Gerald said:
“Victor, take care of the body.”
Victor's recorded voice answered:
“What about Evelyn?”
Gerald replied:
“She knows too much.”
Claire whispered:
“Oh God.”
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Whitney stared at Victor.
“You lied.”
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't kill him.”
“But you were there.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Gerald.”
“I thought I was protecting Evelyn.”
“You helped him hide the body.”
Victor shook his head.
“I didn't know he was going to kill Li.”
“You heard the gunshot.”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed.”
“I was terrified.”
Whitney stepped back.
“You let my grandmother believe she was alone.”
Victor's voice broke.
“I was twenty-eight.”
“That doesn't excuse it.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then Claire suddenly looked toward the tunnel.
Her expression changed.
“They're here.”
David turned.
“What?”
Claire grabbed Whitney's hand.
“Gerald followed us.”
A loud bang echoed from the passage.
Victor moved toward the entrance.
“Get her out.”
David shook his head.
“No.”
Claire pulled Whitney toward a hidden door.
“There's another exit.”
Whitney looked back.
Victor stood between them and the passage.
“Go!”
Whitney hesitated.
“Victor—”
He looked at her.
For the first time, there was no arrogance in his face.
Only regret.
“Your grandmother was right.”
Whitney froze.
“About what?”
“You should never have trusted me.”
A gunshot echoed.
Victor fell.
Whitney screamed.
“Victor!”
Claire dragged her through the hidden doorway.
Behind them, David shouted:
“Keep moving!”
They ran.
Whitney looked back one last time.
Victor lay motionless on the stone floor.
And behind him stood Gerald.
Holding a gun.
Gerald looked directly at Whitney.
Then he smiled.
“Now,” he said,
“we can finally talk about your father.”
Whitney turned and ran deeper into the darkness.
Because she finally understood the truth.
The hundred-thousand-dollar bet had never been about whether she could speak Chinese.
Gerald had chosen her because he knew exactly who she was.
And now that she had uncovered the past, he was desperate to make sure she never uncovered the final secret.
The identity of the person who had ordered Li Wei's death.
The person whose name had been erased from the ledger.
The person Evelyn had spent thirty years protecting.
And as Whitney disappeared into the underground passage, she heard Gerald shout behind her:
“Your mother was alive when Li Wei died!”
Whitney stopped dead.
Her mother.
The woman she had been told died before she could remember her.
Whitney turned slowly.
Gerald's voice echoed through the tunnel.
“And your grandmother lied about that too.”
Whitney's world collapsed all over again.
Whitney stood frozen in the underground passage.
Her mother's name had barely existed in her childhood.
There were no photographs.
No stories.
No memories.
Whenever Whitney asked, Evelyn had always given the same answer.
“Your mother died when you were very young.”
Whitney had believed it.
Until now.
Gerald's voice echoed through the darkness.
“Your grandmother lied to you.”
Whitney turned.
“Where is my mother?”
Gerald stood several yards away.
The gun remained in his hand.
Behind him, the tunnel entrance was filled with smoke and dust.
David was nowhere in sight.
Claire was beside Whitney.
Her face was pale.
“Don't listen to him,” Claire whispered.
Gerald smiled.
“You've been lying to her for thirty years, Claire.”
“I was protecting her.”
“So was I.”
Whitney laughed bitterly.
“You?”
Gerald looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“I tried to stop you from exposing something that would destroy you.”
“You mean expose yourself.”
Gerald's expression hardened.
“Your mother knew too much.”
Whitney stepped forward.
“What was her name?”
Gerald said nothing.
“My mother.”
He finally answered.
“Sarah.”
Whitney's heart stopped.
She had heard the name only once.
From an old family document.
Her grandmother had immediately taken it away.
Sarah Sawyer.
Her mother.
Alive when Li Wei died.
Whitney's voice trembled.
“Where is she?”
Gerald looked toward Claire.
“Tell her.”
Claire shook her head.
Gerald raised the gun slightly.
“Tell her.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“The night Li Wei died.”
Whitney stared.
“What happened?”
Claire swallowed.
“Sarah was there.”
“Why?”
“She had discovered the financial records.”
Whitney looked at David.
“Dad?”
David emerged from the darkness.
He was injured, but standing.
“I loved your mother.”
Whitney's eyes filled with tears.
“Then why did everyone tell me she was dead?”
David's voice broke.
“Because we thought she was.”
Gerald laughed.
“You didn't.”
David glared at him.
“You knew.”
“I knew she survived.”
Whitney turned toward Gerald.
“Where is she?”
Gerald smiled.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
He lowered the gun.
“I knew she survived the attack. After that, she disappeared.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Gerald.”
He looked at her.
“You know where she went.”
“I know where she was taken.”
Whitney's breath caught.
“Taken by whom?”
Gerald didn't answer.
Then David whispered:
“Your mother wasn't taken by Gerald.”
Whitney looked at him.
“Who?”
David's eyes moved toward the old recording device.
“Li Wei.”
Whitney frowned.
“What?”
“Li Wei had arranged for Sarah to leave the country.”
Claire nodded.
“He knew the attack was coming.”
Whitney stared.
“Then why did he stay?”
“Because he wanted to protect the investors.”
Claire's voice was quiet.
“Sarah escaped.”
Whitney's heart raced.
“Where?”
“Hong Kong.”
Whitney covered her mouth.
“She lived?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Claire hesitated.
“We don't know.”
Gerald laughed.
“You see?”
Whitney looked at him.
“What?”
“Your family built a life around lies.”
He looked toward David.
“Your father disappeared.”
Then Claire.
“Your grandmother hid evidence.”
Then Whitney.
“And your mother ran.”
Whitney shook her head.
“No.”
She stepped forward.
“My family survived.”
Gerald's expression changed.
“What?”
“My grandmother survived.”
“My father survived.”
“My mother survived.”
She held up the ledger.
“And Li Wei's truth survived.”
Gerald's eyes narrowed.
“You think that makes you powerful?”
“No.”
Whitney looked at the gun.
“I think it makes you afraid.”
For the first time, Gerald's confidence disappeared.
Then police sirens sounded above them.
Claire smiled faintly.
“You're surrounded.”
Gerald looked toward the tunnel.
“How?”
“Victor.”
Whitney's heart tightened.
“Victor?”
Claire nodded.
“He wasn't dead.”
A moment later, Victor appeared at the far end of the passage.
His shirt was torn.