“You.”
Whitney froze.
“What?”
“Claire made a deal.”
“With whom?”
“The people who were hunting Li Wei.”
Whitney's voice became barely audible.
“What kind of deal?”
“She agreed to hide the evidence.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Your safety.”
Whitney shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
David looked toward the dark temple.
“If the evidence disappeared, they would stop looking for the people who had it.”
“And Claire kept it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she let me find the box?”
David stared at her.
“She didn't.”
Whitney's eyes widened.
“What?”
“The box was supposed to remain hidden.”
“Then who wanted me to find it?”
Nobody answered.
Victor slowly looked toward the road.
Whitney followed his gaze.
A black sedan had stopped across the street.
Its headlights were off.
Victor immediately reached for his phone.
“Get inside.”
Whitney didn't move.
“Who is that?”
“I don't know.”
David grabbed her arm.
“Whitney.”
The sedan's door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Claire.
Whitney's heart jumped.
“Claire!”
Claire looked toward them.
Then she shouted:
“Run!”
A second car appeared behind her.
Three men stepped out.
Claire ran toward the temple.
The men followed.
Victor grabbed Whitney.
“Now!”
They rushed inside.
David locked the door behind them.
Whitney could hear footsteps approaching.
“Where is Claire?”
Victor pointed toward the back.
“She knows a passage.”
“A passage?”
“This temple is older than the neighborhood.”
David opened a wooden panel.
A narrow staircase appeared.
Whitney stared.
“You knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you did.”
They descended.
The passage was dark.
David led them through a narrow corridor.
Behind them, the temple door slammed open.
Men shouted.
Victor pushed Whitney forward.
“Keep moving.”
They emerged into a small underground chamber.
Claire was already there.
She was breathing heavily.
Her coat was torn.
Whitney stared at her.
“You.”
Claire looked at her.
“I knew you'd come.”
“You lied to me.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“Did you betray my grandmother?”
“No.”
“Did you work for Gerald?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help him?”
Claire shook her head.
“I helped Evelyn.”
Whitney stepped closer.
“Then why were you with Gerald?”
“To spy on him.”
Victor interrupted.
“That's what you said thirty years ago.”
Claire looked at him.
“And I was right.”
“You knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the murder.”
Claire looked away.
“Yes.”
Whitney's voice shook.
“Then tell me who killed Li Wei.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I don't know.”
Whitney's frustration exploded.
“Everyone says that!”
Claire looked at her.
“I know who ordered it.”
Silence.
Whitney could barely breathe.
“Who?”
Claire looked at David.
Then Victor.
Then Whitney.
“Gerald.”
Whitney stared.
“But you said Gerald wasn't alone.”
“He wasn't.”
“Who helped him?”
Claire swallowed.
“Your father.”
David stepped backward.
“No.”
Claire's voice broke.
“David was there.”
“I didn't help him!”
“I know.”
“Then why say that?”
“Because Gerald believed you did.”
Whitney looked confused.
“Then who actually helped Gerald?”
Claire hesitated.
“There was another person.”
“Who?”
Claire reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small cassette recorder.
Whitney stared.
“The original.”
Victor stepped forward.
“You still have it.”
Claire nodded.
“I kept it for thirty years.”
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn told me to.”
Whitney looked at the recorder.
“Play it.”
Claire shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Why?”
“Because once you hear it, there is no going back.”
Whitney stepped closer.
“I've already lost my entire understanding of my family.”
She looked at Claire.
“I want the truth.”
Claire nodded.
She pressed PLAY.
Static filled the chamber.
Then Li Wei's voice.
“If you're hearing this, then Gerald has already betrayed us.”
Whitney's heart pounded.
The recording continued.
“I know he plans to take the investors' money.”
A pause.
“But Gerald is not the man I fear most.”
Whitney looked at Victor.
Victor's expression was frozen.
Li Wei continued.
“The person I fear is the one who has access to everything.”
Whitney looked at Claire.
The recording went on.
“She knows the contracts.”
“She knows the accounts.”
“She knows where the evidence is.”
“She knows Evelyn.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Then Li Wei spoke a name.
Whitney stopped breathing.
“Claire Morgan.”
The recording continued.
“If Claire betrays us, there will be no way to recover the evidence.”
Whitney looked at Claire.
Claire's face was covered in tears.
“I didn't betray him,” she whispered.
The recording continued.
“I believe Claire will eventually be forced to choose.”
“She will choose Evelyn.”
Whitney looked at her.
“Li Wei trusted you.”
Claire nodded.
“Yes.”
Then the recording changed.
A man's voice appeared.
Gerald.
“You should have taken the offer.”
Li Wei answered:
“I will never sell my people.”
Gerald laughed.
“You don't understand how this works.”
Then another voice entered.
A woman.
Whitney's heart stopped.
Her grandmother.
“Gerald, leave him alone.”
Gerald responded:
“You're too late, Evelyn.”
A loud crash.
Someone shouted.
Then a gunshot.
Whitney covered her mouth.
The recording became chaotic.
Evelyn screamed.
David's voice appeared.
“Get down!”
Another shot.
Then silence.
A minute later, Evelyn whispered:
“Li?”
No response.
“Li!”
She began crying.
Then Gerald's voice returned.
“He's dead.”
Whitney's eyes filled with tears.
But the recording wasn't over.
A door opened.
Another man entered.
Gerald said:
“You came.”
The stranger answered:
“You said the ledger was secure.”
Gerald replied:
“It is.”
Whitney's blood ran cold.
She knew that voice.
She had heard it recently.
The man who had told Gerald to stay away.
The man who had warned her about the ledger.
The man standing beside her now.
Victor.
Whitney slowly turned.
Victor's face had gone white.
“No.”
She stared at him.
“You were there.”
Victor shook his head.
“I arrived after.”
The recording continued.