The church doors shook again.
BANG!
I jumped.
Someone was trying to force their way inside.
My eyes remained fixed on Samuel.
He was supposed to be dead.
For ten years, everyone had believed he was gone.
Yet there he stood.
Alive.
Holding a gun.
And telling me I had five minutes.
"Five minutes for what?" I demanded.
Samuel looked at the blood spreading across my uncle's shirt.
"To decide who you're willing to trust."
My heart pounded.
"My uncle is bleeding."
"He's alive."
I looked down.
My uncle was on one knee, pressing his hand against his chest.
"Help him!"
Samuel shook his head.
"There's no time."
"How can you say that?"
"Because if those doors open, none of us may leave this place alive."
Another bang shook the church.
Victor turned toward the entrance.
"They found us."
Samuel looked at him.
"Who?"
Victor smiled bitterly.
"You already know."
I felt cold.
"Who is coming?"
Victor didn't answer.
Samuel did.
"The people who have been cleaning up this mess for ten years."
Adrian grabbed my hand.
"We need to move."
I nodded.
My mother rushed toward my uncle.
She knelt beside him.
"Please."
My uncle looked at her.
"Don't waste time on me."
"You're my husband's brother."
"And I betrayed him."
My mother shook her head.
"You're still family."
My uncle looked at me.
"I spent years thinking the fortune would make me powerful."
His voice became weak.
"But all it did was destroy everyone around me."
I crouched beside him.
"Where is the original agreement?"
He pointed toward the envelope on the floor.
"Take it."
I picked it up.
My hands trembled.
Victor suddenly stepped toward me.
"Give it to me."
Adrian blocked him.
"No."
Victor raised his gun.
Samuel raised his own.
"Don't."
Victor froze.
Samuel's voice was calm.
"If you shoot him, I shoot you."
Victor laughed.
"You think you're in control?"
"No."
Samuel glanced at me.
"She is."
Everyone looked at me.
I swallowed.
"What?"
Samuel pointed toward the envelope.
"That document doesn't just explain the past."
He paused.
"It decides the future."
I opened it.
The paper inside was old.
Yellowed.
There were signatures.
Richard Blackwood.
Samuel Morgan.
My father's name.
My uncle's name.
And then I saw something that made my breath catch.
My own name.
I looked at Adrian.
"How can my name be here?"
Adrian took the paper.
His eyes moved quickly across the page.
"You were named in the trust before you were born."
"What?"
Samuel nodded.
"Your biological father created the trust before your birth."
I shook my head.
"Why?"
"Because he knew there would be a war over the fortune."
My mother whispered,
"He wanted to protect you."
I looked at her.
"Then why did everyone keep it from me?"
"Because the moment you knew, you became a target."
A loud crash came from the entrance.
The doors began to crack.
Samuel looked at his watch.
"Three minutes."
"Three minutes?"
"We've already wasted two."
Adrian pulled me toward the side of the church.
"There must be another exit."
Samuel nodded.
"Behind the altar."
We ran.
My mother followed.
Victor remained behind.
I looked back.
"Victor?"
He was staring at us.
He didn't move.
"Why isn't he following?"
Samuel answered quietly.
"Because he knows what's coming."
We reached the altar.
Samuel pushed aside an old wooden panel.
A narrow passage appeared.
My eyes widened.
"You knew this was here?"
"I built it."
I stared at him.
"You built it?"
"Ten years ago."
The passage was dark.
We entered.
Behind us, the church doors finally exploded open.
Voices filled the building.
"Search everywhere!"
My heart raced.
Adrian pulled me closer.
We moved through the narrow tunnel.
My mother was behind us.
Samuel followed last.
Then—
BANG!
A gunshot echoed through the passage.
We stopped.
"Samuel?"
He didn't answer.
I turned.
He was gone.
"Samuel!"
Adrian covered my mouth.
"Quiet."
We heard footsteps behind us.
Someone had entered the tunnel.
My mother grabbed my arm.
"Keep moving."
We ran.
The passage opened into a small underground room.
There was a table.
Three chairs.
And an old metal box.
Samuel appeared from another doorway.
"Good."
He closed the door behind him.
I stared at him.
"You disappeared."
"I had to make sure we weren't followed."
Adrian locked the door.
"What's in the box?"
Samuel looked at me.
"Your inheritance."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
He placed the metal box on the table.
"You have been searching for the truth."
He opened it.
Inside was a small key, several photographs, and a sealed letter.
I picked up the letter.
My name was written across it.
TO MY DAUGHTER.
My hands began shaking.
"Richard wrote this?"
Samuel nodded.
"He wrote it before the fire."
I stared at the envelope.
My biological father had left something for me.
Something he had never been able to give me.
I opened it.
The first line made my heart break.
My daughter, if you are reading this, then I failed to protect you.
Tears filled my eyes.
Adrian placed his hand on my shoulder.
I continued reading.
There are things about your birth your mother was never able to tell you. There are things about the trust your father will never admit. But most importantly, there is one person you must never trust.
I stopped.
My breathing became shallow.
The next sentence was underlined.
He is closer to you than you think.
I looked up.
"Who?"
Samuel's expression had changed.
"Keep reading."
I continued.
The person who will eventually control the trust is not Daniel. It is not Adrian. It is not your uncle.
My eyes widened.
Then I reached the final line.
It is the person you call Father.
I dropped the letter.
"No."
My mother covered her mouth.
Adrian stared at the page.
Samuel slowly closed the metal box.
"That is why your father has been afraid."
I shook my head.
"My father doesn't control the trust."
Samuel looked at me.
"He does now."
"What does that mean?"
Before he could answer, a sound came from above us.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Someone was walking directly over the hidden room.
Then a voice echoed through the floor.
My father's voice.
"I know you're down there."
My heart stopped.
He knew.
He had followed us.
And then he said something that made the blood drain from my face.
"Come out, daughter."
A pause.
"It's time you learned why I had to kill Richard."