CHAPTER 4 – HER FIANCÉ'S SECRET WAS EVEN DARKER THAN HER FATHER'S
The words echoed in Isabella's mind.
"My fiancé already knew."
She slowly pulled her arm away.
"What did you just say?"
Ethan lowered his eyes.
"I was trying to protect you."
The ballroom exploded with angry whispers.
"Protect me?" Isabella laughed bitterly. "You watched me humiliate the only woman who ever protected me... and you call that protection?"
Ethan reached into his jacket and pulled out a small velvet box.
It wasn't a ring.
It was a silver key.
"I found this in your mother's safety deposit box six months ago."
The elderly maid gasped.
"You opened it?"
"I had no choice," Ethan replied. "Someone else was looking for it."
"The key opens Vault 17."
"The last place your mother hid the evidence."
Before Isabella could ask another question...
Every light inside the ballroom suddenly went out.
Darkness.
People screamed.
Seconds later, emergency lights flickered red across the room.
A masked man appeared on the giant LED screen.
His distorted voice echoed through the hall.
"Congratulations, Isabella."
"You've finally learned half the truth."
"But if you open Vault 17..."
"...you'll discover your mother wasn't the victim everyone believes."
The screen went black.
Then a loud explosion shook the building.
Glass shattered.
Smoke filled the entrance.
Security rushed toward the lobby.
When the smoke cleared...
The elderly maid was gone.
Only her walking cane remained on the marble floor.
"No..." Isabella whispered.
"She wouldn't leave."
A security guard ran inside, breathless.
"She didn't leave."
"She was kidnapped."
The guests panicked and fled the ballroom.
Police sealed every exit.
But Ethan wasn't looking at the crowd.
He was staring at the silver key in his hand.
His face turned pale.
Someone had carved a fresh message into the metal while the lights were out.
Only four words.
"YOU'RE NEXT, ETHAN."
At that exact moment, Isabella's phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
She opened the message.
It contained a live video.
The old maid was tied to a chair inside a dark warehouse.
A masked figure stood behind her, holding a gun.
Then the figure spoke directly into the camera.
"Bring the key to Vault 17."
"Come alone."
"Or the only person who truly loved your mother... dies before sunrise."
The video ended.
But Isabella noticed one tiny detail before the screen went black.
On the kidnapper's wrist...
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Was the exact same family crest worn for decades...
By the Hartwell family.
