Chapter 35 - THE LAST SECRET
Arthur stood on the other side of the glass.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
Two guards stood beside him.
My father stepped forward.
"Arthur."
Arthur smiled.
"You always were sentimental."
My father looked ready to attack.
I stopped him.
"Don't."
Arthur looked at Leah.
She moved closer to me.
"That's her."
His eyes softened.
"She looks exactly like Sarah."
I said:
"Stay away from my daughter."
Arthur laughed.
"Your daughter?"
He looked at me.
"You still don't understand."
"I understand enough."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You were chosen because you were outside the system."
"Leah was hidden because she was inside it."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Arthur pointed at Leah.
"Her mother didn't just discover the accounts."
"She discovered the master ledger."
I held the flash drive.
"We have the records."
Arthur smiled.
"You have copies."
"That's enough."
"No."
He shook his head.
"The original was never written down."
I looked at Leah.
Arthur continued.
"Sarah memorized it."
"Every name."
"Every account."
"Every payment."
"And then she taught Leah."
I stared at Sarah.
She was standing behind me.
"That's impossible."
Sarah began crying.
"I didn't teach her."
Arthur smiled.
"Not intentionally."
"What are you talking about?"
"Children remember things adults forget."
I looked at Leah.
She was silent.
Then she whispered:
"I remember."
Everyone turned.
"What do you remember?"
Leah looked at Arthur.
"The room."
"What room?"
"The room where Mommy used to write."
Sarah covered her mouth.
Leah continued.
"There were lots of numbers."
"Names."
"She made me repeat them."
"Why?"
"She said it was a game."
I looked at Sarah.
She shook her head.
"I didn't know."
Arthur smiled.
"But I knew."
My fists clenched.
"You've been hunting a nine-year-old girl for years."
"No."
Arthur's expression changed.
"I've been hunting the truth."
I stepped forward.
"Then why take her?"
"Because she is the only living person who can unlock the ledger."
I stared at him.
"You're wrong."
Arthur smiled.
"Am I?"
He pulled out a photograph.
It showed Leah at four years old.
Standing beside Sarah.
On the wall behind them was a whiteboard.
Numbers were written across it.
I looked closer.
They weren't random.
They were account numbers.
Dates.
Names.
And at the bottom was a sequence.
A code.
My father stepped forward.
"I know that code."
Arthur looked at him.
"Of course you do."
"What is it?"
My father stared at the photograph.
His face went pale.
"It's the access code to the original ledger."
I looked at him.
"Where?"
He pointed at the floor.
"Under the Whitmore estate."
Everyone froze.
Arthur smiled.
"Exactly."
I suddenly understood.
The hidden room.
The photographs.
The secret tunnels.
The entire house.
The ledger had never left the family.
It had been beneath our feet the entire time.
Arthur looked at Leah.
"She knows the code."
I moved in front of her.
"She doesn't have to give you anything."
Arthur's smile disappeared.
"Then you'll have to choose."
"Choose what?"
He pointed toward a door behind him.
"Your daughter..."
Then he pointed toward another door.
"Or your father."
My heart stopped.
My father was already moving.
"Don't listen to him."
Arthur smiled.
"One door contains the person who can tell you the truth."
"The other contains the person you love."
I looked at both doors.
Then at Leah.
She whispered:
"Dad..."
I took her hand.
"We're not choosing."
Arthur frowned.
I looked directly at him.
"We're taking everyone."
Michael suddenly appeared behind us.
He had found the security controls.
The doors unlocked.
The guards turned.
Daniel rushed in.
Sarah grabbed Leah.
My father moved toward Arthur.
For the first time, Arthur looked afraid.
But before anyone could reach him, every screen in the room turned on.
A single message appeared.
THE LEDGER HAS ALREADY BEEN RELEASED.
Arthur stared at the screens.
"What?"
Another message appeared.
THE WORLD NOW KNOWS.
My phone began vibrating.
Then Michael's.
Then Daniel's.
News alerts flooded every screen.
The Whitmore accounts.
The hidden payments.
The names.
The evidence.
Everything was public.
I looked at Leah.
She smiled through her tears.
Arthur sank into a chair.
His empire was finally collapsing.
But then my phone displayed one final notification.
A message from an unknown number.
You won the war.
But you haven't met the person who started it.
I looked at Sarah.
She went pale.
"Who sent that?"
She stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
"I know that number."
"Whose is it?"
Sarah slowly looked toward the dark hallway.
"My mother's."
I turned.
Evelyn was standing there.
And she was holding a photograph.
A photograph of a woman who looked exactly like her.
Except the woman in the photograph was young.
Very young.
And beneath it was a single handwritten sentence:
EVELYN DIDN'T CREATE THE SYSTEM.
SHE INHERITED IT.
Sarah's face went white.
Then Evelyn whispered:
"There is one more person you need to meet."
The hallway lights went out.
May you like
And somewhere beneath the house...
a door unlocked.
