NOW TELL MY MOTHER THE TRUTH

Adrian unfolded the paper.

It was a printed wire transfer receipt.

The name on the receiving account was Victoria’s real name. The sender was an LLC that Adrian immediately recognized.

“This is Julian’s holding company,” Adrian whispered, all the color draining from his face.

Julian.

The boy I had practically helped raise. He had eaten dinner at our table. He had stood beside Adrian at his father’s funeral, weeping just as hard as we did.

“Julian took my son,” Victoria wept, rocking back and forth on the floor. “He holds Leo in a private facility in upstate New York. He told me if I didn't marry you and get the vault codes, Leo would disappear forever.”

She looked at me, her face pale.

“I was cruel to you, Eleanor, because Julian told me I had to drive you out of the house. He knew that as long as Adrian listened to you, he would never give up the codes.”

I stared at the young woman on the floor.

An hour ago, I despised her.

Now, I saw a mother who was drowning, doing horrific things just to keep her child's head above water.

“Why didn't you just tell me?” Adrian asked, his voice cracking with the pain of a double betrayal.

“Because Julian is always watching!” Victoria cried.

“He is,” a smooth voice echoed from the foyer.

We all turned.

Julian stood in the doorway.

He was impeccably dressed in a dark suit, holding a suppressed pistol.

Two of his loyal soldiers stood behind him, blocking the exits.

“I have to admit, Victoria,” Julian smiled, walking slowly into the dining room. “You lasted longer than I expected. But you always were a weak link.”

Adrian stepped in front of me, shielding me with his body.

“You poisoned my father,” Adrian said, his fists clenched.

“Your father was a dinosaur, Adrian,” Julian said casually, raising the gun. “He wouldn't adapt. He wouldn't move into the new markets. He had to go.”

Julian looked at me.

“And you, Mrs. Romano. Always the noble matriarch. Do you know how sickening it was to pretend to care about your little family dinners?”

“You ate my food,” I said, my voice steady despite my terror. “You slept under my roof.”

“I did what I had to do,” Julian sneered.

He stepped closer to Victoria, who was cowering on the floor.

“Get up,” he ordered her. “We’re leaving.”

“Where is my son?” she screamed.

Julian laughed. “Oh, Leo is fine. But you're not going to see him. You're going to open the vault for me, and then you're going to take a very long swim in the river.”

He reached down and grabbed Victoria's arm, yanking her up.

As he did, his jacket sleeve pulled back.

The dining room chandelier caught the light of a piece of jewelry on his wrist.

A thick, braided silver bracelet.

My breath caught in my throat.

“Where did you get that?” I gasped.

Julian paused, looking at his wrist. “This? It’s a family heirloom.”

“It belonged to my sister,” I said, my voice rising in panic. “She disappeared thirty years ago. Only her son wore that bracelet. A son who supposedly died in a car crash.”