Chapter 8 - The Price of Silence
We spun around.
Standing in the doorway of the study was Dean Valerius.
He was dressed in a tailored navy blue suit, his hair slicked back, his hands casually tucked into his pockets. Behind him stood Leo, the man who had visited our apartment, holding a heavy, black automatic pistol.
"You really are your father's daughter, Sadie," Dean said, walking into the room with an easy, confident stride. "Meticulous. Obsessive. Quite annoying, really."
Jonah stepped in front of me and Owen, shielding us with his body. "Dean. It’s over. We’ve already copied the files to a secure cloud server. If anything happens to us, they go straight to the federal prosecutor."
Dean laughed. It was a warm, pleasant sound that made my skin crawl.
"Oh, Jonah. You always were the stupid one. Do you really think I didn't know you were coming? I’ve had a tracker on your phone since the day you walked out of that prison gate. I let you come here. I wanted you to find the files."
"Why?" I asked, stepping out from behind Jonah.
"Because as long as those files are in this safe, they are my aunt’s problem," Dean said, pointing to the open steel doors. "But now that you've stolen them, they are evidence of a robbery. And if you happen to have a tragic accident on your way home... well, the police will find the stolen files in your car, and they’ll assume you were trying to blackmail us."
Leo took a step forward, raising the pistol. The barrel looked massive in the dim light of the basement.
"You won't get away with this, Dean," I said, my voice cold and steady, though my heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears. "My father thought you were just a thief. But you're a coward. You couldn't face him, so you burned him. And now you're trying to burn us because you're terrified of what happens when the world sees what you really are."
Dean’s smile faltered. His eyes darkened, the polished executive veneer slipping away to reveal the cold, vicious predator beneath.
"Your father was a clerk who didn't know his place, Sadie," Dean spat. "He thought his little ledger made him important. Just like you think your little timeline makes you smart. But in the real world, the people with the money make the rules. And your family... your family is just raw material."
"He's right about one thing, Dean," a new voice said.
We all turned.
Celeste was standing at the top of the basement stairs. She was wearing her formal evening gown from the gala, a stunning emerald green silk, but her face was pale and drawn.
"Celeste," Dean said, his eyes narrowing. "What are you doing here? You should be at the museum."
"I left early," she said, descending the stairs slowly, her heels clicking on the wood. "I had a feeling you would try something incredibly foolish tonight, Dean."
She walked past Leo, not even glancing at the gun, and stood between Dean and us.
"You've gone too far," Celeste said, her voice quiet but filled with a terrifying authority. "I tolerated your greed because it was profitable. I tolerated your stupidity because it kept Jonah out of trouble. But I will not let you murder my son."
"He’s not your son anymore, Celeste," Dean said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "He’s a liability. He’s joined the other side. And if they get those files to the DA, I'm not the only one who goes down. The foundation goes with me. Your house, your money, your precious reputation... all of it burns."
Celeste looked at Jonah. Her eyes were filled with a strange, tragic sorrow.
"I know," she said.
May you like
She turned to me.
"Sadie," she said. "I am going to offer you a deal. One last deal."
