The Account
2314 Words
Maya could not stop thinking about the message.
NOW YOU KNOW WHY YOUR MOTHER RAN.
She had read it so many times that the words seemed burned into her mind.
Beside her, Alexander stared through the windshield as they drove away from the country house.
Neither of them spoke.
Richard had disappeared.
Again.
And now Maya had more questions than ever.
“Stop the car,” she finally said.
Alexander glanced at her.
“Why?”
“I need to think.”
He pulled over.
Maya stepped out and stood beneath the dark sky.
Rainwater dripped from the trees around them.
Alexander joined her.
“You're blaming yourself.”
“I should have known.”
“You were a child.”
“I was eighteen when they told me my mother died.”
“And you trusted your father.”
“He was my father.”
“You had every reason to believe him.”
Maya looked at him.
“Did you ever trust your father?”
Alexander was silent.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I learned early that powerful people rarely tell the whole truth.”
Maya looked down.
“I don't want to become like them.”
“You won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you still care whether you're doing the right thing.”
She looked at him.
For a moment, the fear inside her seemed less overwhelming.
Then her phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
THE ACCOUNT IS THE KEY.
Maya showed Alexander.
He immediately became serious.
“Whoever is sending these messages wants us to find the account.”
“Then maybe the account contains the truth.”
“Or a trap.”
“You always say that.”
“Because it's usually true.”
Maya gave him a tired look.
“Then let's find out.”
---
The next morning, Alexander brought Maya to a private office.
Several computers covered the walls.
A financial investigator sat behind one of the desks.
“This is Maya Bennett,” Alexander said. “I need everything connected to an account opened under her name.”
The investigator nodded.
“I've already started.”
Maya sat down.
“How long?”
“Not long.”
The investigator entered several commands.
Files appeared on the screen.
Then he stopped.
“That's strange.”
“What?” Alexander asked.
“The account doesn't belong to a normal bank.”
Maya frowned.
“Then who owns it?”
“It was created through a private financial network.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever created it didn't want the account traced.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Can you access the records?”
“Some.”
The investigator opened another file.
Maya stared at the screen.
Her name appeared.
MAYA BENNETT — TRUST ACCOUNT
The date beside it was the day she was born.
Below it was a balance.
Maya's eyes widened.
“That can't be right.”
Alexander looked at the amount.
“It is.”
“How much?”
The investigator hesitated.
“Approximately thirty-two million dollars.”
Maya stared at him.
“Thirty-two million?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“Why would anyone put that much money in an account for me?”
The investigator continued reading.
“The money was deposited in several transfers.”
“From where?”
He opened the transaction history.
“Blackwood Holdings.”
Maya's stomach tightened.
“How long did the transfers continue?”
“Until you turned sixteen.”
“Why sixteen?”
The investigator frowned.
“I don't know.”
Maya remembered something.
“My mother disappeared when I was eight.”
Alexander looked at her.
“The transfers continued for eight years after she disappeared.”
Maya's voice became quiet.
“So someone was still paying into my account while I believed she was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Who controlled it?”
The investigator opened another file.
“One person had authorization.”
Maya held her breath.
“Who?”
He turned the screen toward them.
ELENA CROSS.
Maya's eyes widened.
“Elena.”
Alexander stared at the screen.
“So Elena was protecting the account.”
“Or controlling it,” Maya said.
The investigator nodded.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“The account was accessed two months ago.”
Maya froze.
“By whom?”
The investigator opened the access record.
The name appeared.
ELENA CROSS.
“She is alive,” Maya whispered.
Alexander looked at her.
“Now we know where to start.”
---
They spent the entire afternoon trying to locate Elena.
Her old records led nowhere.
Her known addresses were empty.
Her phone numbers had been disconnected.
But the investigator found one recent transaction.
A small payment had been made from the account.
Only fifty dollars.
Maya frowned.
“Why would someone move fifty dollars from thirty-two million?”
“It wasn't about the money,” Alexander said.
“Then what was it about?”
The investigator showed them the location attached to the transaction.
A small café in the city.
Maya looked at Alexander.
“She wanted us to see it.”
“Probably.”
They drove there immediately.
The café was crowded.
Maya looked around nervously.
“What if she's here?”
“We wait.”
They sat at a table near the window.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Finally, a woman wearing a dark coat entered.
Maya recognized her immediately.
The silver crescent necklace hung around her neck.
“Elena.”
The woman looked at Maya.
Her eyes filled with emotion.
“You look exactly like your mother.”
Maya stood.
“Where is she?”
Elena glanced at Alexander.
“Is he the Hayes boy?”
Alexander stiffened.
“My name is Alexander Hayes.”
“I know.”
Elena sat down.
“You shouldn't have come here.”
Maya sat opposite her.
“I've spent ten years waiting for answers.”
“I know.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Is she alive?”
Elena looked at her.
“Yes.”
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, they will find her.”
“Who?”
Elena lowered her voice.
“The people behind Blackwood.”
Alexander leaned forward.
“Who leads them?”
Elena looked at him.
“You already know.”
“My father?”
“No.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“Then who?”
Elena looked at Maya.
“Your mother trusted the wrong person.”
Maya felt a chill.
“Who?”
Elena reached into her bag.
She removed an old photograph.
Maya took it.
It showed her mother, Daniel, Elena, Richard, and Victor Hayes.
They were standing together.
But there was another person in the background.
A man.
Maya recognized him.
Adrian Cross.
“He was there,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Elena looked frightened.
“Adrian is not his real name.”
Alexander frowned.
“What is his real name?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Maya stared at her.
“Then how do you know him?”
“Because he was working with your mother.”
Maya's heart stopped.
“With my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is he threatening me?”
Elena's expression became sad.
“Because he believes you have something that belongs to him.”
“What?”
“The account.”
Maya looked at Alexander.
“What does he want?”
“The money isn't what he wants.”
“Then what?”
Elena leaned closer.
“The account contains more than money.”
Maya's heart raced.
“What does it contain?”
“The names of everyone involved.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“Blackmail records.”
“Yes.”
“Who created them?”
“Your mother.”
Maya's breathing became shallow.
“My mother kept evidence?”
“Enough to destroy powerful people.”
“Then why didn't she release it?”
“Because she needed to protect you.”
Maya stared at Elena.
“She sacrificed everything for me.”
“Yes.”
Tears rolled down Maya's face.
“I thought she abandoned me.”
“She never did.”
Maya wiped her eyes.
“Where is she?”
Elena hesitated.
“There's somewhere you need to go first.”
“Where?”
“Your mother's old clinic.”
Maya frowned.
“She had a clinic?”
“Bennett Medical wasn't just a company. It was a medical research center.”
“What happened to it?”
“It was destroyed.”
“When?”
“Three days before your mother disappeared.”
Alexander looked at Elena.
“Who destroyed it?”
“Victor Hayes.”
His face hardened.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother had discovered what they were doing.”
“What were they doing?”
Elena looked around the café.
“Human trials.”
Maya's expression changed.
“What?”
“Illegal experiments were being conducted using people who had no idea what they were being used for.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Are you saying my father was involved?”
“Your father knew.”
“But did he order it?”
“I don't know.”
Maya's hands trembled.
“And my mother?”
“She tried to expose them.”
“That's why they took her.”
“Yes.”
“Who took her?”
Elena looked at Maya.
“Adrian.”
Maya froze.
“Adrian took my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you say he was working with her?”
“He was.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Elena reached into her bag again.
This time, she removed a small memory card.
“Your mother left this for you.”
Maya stared at it.
“What is it?”
“A recording.”
“Of what?”
“Your mother explaining everything.”
Maya's heart pounded.
“Why didn't you give it to me before?”
“Because you weren't ready.”
“I am now.”
Elena placed the card in her hand.
Then she stood.
“Wait.”
Maya grabbed her wrist.
“Where is my mother?”
Elena looked at her.
“She is somewhere Adrian cannot reach.”
“Where?”
“Under another name.”
“Please.”
Elena's expression softened.
“Your mother has been waiting for you.”
Maya's heart broke.
“She knows about me?”
“Every day.”
Elena turned to leave.
Alexander stood.
“Wait.”
Elena stopped.
“Why did Daniel disappear?”
She looked back.
“Because Daniel discovered who ordered the destruction of the clinic.”
“Who?”
Elena's voice dropped.
“Richard.”
Maya froze.
“My father?”
Elena nodded.
“But why?”
“Because Richard believed it was the only way to save you.”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
Elena looked at her sadly.
“Your father made terrible choices. But he wasn't the person who wanted your mother dead.”
“Then who was?”
Elena's eyes moved toward the window.
Adrian stood across the street.
Watching them.
Maya turned.
By the time she reached the window, he was gone.
A message appeared on her phone.
PLAY THE RECORDING.
Then another.
AND YOU'LL FINALLY KNOW WHY YOUR MOTHER LEFT.
Maya looked at the memory card in her hand.
Alexander stepped beside her.
“We should listen somewhere safe.”
Maya nodded.
But before they could leave, Elena's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“She's gone.”
Maya frowned.
“Who?”
Elena looked at her.
“Your mother.”
Maya's heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“She was moved.”
“By whom?”
Elena looked terrified.
“Adrian.”
Maya grabbed her arm.
“Where did he take her?”
“I don't know.”
Maya felt panic rising.
After ten years, she had finally learned her mother was alive.
And now someone had taken her again.
Alexander took Maya's hand.
“We'll find her.”
Maya looked at him.
“How?”
He looked at the memory card.
“By finding out what's on this.”
---
Back at the mansion, Alexander secured every entrance.
Maya sat in the library with the memory card on the table.
She stared at it.
“What if I'm not ready?”
Alexander sat across from her.
“You don't have to listen tonight.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You can wait.”
“No.”
Maya picked up the card.
“I've waited long enough.”
She inserted it into the computer.
A video appeared.
The screen went black.
Then a familiar voice filled the room.
Maya stopped breathing.
It was her mother.
“Maya, if you're watching this, I'm sorry.”
Maya covered her mouth.
Her mother's voice continued.
“I know you have questions.”
The screen finally showed Ella.
She looked older, tired, and frightened.
But she was alive.
“Maya, there is something you must know.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“The man you call your father is not the person you think he is.”
Maya's eyes widened.
Ella continued.
“And neither is Alexander.”
Maya turned slowly toward him.
Alexander stared at the screen.
Neither of them moved.
Then the video stopped.
A final sentence appeared.
TRUST NO ONE.
Maya looked at Alexander.
For the first time, she couldn't tell whether the person sitting beside her was her greatest ally.
Or the final secret she had been searching for.
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