Chapter 12
The locker contained the ledger.
It also contained Elena’s voice.
William listened alone first.
“Will, if you’re hearing this, Dad is probably dead.”
Her voice broke something in him immediately.
Not because she sounded afraid.
Because she sounded like herself.
Sharp.
Tired.
Almost amused.
“I know you hate when I call you Will. Too bad.”
William closed his eyes.
Then she continued.
“Dad thinks blood is ownership. Thomas thinks blood is leverage. I think they both forgot blood is supposed to mean you don’t throw children into the cold.”
William’s jaw tightened.
Emma had nearly been thrown into the rain.
Exactly as Elena feared.
The recording continued.
“If Emma reaches you, she is mine. Daniel’s too. If Noah is with her, Rachel trusted her enough to carry him. That means everything has gone wrong.”
William stopped breathing for a moment.
Elena had known Noah might exist someday.
Rachel and Elena had planned together that far ahead.
“She will probably be hungry,” Elena said.
William looked away.
“She saves food when she’s scared. Don’t make a big thing of it. Just feed her.”
He had seen that.
The bread hidden for Noah.
His sister had predicted even the smallest wound.
Then Elena’s voice changed.
“Thomas helped Dad build a list of children who could complicate Parker succession. They call it pruning. I call it cowardice.”
William opened the ledger.
Names.
Dozens.
Some crossed out.
Some marked WATCH.
Some marked REMOVE FROM HOUSE.
Emma’s name was there.
Beside it:
ELENA’S CHILD. NO ACCESS.
Noah’s line was blank.
Too young.
William stared.
Then he found something worse.
His own name.
WILLIAM — SUITABLE IF CONTROLLED.
He laughed once.
Cold.
His father had never trusted him either.
Elena’s recording continued.
“If you become him, burn this.”
Pause.
“If you don’t…”
Her voice softened.
“Protect the kids he taught everyone to fear.”
William closed the ledger.
Thomas and Victor believed they were preserving Vincent’s legacy.
May you like
Elena had left William a different inheritance.
A choice.
