Chapter 13 - THE VAULT BENEATH THE DIAMOND
Vincent led Luca to the baseball field.
Maya followed.
“So this is why he never removed it.”
Vincent nodded.
Arthur had supervised construction of the diamond eleven years earlier.
Beneath the equipment shed was a concealed storage chamber originally built to hide emergency documents.
Luca stared at the field.
The place he had considered a memorial to the family he never had was actually covering Arthur’s secrets.
The irony felt almost cruel.
Workers opened the hidden chamber.
Inside were boxes.
Old ledgers.
Medical files.
Recordings.
Photographs.
And one hard drive.
Vincent plugged it into an isolated computer.
The first recording showed Isabella confronting Arthur.
“You poisoned my son.”
Arthur did not deny it.
“You don’t understand what Luca was going to do.”
“He was going to remove you.”
“He was going to destroy everything our family built.”
“So you destroyed him first?”
Arthur leaned toward the hidden camera.
“I preserved him.”
Luca stopped the video.
His hands were shaking.
Maya took his hand.
He continued watching.
Arthur admitted paying Bell.
He admitted arranging Mercer’s involvement.
He admitted monitoring Elena.
Then Isabella mentioned the unborn child.
Arthur’s face changed.
“If the child is Luca’s, she becomes leverage.”
Isabella stepped closer.
“You stay away from that baby.”
The recording ended.
There was enough evidence to destroy Arthur.
But there was something else on the drive.
A folder dated two weeks earlier.
MAYA COMPATIBILITY.
Elena turned pale.
The folder contained illegally obtained medical information.
Arthur had tested biological samples collected indirectly from Maya.
Hair.
A discarded cup.
A bandage from the school nurse.
He had been preparing to determine transplant compatibility.
But the final report contained a result no one expected.
Maya was not compatible.
Luca exhaled.
“Then why is he still coming after her?”
Vincent opened another file.
A handwritten note appeared.
MAYA UNSUITABLE.
LUCA POSSIBLE.
Silence filled the shed.
Elena slowly looked at Luca.
Arthur had never needed Maya.
He had used her to locate the person he actually needed.
Luca.
Arthur needed a biologically compatible adult relative.
And after twelve years of keeping Luca physically weak, isolated, and medically controlled, Arthur believed he still had the ability to take whatever he wanted.
Then Luca’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Arthur’s voice came through for the first time in twelve years.
“Hello, nephew.”
Luca’s face went still.
May you like
Arthur continued.
“It’s time we finished what we started.”
