Chapter 18 - The Choice They Thought I Would Make
My heart stopped.
Lily looked terrified.
Nathan held the gun low beside his leg.
He was inside my library.
The floor compartment stood open.
“He thinks the real ledger is there,” Mercer said.
Victor smiled.
“Of course he does.”
I looked at Mom.
“You told them.”
She whispered.
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Victor extended his hand again.
“Call your agents away from me.”
Mercer raised his weapon.
Victor remained calm.
“If I do not leave this building in ten minutes, Nathan kills your sister.”
My phone rang.
Nathan.
I answered.
“Claire.”
“Let her go.”
“Send me the ledger.”
“You know I don’t have it.”
“Then tell me where it is.”
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Don’t.”
Nathan struck the wall beside her with the gun.
I flinched.
“Do not touch her.”
“Then choose.”
For years, my family had trained me for this moment.
Give Lily what she wants.
Sacrifice what is yours.
Keep everyone happy.
Be the difficult daughter only until someone raises their voice.
Victor believed I would obey the old pattern.
So did Mom.
Maybe even Lily expected it.
I looked at Mercer.
Then I understood something.
Nathan did not know investigators had emptied the compartment.
He also did not know my penthouse had a new security system after the first intrusion.
A system Mercer’s team controlled remotely.
I spoke slowly into the phone.
“The ledger is in the safe.”
Nathan turned toward my study.
Exactly as I hoped.
“Combination.”
“Four-three-one-nine-two.”
There was no such combination.
But saying it gave Mercer what he needed.
Five digits.
A tactical confirmation code we had established before I entered the hotel.
Mercer touched his radio.
At my penthouse, power to the study doors shut down.
Steel fire barriers dropped from the ceiling.
Nathan was trapped between the library and study.
Lily was on the other side.
Mercer’s team breached thirty seconds later.
I heard shouting through the phone.
Then a crash.
Then silence.
“Lily?”
Nothing.
“Lily?”
A male voice came through.
“Ms. Holloway, she’s safe.”
My knees nearly collapsed.
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Agents cuffed him.
Mom began backing toward the balcony.
“Margaret,” Mercer warned.
She ran.
I chased her.
She reached the balcony doors.
There was nowhere else to go.
Forty-two floors below us, Manhattan glittered.
Mom turned.
Her face was wild.
“You ruined everything.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
She actually laughed.
“You always thought you were better than Lily.”
“This was never about Lily.”
“You were supposed to give us that apartment.”
“No.”
“You were supposed to share.”
“You tried to kill me.”
Her mouth tightened.
“You always survived.”
The words hit harder than the slap.
Mercer stopped several feet behind me.
Mom looked at the edge of the balcony.
Then at me.
For one terrifying moment, I thought she might jump.
Instead, she whispered.
“You still don’t understand why Evelyn chose you.”
I frowned.
“She didn’t leave you the trust because she loved you more.”
“What are you talking about?”
Mom smiled.
“She left it because she knew what your father had done before you were born.”
May you like
Then she raised her hands and surrendered.
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