Chapter 32: The Lies We Bury

Liam's grip on the steering wheel was tight as the city lights flickered across his face. The revelation still burned in his mind—Eve had known his mother.

What did that mean?

Had she been a friend? An enemy? A spy?

Nathan, seated beside him, exhaled sharply. "So, what's the plan?"

Seraphina, in the back seat, crossed her arms. "We confront her."

Liam's jaw clenched. "Not yet."

Seraphina raised an eyebrow. "Then when?"

Liam's voice was cold. "When I know if she's lying."

Eve was a master manipulator. If they went to her now, she'd twist the truth to her advantage. No—he needed more pieces of the puzzle first.

Nathan leaned back. "So, we dig."

Liam nodded. "We dig."

---

The first place to start was someone who had always been too quiet about his mother's death.

Gerald Vaughn.

A retired banker, Vaughn had handled all of his mother's financial affairs before she died. If anyone knew about the ledger she mentioned in the letter, it was him.

They found Vaughn in his dimly lit office, the air thick with cigar smoke. His sharp, calculating eyes barely flickered with surprise when Liam walked in.

"I was wondering when you'd come knocking," Vaughn muttered, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses.

Liam placed the photograph on the desk. "Tell me about this."

Vaughn stared at the image, his lips curling in something almost like amusement. "Ah. So you've finally learned the truth."

Seraphina stepped forward. "What truth?"

Vaughn took a slow drag from his cigar before speaking. "Your mother and Eve weren't just acquaintances, Liam. They were business partners."

Liam's heart slammed against his ribs. "That's not possible."

Vaughn chuckled darkly. "Oh, but it is."

Nathan narrowed his eyes. "What kind of business?"

Vaughn flicked the ash from his cigar. "The kind that gets people killed."

Liam's patience snapped. He grabbed Vaughn by the collar and slammed him against the desk. "Stop playing games."

Vaughn smirked, unshaken. "You really don't know, do you?" He leaned in, lowering his voice. "Your mother and Eve weren't just partners. They ran one of the most dangerous financial networks in the underground world."

Liam's breath caught. "What?"

"The ledger your mother mentioned? It's not just any ledger, Liam." Vaughn exhaled smoke into the air. "It's the key to every transaction, every secret deal, every black market account tied to the most powerful families in this city."

Nathan swore under his breath.

Seraphina paled. "That means—"

Vaughn nodded. "That means whoever holds the ledger holds power over everyone."

Liam's pulse was a war drum in his ears. His mother had been involved in this?

And Eve?

He suddenly saw their last conversation in a different light. Eve hadn't just been playing games—she had been testing him.

Nathan rubbed his temples. "So that's why your mother was killed."

Vaughn nodded. "And that's why you're next if you don't play this right."

Seraphina's voice was cold. "Where is the ledger?"

Vaughn smirked. "That's the real question, isn't it?"

Liam exhaled slowly. "You don't know."

Vaughn shrugged. "I might." He tapped the desk. "But knowledge comes at a price."

Liam's patience was razor-thin. "What do you want?"

Vaughn leaned forward. "A favor. One that I'll collect when the time is right."

Nathan muttered, "I don't like this."

Liam's jaw clenched. "Fine."

Vaughn smiled. "Good choice." He pulled open a drawer and slid a sleek black deluxe card across the table. "This will get you inside the right doors."

Liam picked it up, turning it in his fingers.

Vaughn's voice lowered. "And Liam? Be careful who you trust."

Liam didn't answer.

Because deep down, he already knew.

---

The moment they left Vaughn's office, Liam turned to Nathan and Seraphina. "We're meeting Eve."

Nathan sighed. "Of course we are."

Seraphina smirked. "This should be fun."

An hour later, they stepped into a high-rise penthouse, the city lights spilling through the glass walls like a sea of stars.

Eve was waiting for them, a glass of wine in hand, her lips curved in a knowing smile. "I was wondering when you'd come back."

Liam didn't waste time. He tossed the photograph onto the table.

Eve barely glanced at it before taking a sip of her drink. "Ah. So you finally know."

Liam's voice was sharp. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Eve met his gaze. "Would you have believed me?"

Liam exhaled sharply. "You and my mother ran an empire together."

Eve smirked. "Not just an empire. The empire."

Nathan folded his arms. "And the ledger?"

Eve's eyes gleamed. "It's exactly where your mother wanted it to be."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "And where is that?"

Eve leaned forward, her voice a whisper.

"Hidden in plain sight."

Liam's blood ran cold.

Because he suddenly realized where it was.

And who had it.

---

Nathan's voice was urgent as they left the penthouse. "If you're right, and the ledger is where I think it is—"

Liam cut him off. "Then we're already too late."

Seraphina's fingers curled around her gun. "We need to move. Now."

The city blurred past them as they sped toward their next destination.

Liam's heart pounded.

This was bigger than revenge.

Bigger than Eve.

This was about survival.

And if they didn't get to the ledger first…

Then the next body in the morgue would be his.

---