CHAPTER 5
1389 Words
The second signature was mine.
I stared at it until the letters lost their shape.
Elena Cross.
The date beside it was eighteen years old. I had been six then. I could barely write my first name without turning one of the letters backwards.
Yet the document claimed I had agreed to inherit my father’s debt.
“Dad, look at this.”
I held the phone close to him.
His eyes moved across the screen. The moment he saw my name, fear tightened his face.
“Delete it.”
“What?”
“Delete the email.”
“Why?”
“Do it now.”
His voice was weak, but the order was sharp.
I lowered the phone. “Someone forged my signature.”
“I know.”
The words froze me.
“You know?”
My father looked toward the glass door. Maya stood outside, speaking quietly with a nurse.
“Keep your voice down,” he whispered.
“Why should I? Someone placed a debt in my name when I was a child.”
“Elena, please.”
“How long have you known?”
His breathing became heavier.
I watched the monitor, afraid the questions would bring another collapse, but I could not stop.
“Did you know they had used my name?”
“I suspected it.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I wanted you far away from them.”
“You let me believe we were poor because life was difficult. You never told me people were hunting you over stolen money.”
“I did not steal anything.”
“Then why didn’t you fight them?”
His eyes closed.
“I tried.”
I waited for him to continue.
When he opened his eyes again, they were wet.
“Your mother tried too.”
“What happened?”
He turned his face away.
I moved closer. “Dad, look at me.”
He did not.
“Thomas Bell said the missing money belonged to Mum. He called it the Isabella account.”
My father’s hand tightened over the sheet.
“That name should have disappeared.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone connected to it was destroyed.”
A chill moved through me.
“You said the money built Vale Holdings.”
“Part of it.”
“What does that mean?”
He swallowed with difficulty.
“Your mother worked with Victor Vale before the company became powerful. She created a plan for a medical technology business. Victor provided the connections. Isabella provided the idea and much of the early money.”
“My mother had money?”
“She inherited it from her grandfather.”
I shook my head. “We lived in a small rented house when she died.”
“Because the Vales took everything.”
“How?”
“They changed the records. They removed her name from the company. When she demanded her share, they accused me of moving money from a business account.”
“The debt.”
He nodded.
“But why blame you?”
“I managed some of the financial records. They knew my passwords. They knew where I kept my signature.”
My stomach turned as I remembered the document.
“And mine?”
My father’s eyes met mine.
“Your mother placed some of her rights in your name.”
“I was a child.”
“She wanted to protect your future.”
“Instead, they placed the debt on me.”
“I did not know that part for certain.”
“But you suspected it.”
“Yes.”
I stood and moved away from the bed.
The room felt too small.
“You should have told me.”
“You were six.”
“I’m not six anymore.”
“The longer you knew nothing, the safer you were.”
“Safe?” I turned toward him. “Someone knew you would collapse before the ambulance reached this hospital. They knew I would see the bill. They knew I would begin asking for help.”
His face became pale.
“What are you talking about?”
“The hospital received a call before you arrived.”
My father tried to raise himself.
“What call?”
“Someone told them to inform Vale Holdings if you were brought in with a heart problem.”
His breathing quickened.
I hurried back to him.
“Lie down.”
“Did the caller give a name?”
“No.”
“What else did they say?”
I hesitated.
“Elena, tell me.”
“They said when I saw the cost of your life, I would finally come to them.”
My father grabbed my arm.
“You must not.”
His nails pressed into my skin.
“Dad, you’re hurting me.”
“You must never contact the Vales.”
“I already spoke to Thomas Bell.”
“He is not the one I fear.”
“Then who?”
“All of them.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the truth.”
I pulled my arm free.
“The company may be able to pay for your operation.”
“No.”
“You could die without it.”
“Then let me die.”
The words struck me harder than a slap.
“Don’t say that.”
“I would rather die than watch them take you.”
“Take me where?”
My father looked toward the door again.
“They do not help people, Elena. They make deals. They find what you love, place a price on it and wait until you have no choice.”
My phone felt heavy in my hand.
I remembered the hidden caller’s offer.
One night.
My father did not know about it.
“What kind of deal did they offer you?” I asked.
His lips trembled.
“After your mother died, Victor Vale came to me. He promised to clear the debt and leave us alone.”
“What did he want?”
“The documents Isabella had hidden.”
“Did you give them to him?”
“I told him they had died with her.”
“Was that true?”
My father stared at me without speaking.
“Dad?”
“I kept one thing.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“The less you know, the safer you are.”
“That lie has already failed.”
“It kept you alive for eighteen years.”
I moved closer.
“Where is it?”
“No.”
“If it proves the debt is false, I need it.”
“You need to forget it exists.”
“I cannot forget something that may save us.”
“It will not save us.”
His grip returned to my wrist.
“The Vales killed your mother for what she knew.”
My breath stopped.
“You said her death was an accident.”
“That is what the police wrote.”
“And what do you believe?”
“I believe Isabella was running from someone when her car left the road.”
The monitor began beeping faster.
I pressed the call button.
My father pulled me closer before the nurse could enter.
“Promise me you will not call them,” he begged. “Do not go to their offices. Do not accept their money. Do not meet any member of that family.”
“I need to save you.”
“You cannot save me by giving them yourself.”
The door opened, and a nurse hurried in.
“You need to step away,” she said.
My father refused to release my hand.
“Promise me, Elena.”
Tears burned my eyes.
I could not promise.
Not while his operation remained unpaid.
Not while noon moved closer.
The nurse separated our hands and guided me toward the door.
As I stepped into the hallway, my phone vibrated.
A new message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained only one photograph.
My father and I were visible through the glass wall of his hospital room.
The picture had been taken less than a minute earlier.
Beneath it were five words:
YOUR FATHER CANNOT PROTECT YOU.
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