”
“People who believed I had access to the archive.”
Emilia touched the pendant around her neck.
“The key.”
Hannah nodded.
“The first half.”
Marcus lifted the broken ring.
“And this is the second.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Hannah.
“Then why didn't you destroy them?”
Hannah looked at him.
“Because some truths should not be destroyed simply because they are dangerous.”
Daniel gave a humorless smile.
“That sounds like something my brother would say.”
Hannah looked at Marcus.
“Perhaps that's why your brother married the right woman.”
Marcus glanced at Emilia.
She looked away.
The remark carried no warmth for him.
It carried responsibility.
He understood that now.
Victor stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned.
Victor looked at Hannah.
“You should have handed the archive to me years ago.”
“No.”
“You knew what would happen if you refused.”
“Yes.”
“You were willing to let innocent people suffer.”
Hannah's eyes hardened.
“You don't get to use innocence as a weapon.”
Victor laughed.
“You always had principles.”
“And you always confused power with intelligence.”
Victor's expression darkened.
Charlotte moved toward the stairs.
Victor noticed.
“Don't.”
She stopped.
“Where is Adrian?”
His face changed.
“You don't get to ask about him.”
“He's my son.”
“He is your weakness.”
Charlotte's voice trembled.
“He is not your possession.”
Victor smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked at Marcus.
“Everyone here thinks Bellweather is the prize.”
Marcus watched him.
“It isn't.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward Emilia.
“She is.”
Emilia frowned.
“Why?”
Victor answered calmly.
“Because the archive contains one final document.”
“What document?”
“The original ownership agreement.”
Samuel stepped forward.
“If it proves the trust is valid, Bellweather remains protected.”
Victor shook his head.
“If it proves the trust is invalid, Bellweather can be sold.”
Marcus understood.
“And someone wants to buy it.”
Victor smiled.
“Someone already owns the debt.”
Thomas went pale.
Victor looked at him.
“Don't you remember?”
Thomas whispered,
“No.”
“You signed it.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I signed a temporary agreement.”
“You signed away control.”
Emilia turned toward her father.
“Dad?”
Thomas looked devastated.
“I didn't know.”
Victor smiled.
“You never do.”
Marcus looked at Emilia.
Her face had become still.
Too still.
He knew that expression.
She was hurt.
But she was thinking.
He had once mistaken that quietness for weakness.
He would never make that mistake again.
He stepped beside her.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“We'll deal with it.”
“You don't know what it is.”
“No.”
He paused.
“But we can find out.”
She nodded.
The simplicity of his answer steadied her.
Victor watched them.
“You still think you can save her.”
Marcus looked at him.
“I don't need to save her.”
Victor frowned.
Marcus continued.
“She can save herself.”
Emilia looked at him.
Something softened in her eyes.
Then Victor raised his hand.
Two men appeared behind Hannah.
Charlotte moved immediately.
“Don't touch her.”
One of the men grabbed Charlotte.
She struggled.
Victor looked at Emilia.
“The pendant.”
Emilia removed it.
Marcus said quietly,
“Don't give him anything.”
Victor smiled.
“You're learning.”
Emilia held the pendant out.
Victor stepped toward her.
Then Hannah spoke.
“Give it to him.”
Everyone turned.
Emilia stared at her.
“What?”
Hannah's expression was calm.
“Give it to him.”
Marcus looked at Hannah.
“Why?”
“Because the pendant isn't the key.”
Victor stopped.
His face changed.
Hannah smiled.
“It never was.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?”
Hannah looked at Emilia.
“I gave your grandfather a false key thirty years ago.”
Victor stared at her.
“You lied to all of us.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the real one?”
Hannah smiled.
“Somewhere you will never find it.”
Victor's patience disappeared.
He turned toward the men.
“Take her.”
They moved toward Hannah.
Marcus stepped forward.
Daniel followed.
The room erupted into movement.
Charlotte shoved one man aside.
Daniel grabbed the other and forced him away from Hannah.
Marcus pulled Emilia behind him.
Victor rushed toward the pendant.
Emilia stepped backward.
The pendant slipped from her fingers.
It fell to the floor.
Victor lunged for it.
Marcus reached it first.
He picked it up.
Victor stopped.
For a moment, the two men stared at each other.
Marcus held the pendant tightly.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Then come and take it.”
Victor moved.
Marcus threw the pendant toward Emilia.
She caught it.
Victor turned toward her.
Charlotte intercepted him.
The two collided against the table.
Documents scattered across the floor.
Thomas grabbed Emilia.
“Run.”
“No.”
“Emilia, please.”
She looked at him.
“I've been running from this my whole life.”
She shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
Hannah suddenly pointed toward the floor.
“The archive entrance.”
Samuel looked down.
“What?”
She moved a section of the carpet aside.
Beneath it was a metal panel.
Marcus stared.
“This building?”
Hannah nodded.
“Your grandfather built it.”
Samuel crouched beside the panel.
“There is a lock.”
Marcus looked at the broken ring.
“Try this.”
He placed the ring against the lock.
Nothing happened.
Hannah smiled.
“Wrong side.”
Marcus turned the ring.
A faint click sounded.
The panel opened.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Victor saw it.
His expression changed.
“Stop them.”
His men moved.
Daniel blocked the stairs.
“You'll have to get through me.”
Victor looked at him.
“You think you're brave.”
Daniel smiled.
“No.”
He glanced at Marcus.
“I just know my brother isn't going down there alone.”
Marcus looked at him.
For years, he had believed his brother was simply someone he needed to protect.
Now he understood.
Daniel wasn't following him.
He was standing beside him.
There was a difference.
Marcus nodded.
“Thank you.”
Daniel shrugged.
“Don't make it sentimental.”
Marcus almost smiled.
Then Hannah spoke.
“Go.”
Marcus took Emilia's hand.
Together, they descended.
The staircase seemed endless.
The air grew colder.
At the bottom stood a heavy steel door.
Hannah joined them.
“This is it.”
Emilia looked at her.
“What's inside?”
“Everything your family spent thirty years trying to bury.”
Marcus looked at the door.
“And everything Victor wants.”
Hannah nodded.
She placed her palm against the metal.
“There is one problem.”
“What?”
“The door doesn't open with the ring.”
Marcus frowned.
“Then what does?”
Hannah looked at Emilia.
“Your blood.”
Emilia stared.
“What?”
“The lock was designed to recognize a Foster descendant.”
Marcus looked at the metal panel.
“That's why Victor needed her.”
“Yes.”
Emilia placed her hand against the door.
Nothing happened.
She looked at Hannah.
“It's not working.”
Hannah's expression changed.
“Because you're not the only heir.”
Emilia frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Hannah looked behind them.
Thomas had followed.
She pointed at him.
“The door requires both branches of the family.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
He placed his hand beside Emilia's.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a vast underground chamber.
Shelves filled the walls.
Boxes covered the floor.
Hundreds of files had been preserved in sealed containers.
But in the center of the room stood a single desk.
On it was a photograph.
Marcus approached.
His breath caught.
The photograph showed Richard.
Beside him stood Adrian.
And between them stood a woman Marcus had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph were six words:
The real heir is not Emilia.
Emilia stepped beside him.
She read the words.
Then looked at Hannah.
“Who is the real heir?”
Hannah's face became pale.
Before she could answer, a voice came from behind them.
“Me.”
Everyone turned.
Victor stood at the doorway.
And beside him was Evelyn.
But this time, Evelyn was holding a gun.
She pointed it directly at Marcus.