Chapter 16 - The Unexpected Visitor
Rebecca looked through the peephole.
Her father stood alone in the hallway.
Maya had warned her not to speak with him.
Rebecca opened the door but kept the chain secured.
“What do you want?”
He looked smaller than he had in the rain.
“I need five minutes.”
“You had five minutes on the porch.”
His face tightened.
“I made mistakes.”
“You sold me into a marriage.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Then explain it fairly.”
He looked down the corridor.
“Marcus threatened to expose the trust losses. Daniel’s company would collapse. Claire would lose everything.”
“So you sacrificed me.”
“I believed Marcus would provide for you.”
“He beat me.”
Her father closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew enough to turn us away.”
“I panicked.”
“No. I panicked. You calculated.”
He slid an envelope through the gap in the door.
Inside was a key and a handwritten address.
“There’s a storage unit Marcus doesn’t know I kept.”
“What’s inside?”
“Your grandmother’s original estate records.”
“Why didn’t you destroy them?”
“Because I kept telling myself I would fix this.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“Are you cooperating with police?”
“Not yet.”
“Then leave.”
His face fell.
“I’m still your father.”
Rebecca closed the door until only inches remained.
“A father protects his children before he protects his reputation.”
She locked it.
Minutes later, she called Detective Price and handed over the address.
At dawn, officers opened the storage unit.
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They found boxes of records—and an audio recorder wrapped inside Rebecca’s childhood blanket.
👉 Her grandmother had recorded a final message, and it named the person she feared would betray Rebecca first.
