Chapter 7 - The Unlikely Alliance
“What are you doing in here?” Mr. Harrison hissed, his voice trembling.
“Looking for the truth,” Elena said firmly.
She pointed up toward the ceiling.
“I know about the attic. I know about Isabella.”
Mr. Harrison pale face turned a shade of sickly gray.
He leaned against the desk, looking as if he might pass out.
“You shouldn't know that,” he whispered miserably. “You are going to get yourself killed.”
“Why are you helping her do this?” Elena demanded, stepping closer.
“You seem like a good man. How can you lock a child away?”
Tears welled up in the old butler’s eyes.
“Because she has my daughter,” he choked out.
Elena froze.
“My daughter made a terrible mistake ten years ago,” Harrison explained, weeping.
“She embezzled money from Valentina’s personal accounts.”
“Valentina caught her. But instead of calling the police, she made a deal.”
“My daughter went free, but I became Valentina’s absolute slave.”
“If I disobey a single order, she destroys my daughter’s life.”
Elena felt a profound sense of pity for the broken old man.
Valentina didn't just collect money.
She collected people.
She found their weaknesses and chained them to her will.
“We can stop her,” Elena said, grabbing his hands.
“Isabella turns eighteen in two days.”
“If Valentina gets those papers signed, she won't need you anymore.”
“She won't need Isabella. She’ll get rid of us all.”
Harrison shook his head. “She is too powerful. We can't fight her.”
“Yes, we can,” Elena insisted. “But I need evidence. Marco needs to see proof.”
“Do you know the combination to this safe?”
Harrison looked at the steel door hidden behind the painting.
He hesitated for a long, agonizing moment.
Then, he slowly nodded.
“She makes me open it to deposit her private blackmail files.”
He stepped forward and quickly spun the dial.
Click. Click. Clack.
The heavy metal door swung open.
Inside were stacks of cash, passports, and a thick manila folder.
Elena grabbed the folder and opened it.
Inside was everything.
The forged death certificate from a bribed doctor.
The heavily altered will of Isabella’s grandfather.
And the transfer papers prepared for Isabella to sign on her eighteenth birthday.
It was a masterclass in fraud.
“We have it,” Elena whispered, clutching the papers to her chest.
“Now we just have to give it to Marco.”
Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from the doorway.
“Give what to Marco?”
Elena and Harrison whipped around.
Valentina stood in the doorway.
May you like
She was holding a small, silver handgun.
And it was pointed directly at Elena’s heart.
