Chapter 17: The Silent Partner
For three days, we didn’t sleep. We cross-checked every name, every file, every connection.
Then we found it—an account in the name of Lucas’s mother. A signature that matched hers on every major transfer dating back twenty years.
Lucas sat staring at the paper for a long time. “She knew. All along.”
“Maybe she didn’t have a choice,” I said gently.
“She left a letter,” Jude said quietly. “In the box I found with the adoption papers.”
He handed it over. Lucas unfolded it with trembling hands.
*My dearest boys,* it began. I never told you the truth because I was afraid they’d kill you both. Your father made a deal before you were born. If I gave up one son, he’d let the other live safe and rich. I thought I was saving you. I only hurt you more.
Lucas closed his eyes. “She paid them every month. Kept them quiet. Kept us alive.”
“And she left a way out,” Jude said. “The last page has the name of the man who holds all the records. The one even David feared.”
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