Chapter 8 - THE TRUTH ABOUT BRANDON
Brandon was in federal custody.
I refused to see him.
Until he sent a message.
“I can tell you why Kane chose you.”
I agreed.
The interrogation room was cold.
Brandon looked exhausted.
For the first time, he looked like the man I had married.
But I knew better.
“You wanted my company.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my money.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my father's assets.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with Ashley.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
“You broke my ribs.”
His face changed.
“I lost control.”
“You don't get to say that.”
“I know.”
I sat across from him.
“Tell me about Kane.”
Brandon swallowed.
“He knew about your mother.”
“When?”
“Before I met you.”
“So the marriage was planned.”
“Yes.”
“By him?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“Because Kane believed your father had hidden something through you.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“There was an old rumor.”
“What rumor?”
“That Vincent Moretti had created a private trust.”
My heart stopped.
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“What was in it?”
“Not money.”
“What then?”
Brandon shook his head.
“I never found out.”
I remembered my grandmother.
The ledger.
The childhood home.
The secrets.
Maybe the trust had been designed to protect something else.
Brandon continued.
“Kane thought your father had hidden evidence inside the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandmother helped him.”
“My grandmother?”
“Yes.”
That explained the warning.
The protected accounts.
The strange documents.
Everything.
My grandmother had been part of the effort to bring Kane down.
But there was more.
Brandon handed me a photograph.
It showed Kane.
My father.
My mother.
And my grandmother.
All together.
The photograph was dated twenty-five years earlier.
On the back was one sentence:
The four people who know the truth.
I stared at it.
“My grandmother knew Kane.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother.”
“Yes.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't anyone tell me?”
Brandon looked at me.
“Because if Kane knew you knew, he'd kill you.”
I stood.
“You almost did.”
He looked down.
“I was afraid.”
“Fear doesn't excuse betrayal.”
“I know.”
I walked toward the door.
Then he spoke.
“Emma.”
I stopped.
“There is one thing you need to know.”
“What?”
“Kane doesn't want you dead.”
I turned.
“Then what does he want?”
Brandon looked terrified.
“He wants you to open the vault.”
“What vault?”
“I don't know.”
The door closed behind me.
Outside, my father was waiting.
“What did he say?”
I told him.
My father's expression changed.
“Your grandmother.”
“What?”
“She never told me about a vault.”
My mother joined us.
She looked confused.
Then suddenly her face went pale.
“I know where it is.”
“Where?”
May you like
She looked at me.
“Your grandmother's old jewelry box.”
