Vows Of Deception

Chapter Seven

The elevator doors closed on Michael’s face, and it felt like the floor dropped out from under me all over again. Forty-eight hours. Two days to dig up a ghost’s treasure or watch the only man I’d ever loved pay for sins that started before I was even born.

Vanessa didn’t speak on the ride down. She just kept that gun tucked neatly in her coat like it was a lipstick. When we hit the lobby, she shoved a burner phone into my hand.

“Richard’s number is already in there. One call if you decide to be stupid. And Sophia?” She smiled like we were old friends. “Don’t make me come find you. I get mean when I’m bored.”

The SUV dropped me off two blocks from the office building where everything had gone to hell. I stood on the sidewalk in the cool night air, heart hammering so loud I could hear it in my ears. My legs wanted to run straight back to Michael, but my brain knew better. One wrong move and Richard would make good on his threats.

I needed somewhere safe to think. Somewhere my mother’s secrets might actually be waiting.

The cab ride to the old storage unit took twenty minutes and every last bit of cash I had in my purse. Mom had rented it under her maiden name—something I only remembered because I’d helped her move boxes there the summer before she got sick. I’d been twelve. She’d told me it was just “important papers and memories.” I’d believed her because what else do you do when you’re a kid and your mom is your whole world?

The unit was still there, number 47, padlock rusted but the key on my keyring still fit. The metal door screeched open like it was screaming a warning.

Inside smelled like dust and faded lavender—Mom’s perfume. Cardboard boxes stacked against the wall, labeled in her neat handwriting: Photos – 2005, Tax Stuff, Sophia’s Art. My chest tightened. I dropped to my knees and started ripping tape.

The first box was nothing but old school projects and report cards. The second held clothes I barely remembered her wearing. The third…

My hands froze on a small wooden jewelry box I’d never seen before. Inside wasn’t jewelry. It was a single flash drive and a folded note in Mom’s handwriting.

For my baby girl, when the time comes. The truth isn’t pretty, but it’s yours. Love you bigger than the sky. – Mom

Tears blurred everything. I wiped them away fast and plugged the drive into my phone with the adapter I always carried. One file. A video.

I hit play.

Mom appeared on the screen, younger than I remembered her being when she died, sitting at what looked like a fancy office desk. She looked straight into the camera, eyes tired but fierce.

“Sophia, if you’re watching this, I didn’t make it. I’m so sorry, baby. Richard Cross… he’s dangerous. I was his secretary. His lover. I thought I could handle it. Then I found out what he really does—laundering, blackmail, worse. I copied everything. The money was just to keep us safe. But the real weapon is the files. They’re hidden where only you would look. Remember the game we played? The one with the stars?”

The video ended there. No more.

I sat back on the cold concrete, mind racing. The star game. Every night when I couldn’t sleep, Mom would trace constellations on my ceiling with her finger and whisper stories. But which one? Which memory?

My phone buzzed. Unknown number. I almost didn’t answer, but something told me to.

“Sophia.” Michael’s voice, low and urgent. “Are you okay?”

I clutched the phone like a lifeline. “How are you calling me?”

“Adrian’s an i***t but he’s useful. Stole a phone from one of Richard’s guys. Listen to me—don’t go back to the penthouse alone. I’m getting out of here, but it’s going to take time. Just… stay safe. Please.”

I could hear the fear under his words. The same fear I’d seen in his eyes when Vanessa dragged me away.

“I found something,” I whispered. “A video. She left me a clue, but it’s coded. Stars. I think it’s in the old apartment—the one we lived in before she got sick.”

“Sophia—”

“I have to go there. It’s the only lead I have.”

A pause. Then his voice cracked. “I love you. I know you don’t believe me right now, but I do. More than I’ve ever loved anything. Don’t do this without me.”

I closed my eyes. The betrayal still burned, but so did the memory of his forehead against mine in that penthouse. The way he’d walked into a trap for me.

“I’m not running,” I said. “But I’m not waiting either. Forty-eight hours, Michael. Clock’s ticking.”

I hung up before I could change my mind.

The old apartment building was on the edge of town, half the windows boarded up now. I used the spare key I’d kept on my chain for years—Mom’s last gift—and slipped inside like a ghost.

The place smelled like rot and regret. I went straight to my old bedroom. The ceiling was still painted with faint glow-in-the-dark stars from when I was little. I turned off the lights, pulled the curtains, and stared up until the constellations appeared.

Orion. The one she always traced last, because it was “the hunter who never gave up.”

I dragged the old wooden chair over, climbed up, and pressed my fingers along the edge of the ceiling tile right under Orion’s belt.

It popped loose.

Inside the small hollow space: a thick envelope and another flash drive.

My hands shook as I opened the envelope. Bank statements. Offshore accounts. And a letter.

If you’re reading this, Richard found you. The money is yours—use it to disappear if you have to. But the files on this drive will end him. Take them to the FBI agent whose name is on the back. Tell him “bluebell” was my code. He’ll know.

I stared at the letter until the words swam.

Mom hadn’t just stolen money. She’d stolen his empire’s death certificate.

And she’d left me holding the match.

Footsteps in the hallway outside the apartment. Slow. Deliberate.

I froze.

The door creaked open.

Vanessa stepped inside, red dress swapped for black tactical gear, gun already raised.

“Nice try, sweetie,” she said softly. “But Richard doesn’t like loose ends. And you just found the biggest one.”

I clutched the envelope to my chest, heart slamming against my ribs.

Michael was still a prisoner.

I had forty hours left.

And now I had everything Richard Cross would kill to destroy.

This wasn’t over.

It was just getting started.