Chapter 5 - THE SECRET IN THE LOCKET
Dominic took the photograph to the only person who might recognize it.
His aunt Isabella lived in a guarded house near Lake Forest and had avoided the family business for twenty years.
When she saw Samuel Bennett’s face, she crossed herself.
“Where did you find this?”
“In Layla’s locket.”
Isabella sat down.
“Samuel worked for your father.”
“As what?”
“An accountant.”
Dominic’s father, Marcus Gallow, had built the family organization through construction contracts and stolen union funds.
Samuel discovered that Marcus was planning to eliminate Eleanor after she threatened to expose him.
“He helped your mother escape,” Isabella said.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
“No.”
Dominic stared at her.
“She was murdered.”
The room seemed to narrow around him.
Isabella explained that Samuel had gathered evidence against Marcus.
Before he could release it, Eleanor disappeared.
Samuel fled with documents that could destroy the Gallow empire.
“What does Layla have to do with this?”
“Samuel hid the evidence for his daughter.”
Dominic thought of the locket.
“The photograph says I must never know.”
“Because Marcus believed you were loyal to him.”
“I was eleven.”
“He planned far ahead.”
Dominic’s father had died six years earlier.
For the first time, Dominic wondered whether the empire he inherited had been built over his mother’s grave.
He returned to the hospital with Isabella.
Layla listened as the older woman described Samuel’s connection to Eleanor.
“My father never mentioned any of this,” Layla said.
“He was protecting you,” Isabella replied.
Dominic examined the locket again.
The bird’s silver wing moved beneath his thumb.
A tiny key fell into his palm.
The number 317 had been engraved along its side.
Vincent traced it to a railway storage facility south of the city.
Dominic wanted Layla moved to a secure estate before investigating.
She refused.
“My father left that key to me.”
“You are on bed rest.”
“I can sit in a car.”
“It is dangerous.”
“So is trusting you.”
The words ended the argument.
That evening, they opened storage locker 317.
Inside were boxes of financial records, photographs, and cassette tapes.
One file contained proof that Marcus Gallow ordered Eleanor’s death.
Another revealed that Charles Cross helped arrange it.
Dominic’s future father-in-law had participated in his mother’s murder.
Then Layla found a newer envelope.
It had been mailed to Samuel only eight months before his death.
The return address belonged to Vivienne.
May you like
Inside was a handwritten warning.
Give me the Gallow evidence, or your daughter will pay the debt.
