Chapter 12 - AVA’S CHOICE
Rachel pointed the gun toward Ava.
Michael stepped between them.
“Put it down.”
Rachel stared at the red journal.
“That belongs to me.”
Ava shook her head.
“My mom wrote it.”
“She wrote about me.”
“She wrote for me.”
Officer Ruiz moved carefully along the tree line.
Rachel noticed.
She grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled him toward the edge.
“Tell them to move back.”
Michael looked at Ava.
“Go to Grandma.”
Ava remained where she stood.
“Mom said Rachel acts brave when she thinks people are scared.”
Rachel’s grip tightened.
“Your mother is dead.”
Ava’s eyes filled with tears.
“But she still told the truth.”
The words struck Rachel.
For years, she had tried to erase Laura.
She entered Laura’s home as a caregiver.
She helped weaken her.
She returned as Michael’s wife.
She moved into Laura’s bedroom.
She tried to take Laura’s daughter.
Yet every stage of her plan had been anticipated in Laura’s journals.
David shouted from the cabin.
“Rachel, the account is already frozen.”
“You have nothing.”
Rachel turned toward him.
Officer Ruiz crossed the final distance.
She forced Rachel’s gun arm upward.
The weapon fired into the air.
Michael pulled Ava behind him.
Two officers took Rachel to the dock.
She did not fight after the handcuffs closed.
David was arrested inside the cabin.
Ava handed the red journal to Officer Ruiz.
“I want Dad to read the letters first.”
Michael held her against his chest.
“You should never have had to protect this alone.”
Ava looked up at him.
“Mom said you might not believe her.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“She was right.”
“But you believed me when you opened the pantry.”
“I should have believed you before I needed a locked door.”
Ava placed her head against his chest.
The red journal contained account codes, original trust documents, and letters addressed to Michael, Ava, and Ruth.
It also contained a signed statement from Laura.
She described Rachel’s unauthorized injections.
She described David’s threats.
She described Henry Collins’s decision to conceal the first theft.
May you like
Her final sentence was written in larger letters.
Do not save the company by sacrificing the child who owns its future.
