Chapter 6: The Safe
Chapter 6: The Safe
That night, a storm rolled across the city.
Thunder shook the windows as Graham and I drove toward Victoria's estate.
Charles had given us an address.
Not the mansion.
A private office building owned through one of Victoria's companies.
According to him, the missing file was hidden there.
"If she's protecting it this aggressively," I said, gripping the steering wheel, "it must be huge."
Graham stared through the rain.
"I think we're about to find out who my mother really is."
The building was dark when we arrived.
Almost abandoned.
Using an access card Charles had secretly provided, we entered through a side door.
The elevator carried us to the top floor.
Victoria's private office.
The room looked untouched.
Perfect.
Organized.
Controlled.
Exactly like her.
But Charles had been specific.
"The safe is behind the portrait."
We found it within minutes.
A massive painting of Richard Hayes covered one wall.
Behind it sat a steel safe.
Graham entered the code Charles had given him.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Click.
The door swung open.
Inside sat a single black folder.
No jewelry.
No cash.
No valuables.
Just one file.
My pulse raced as Graham opened it.
The first page made him go pale.
The second made him sit down.
The third made him swear under his breath.
"What is it?" I asked.
He handed me the documents.
I felt my stomach drop.
The papers detailed dozens of transactions stretching back nearly thirty years.
Hidden accounts.
Forgery.
Fraud.
Millions of dollars moved through shell companies.
Every signature traced back to one person.
Victoria Hayes.
"Oh my God."
But that wasn't the worst part.
At the bottom of the folder sat several birth certificates.
Medical reports.
Legal agreements.
Children's names.
Dates.
Amounts paid.
I flipped through them in confusion.
Then understanding hit me.
"No..."
Graham looked sick.
"She wasn't just hiding money."
The room suddenly felt too small.
Too hot.
Too dangerous.
Victoria had spent decades paying families.
Paying hospitals.
Paying lawyers.
Covering up records.
One page finally explained everything.
At the top was a handwritten note in Victoria's own handwriting:
Potential heirs. Resolve before inheritance review.
I stopped breathing.
Potential heirs.
Not one.
Not two.
Several.
Children connected to the Hayes fortune.
Children whose existence could threaten Victoria's control.
Some had been paid off.
Some had disappeared from records entirely.
And one name was highlighted in red.
A name neither of us had ever seen before.
A name followed by a recent address.
Graham read it twice.
Then a third time.
His face turned white.
"What?" I asked.
He looked at me in horror.
"The address."
"What about it?"
His voice barely emerged as a whisper.
"That's where Mom is right now."
Before either of us could react, a loud noise echoed from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Getting closer.
Then we heard a familiar voice.
Cold.
Calm.
And furious.
May you like
"You should have left the safe closed."
Victoria had found us.
