Chapter 6 - The Husband Behind the Mask)
Maren's mind moved faster than fear.
Reed stood between her and the staircase.
Running was impossible.
Pretending ignorance was impossible.
The evidence surrounded them.
So she chose anger.
"You knew."
Reed's expression remained calm.
"About what?"
"My mother."
He closed the hidden panel.
"Maren."
"Don't."
She held Harrison's letter.
"You knew who I was before the crash."
Reed looked at the page.
Something in him changed.
The performance ended.
"How much have you read?"
"Enough."
"Give me the drive."
"No."
His jaw tightened.
"Give it to me."
Maren rolled backward.
"Did you kill your father?"
The question struck him.
"No."
"Did Celeste?"
"No."
"Do you expect me to believe you?"
Reed dragged a hand through his hair.
"Dad had heart disease."
"And the crash?"
He looked away.
Maren felt the answer before he spoke.
"I wanted the documents."
"So you had someone follow me."
"Yes."
"Hit my car?"
"He was supposed to stop you."
"By ramming me in traffic?"
"I told him to scare you into pulling over."
Maren laughed once.
It came out broken.
"I woke up unable to walk."
"I know."
"And you sat beside my bed pretending to be devastated."
"I was devastated."
"Don't say that."
"I love you."
Maren stared at him.
Reed stepped closer.
"I do."
"You tried to steal evidence from me."
"Because you didn't understand what you were walking into."
"Then explain it."
"My mother has spent thirty years keeping our family together."
"With stolen money."
"Every fortune is dirty if you dig far enough."
"Mine began with my mother losing her child."
Reed's face hardened.
"Evelyn Mercer would have destroyed everything."
"It was hers."
"That company was already collapsing."
"So your grandfather stole what was left."
"My grandfather built something out of it."
Maren finally understood Reed's morality.
There was no secret monster underneath the charming husband.
The monster was the charming husband.
He genuinely believed love excused control.
That inheritance excused theft.
That fear excused violence.
"Give me the drive," he repeated.
"No."
He came closer.
Maren placed her hand inside her pocket.
Not on the drive.
On the emergency alarm Lena had given her.
Reed stopped.
"What is that?"
"Nothing."
He lunged.
Maren pressed the alarm.
A piercing siren filled the hidden room.
Reed recoiled.
Maren shoved the nearest file box from the shelf.
Papers exploded across the floor.
She rolled toward the panel.
Reed grabbed the wheelchair handle.
Then Maren did what she had been hiding for weeks.
She stood.
Reed froze.
Maren's legs trembled violently, but she remained upright.
His face showed something almost comical.
Betrayal.
"You can stand?"
Maren stepped away from the wheelchair.
One step.
Then another.
Reed stared.
"How long?"
"Long enough."
She reached the wall control.
The panel opened.
Reed grabbed her wrist.
"Maren."
She turned.
"Let go."
"We can fix this."
"There is no this anymore."
"I protected you."
"You crippled me."
"It was an accident."
"You covered it up."
"I was afraid you'd leave."
Maren looked at his hand around her wrist.
"I am leaving."
Reed tightened his grip.
"No."
A voice came from the staircase.
"Take your hand off her."
Lena stood there.
Behind her was Marcus Ortiz.
And behind Marcus were two private security officers.
Reed released Maren.
Marcus walked into the hidden room.
His eyes swept over the files.
"Well," he said.
"Harrison Vale just made my year."
Maren almost laughed.
Instead, her knees buckled.
Lena caught her.
They left through the side entrance before Celeste reached the staircase.
Maren spent that night in a secure apartment belonging to Marcus's firm.
For the first time in months, she slept behind a door Reed could not open.
At 6:40 the next morning, Marcus entered with coffee and terrible news.
"The drive is encrypted."
"Can you break it?"
"Eventually."
"And the files?"
"Enough for fraud. Maybe conspiracy."
"Maybe?"
"We need direct evidence tying Reed and Celeste to your crash and Harrison's death."
Maren looked toward the window.
"What about Evelyn?"
Marcus sat down.
"I finally spoke to her."
Maren's entire body went still.
"And?"
"She wants a DNA test."
A pause.
"She doesn't want to meet you until she knows."
Maren nodded.
It hurt more than she expected.
Marcus noticed.
"She's spent three decades being lied to."
"I understand."
"There's something else."
"What?"
"She said if the test confirms you're her daughter, you are in more danger than you realize."
Maren looked at him.
May you like
"Why?"
"Because Harrison wasn't the only person who left you an inheritance."
