Chapter 4 - THE SEALED LETTER
The words sat between them like a weapon.
Hannah stared at the document until the letters blurred.
“No.”
Dominic said nothing.
“Bradley is selfish. He lies. He cheats. But he wouldn’t—”
She couldn’t finish.
Dominic opened the folder again and removed a small envelope yellowed at the edges.
On the front, in handwriting Hannah had not seen since childhood, were three words.
For my Hannah.
She touched it and pulled her hand back.
“My father wrote that?”
“Seventeen years ago.”
“Why do you have it?”
“Because Vincent Mercer saved my life when we were twenty-three.”
Hannah looked up.
Dominic’s reputation suddenly felt less like gossip and more like a locked room she had been pushed into.
“What were you to him?”
“His best friend. Then his enemy. Then, at the end, the only man he trusted with you.”
“At the end?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “Your father disappeared because he found evidence that men in my organization were laundering money through public construction contracts. He came to me. I didn’t believe him fast enough.”
Hannah’s voice sharpened. “So he vanished because of you?”
“Yes.”
The honesty hit harder than an excuse.
Dominic pushed the envelope toward her.
“He entered federal protection. He made me swear I would never approach you unless someone tried to reach the assets he hid for you.”
Hannah looked down at the trust papers.
“Bradley reached them.”
“Yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you come yesterday?”
“I did. Your house was empty. Your phone was off. Then the hospital admission hit a financial alert tied to the trust.”
Hannah finally opened the letter.
The first line broke her.
Hannah-bug, if Dominic is giving you this, then I failed to keep danger away from you.
She covered her mouth.
Halfway down the page, her father wrote one sentence twice.
Do not trust anyone who asks you to sign for the babies.
Hannah’s eyes lifted.
At that exact moment, a nurse rushed into the room.
“Mrs. Bennett, we have a problem.”
“What happened?”
May you like
The nurse looked toward the hall.
“Someone just tried to remove your daughter from the NICU using paperwork with your signature.”
