Chapter 10 - The Crystal Clear Truth
The heavy steel door of the safety deposit box clicked open with a smooth mechanical hum.
Arthur reached inside with a joyful heart expecting to feel the velvet box containing the diamond necklace.
Instead his fingers brushed against cold and empty metal.
He pulled the drawer out completely and stared into it with absolute confusion.
The diamond necklace was entirely gone.
In its place rested a single piece of shattered crystal from the luxury showroom.
Beneath the jagged piece of glass was a perfectly folded piece of black stationary.
Arthur felt his chest tighten as his hands began to tremble slightly.
He picked up the note and slowly unfolded it under the bright fluorescent lights of the vault.
The handwriting was elegantly cursive and chillingly familiar.
"You really thought Marcus was the one pulling the strings, Arthur?" the note read.
Arthur's breathing became shallow as he read the next horrifying line.
"Marcus was merely a distraction while I secured the necessary funds to return."
A cold sweat broke out across Arthur's forehead as the terrifying realization hit him.
The boy's father had supposedly died in a tragic boating accident long before the child was even born.
But the signature at the very bottom of the black stationary proved the past was never truly buried.
"See you soon, Father-in-law," the letter concluded.
May you like
Arthur dropped the paper as the terrifying truth settled into his bones.
Leo's dead father was still alive and the real war for the empire had only just begun.
