Chapter 13 - THE HOUSE THEY COULD NOT TAKE
The next morning, the townhouse became a fortress.
Investigators arrived.
Military security stood outside.
Marissa reviewed the ledger.
Anthony was questioned.
Eleanor refused to cooperate.
David remained silent.
Then a courier arrived.
He carried a sealed envelope.
It was addressed to Marissa.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Anthony and Eleanor standing with several unidentified men.
The date was twelve years earlier.
On the back was a sentence.
Ask your husband what happened that night.
Marissa looked at Anthony.
He knew immediately.
“You remember.”
Anthony nodded.
“What happened?”
“I made a choice.”
“What choice?”
“I chose my mother.”
Marissa's expression hardened.
“What did she ask you to do?”
Anthony looked down.
“Take the document from you.”
“You stole it.”
“Yes.”
“And gave it to Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she said it would protect us.”
Marissa looked at the black folder.
“You destroyed my life to protect yourself.”
Anthony's eyes filled with regret.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
He looked at her.
“You don't understand.”
Marissa stepped closer.
“I understand now.”
She placed the original document on the table.
“This is what you stole.”
Anthony stared at it.
Then he whispered:
“No.”
Marissa looked at him.
“What?”
“That isn't the original.”
Everyone turned.
David stared at the document.
Anthony shook his head.
“The original had a second page.”
Marissa froze.
“A second page?”
“Yes.”
“What was on it?”
Anthony looked terrified.
“Names.”
“Whose?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Eleanor suddenly spoke.
“You know.”
Anthony looked at his mother.
Eleanor's face was cold.
“You remember.”
Anthony said nothing.
Marissa turned toward Eleanor.
“You've known all along.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You're finally asking the right questions.”
Marissa stepped toward her.
“Where is the second page?”
Eleanor leaned closer.
“Somewhere you would never think to look.”
Then she smiled.
“At home.”
Marissa looked around the townhouse.
Her own home.
The place where she had lived for twelve years.
The place where she had raised her career.
The place where Anthony had hidden everything.
She suddenly understood.
The missing page had never left.
It had been inside the house the entire time.
Thomas ordered everyone to search.
They searched drawers.
Cabinets.
Walls.
The study.
The basement.
Nothing.
Then Marissa remembered something.
The fireplace.
A decorative panel above it had always seemed slightly uneven.
She removed it.
Behind it was a small compartment.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Her hands trembled.
She opened it.
There was one page.
The missing page.
She read the first name.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Her face went completely still.
Thomas noticed.
“What is it?”
Marissa didn't answer.
She looked at Anthony.
He saw the names.
His face collapsed.
“No.”
Eleanor stepped backward.
Marissa looked at her.
“You knew.”
Eleanor whispered:
“I had no choice.”
Marissa held the page.
“You always had a choice.”
May you like
Then she saw the final name.
And suddenly everything she believed about her marriage changed.
