Chapter 3 - THE NIGHT THEY TOOK MY MOTHER
Everything changed in seconds.
Arthur took control immediately.
“Marcus, lock down the building.”
Marcus nodded.
“Call the police.”
“Already doing it.”
I stared at the photograph.
My mother was alive.
But terrified.
I could see it in her eyes.
“Where did they take her?”
Arthur looked at the image.
“We need the metadata.”
Marcus sent it to his team.
Seconds later, they had a location.
An abandoned warehouse near the river.
Arthur looked at me.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Aria.”
“She was taken because of me.”
“That is exactly why you're staying here.”
“I am not sitting in a room while my mother is held somewhere.”
Arthur stared at me.
Then he sighed.
“You're just like your father.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
He almost smiled.
“Fine.”
The police arrived.
We drove toward the warehouse.
Every minute felt like an hour.
When we reached the location, the building looked abandoned.
No lights.
No vehicles.
No movement.
The police surrounded the area.
Arthur stayed beside me.
A voice suddenly came through a loudspeaker.
“Aria Monroe.”
I froze.
“Come alone.”
Arthur whispered:
“Don't.”
The voice continued.
“Or your mother dies.”
My heart stopped.
Then another voice came through.
A woman's voice.
My mother's.
“Aria!”
I stepped forward.
Arthur grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
The warehouse door opened.
A man appeared.
He was holding a phone.
Behind him was my mother.
She was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
But she was conscious.
I started forward.
The man raised the phone.
“One step closer and the building burns.”
Arthur stopped me.
“What do you want?”
“The trust documents.”
I held up my hands.
“They're at the foundation.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“We know you have copies.”
“Then tell me what you want.”
“The original.”
I looked at Arthur.
He shook his head slightly.
Don't agree.
I turned back.
“You're not getting it.”
The man smiled.
“Then say goodbye.”
My mother looked at me.
“Aria, don't!”
The man raised a lighter.
Arthur immediately shouted:
“Stop!”
The man laughed.
“You have ten minutes.”
Then the warehouse doors slammed shut.
Police rushed toward the building.
But the doors were reinforced.
We couldn't enter.
I stared at the warehouse.
My mother was inside.
Then I noticed something.
A small security camera.
Mounted above the side entrance.
I pointed.
“There.”
Marcus looked.
He understood immediately.
He accessed the camera network.
The footage appeared on his tablet.
We saw the interior.
Three men.
My mother.
And a fourth person.
A woman.
I couldn't see her face.
She was standing near the back door.
Then she turned.
My heart stopped.
I recognized her.
Selena.
She had orchestrated everything.
Arthur saw her too.
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
“Now we have her.”
But I shook my head.
“No.”
“What?”
“She isn't the leader.”
“How do you know?”
“Look at her.”
Selena was standing nervously.
She wasn't giving orders.
She was listening.
Someone else was speaking to her.
Then a man entered the room.
He turned toward the camera.
I recognized him.
Victor Voss.
Selena's father.
My mother's eyes widened.
Victor walked toward her.
“You should have stayed quiet.”
My mother looked at him.
“You're too late.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“My daughter knows everything.”
He laughed.
“She knows nothing.”
My mother smiled.
“You're wrong.”
Victor grabbed the chair.
“Where is the trust?”
My mother looked directly at the camera.
Then she said something that made me freeze.
“Aria already has it.”
Victor turned.
“What?”
My mother smiled through her tears.
“She has had it since she was twenty-one.”
Victor went completely still.
I looked at Arthur.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur's face changed.
He whispered:
“Your mother transferred the trust to you years ago.”
I stared.
“But I thought my father did.”
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Your mother did.”
The realization hit me.
My mother had been protecting me.
All these years.
She had allowed everyone to believe I was simply the beneficiary.
But I had actually been the legal controller.
Victor had never known.
Selena had never known.
Even the board didn't know.
I looked at the warehouse.
Then I smiled.
“Call the media.”
Arthur looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because we're going to make them expose themselves.”
He understood.
We didn't storm the building.
We didn't give them the trust.
Instead, we broadcast the security footage.
Every major news station received it.
The entire city watched Victor Voss threaten my mother.
They watched Selena participate.
They watched the kidnapping.
Within minutes, police obtained emergency warrants.
Victor realized too late.
The warehouse was surrounded.
The doors were forced open.
Victor tried to escape through the back.
He was arrested.
Selena surrendered without resistance.
My mother was rescued.
I ran to her.
She wrapped her arms around me.
“I knew you would come.”
“I almost lost you.”
“No.”
She touched my face.
“You finally found the truth.”
I cried.
She held me tighter.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“For hiding everything.”
I shook my head.
“You were protecting me.”
“Yes.”
“Then thank you.”
Behind us, Victor was being led away.
He looked at me.
His expression was no longer confident.
But he smiled.
That frightened me.
Because as the police pushed him toward the car, he leaned close to one officer and whispered something.
The officer immediately looked toward me.
I couldn't hear what Victor said.
But I saw his lips form four words.
“She doesn't know everything.”
I looked at my mother.
Her face suddenly changed.
“Mom?”
She didn't answer.
“What doesn't he mean?”
She looked away.
“Mom.”
Finally, she whispered:
“Your father had another child.”
I froze.
“What?”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Your half-sister is alive.”
The entire world seemed to stop.
May you like
And somewhere in the crowd outside the warehouse, a young woman was watching me.
She looked exactly like my father.
