Chapter 17: The Deed That Could Destroy Him
After Daniel hung up, nobody moved.
The room felt frozen.
A single sentence kept repeating in my mind.
*Your mother hid it.*
My mother had spent years protecting evidence.
Protecting the truth.
Protecting me.
And now that truth was somewhere inside this house.
Miranda closed her laptop.
“We need to find it before Robert does.””
I looked at her.
“You think he’s coming here?””
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
“Because Daniel warned us.””
I frowned.
“But why warn us?””
Miranda didn’t answer immediately.
“Maybe because he knows Robert will destroy him too.””
That made sense.
People like my father didn’t keep partners.
They kept tools.
And when tools stopped being useful, they were thrown away.
Ryan stood.
“I’ll search downstairs.””
Lily looked at him.
“I’ll check Dad’s office.””
I almost stopped her.
Then I realized something.
Lily wasn’t the scared teenager who ran away.
She was the woman who survived.
We split up.
The house that had once felt like my dream now felt like a puzzle.
Every wall.
Every drawer.
Every hidden space.
A secret waiting to be found.
I searched my mother’s old bedroom.
At first, nothing.
Then I noticed something.
A loose floorboard near the closet.
I knelt down.
My hands shook as I lifted it.
Underneath was a small wooden box.
Inside were photographs.
Letters.
And a key.
But no deed.
I picked up one photograph.
It showed my mother standing outside the house.
Young.
Happy.
Before everything happened.
On the back, she had written:
*The place where I thought my life began.*
I felt tears forming.
My mother loved this house.
My father took it from her.
I opened another letter.
This one was from Daniel.
Years old.
*Margaret, I know you are afraid. But if you hide the deed, Robert will never be able to claim what belongs to you.*
My mother’s name.
Margaret.
The letter continued.
*You must keep Jenna away from this fight. She deserves a normal life.*
I closed my eyes.
She wasn’t trying to abandon me.
She was trying to save me.
A sound came from downstairs.
A door slamming.
I ran.
“Ryan?””
No answer.
“Lily?””
Nothing.
I reached the hallway.
The basement door was open.
My heart dropped.
I ran downstairs.
My father stood near the safe.
He had beaten us there.
“How did you get in?””
He looked at me.
“Because this house was mine before it was yours.””
I stopped.
“No.””
He smiled sadly.
“You still don’t understand.””
Lily appeared behind me.
“Stop lying.””
My father looked at her.
“You always were stubborn.””
“And you always thought you were smarter than everyone.””
His expression hardened.
“I did what I had to do.””
“No.””
Lily stepped forward.
“You did what benefited you.””
My father ignored her.
He looked at me.
“Jenna, I never wanted you involved.””
I laughed.
“You bought me a house full of evidence.””
“I was trying to give you something.””
“You were trying to bury something.””
His silence answered.
I held up the letter.
“Where is the deed?””
His face changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
“You found something.””
“Yes.””
He stepped closer.
“Give it to me.””
I backed away.
“No.””
His voice became softer.
“Jenna.””
That tone.
The same tone he used when I was a child.
The one that made me obey.
But I wasn’t a child anymore.
“You don’t get to control this.””
For the first time, my father looked truly angry.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From Miranda.
*I found the location of the original deed.*
I opened it.
My eyes widened.
Because the location wasn’t somewhere hidden.
It wasn’t in a bank.
It wasn’t with a lawyer.
It was somewhere inside the house.
A place I had walked past every day.
The message continued.
*Your mother hid it where Robert would never look.*
I looked around the basement.
Then at my father.
And suddenly I knew.
May you like
The one place he would never search.
Was the one place that belonged to me.
