Chapter 4 - The Woman From David’s Past Came Back With a Secret
David arrived at the hospital twenty-three minutes later.
Marcus drove.
David spent the entire trip staring at the photograph Maya had texted him.
Victoria.
Elena.
Himself.
The photograph had been taken nearly twelve years earlier at a Prescott Foundation gala.
David remembered the night.
He remembered the tuxedo.
The ballroom.
Victoria laughing beside him.
But he did not remember Elena being there.
And that frightened him.
When David entered Elena’s room, Maya stood near the window.
Elena looked exhausted.
David stopped at the doorway.
For a moment, he simply looked at the woman his father had once blamed for nearly destroying their family.
Then Elena spoke.
“You look like Thomas.”
David’s expression changed.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
Maya watched him carefully.
David stepped inside.
“You knew him.”
“I loved him.”
Maya saw the pain flash across David’s face.
“My father told us Thomas had become unstable before he died.”
Elena gave a tired laugh.
“Victor told everyone whatever protected Victor.”
David looked at Maya.
She had already told him enough over the phone to understand the basic truth.
But hearing it inside a hospital room made everything more real.
David sat.
“My father knew Maya existed?”
Elena shook her head.
“He knew I was pregnant. He didn’t know if I kept the baby.”
“And Thomas?”
“Never knew.”
David looked toward Maya.
Something about his expression softened.
“You’re my cousin.”
Maya let out a breath.
“Well.”
David almost smiled.
“That explains why arguing with you feels strangely familiar.”
“Don’t make this weird.”
“I’m trying desperately not to.”
For a moment, the tension eased.
Then Maya held up the photograph.
“Who is Daniel Lane?”
David’s smile vanished.
“Victoria’s brother.”
Elena closed her eyes.
David looked at her.
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Elena hesitated.
Maya crossed her arms.
“We are officially done with hesitation today.”
Elena looked at her daughter.
“Victoria approached me years ago.”
David leaned forward.
“When?”
“Before she started dating you.”
David went completely still.
Maya whispered, “What?”
Elena continued.
“She said she knew what happened to Thomas.”
David’s eyes sharpened.
“What did she want?”
“The documents.”
“What documents?”
“Copies of the financial records Thomas and I collected.”
David stood.
“You still had them?”
“I kept one set.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Against my father?”
“Against everyone.”
David walked toward the window.
Maya could almost see him reconstructing his entire relationship.
Victoria had told him they met by chance at a charity auction.
She had laughed when he spilled champagne near her dress.
They had started talking.
Dating.
Falling in love.
But maybe none of it had been chance.
Maya saw the realization.
“She targeted you.”
David looked back.
Elena nodded.
“At first.”
Those two words hurt even more.
“At first?”
“I think she genuinely fell in love with you.”
David laughed once.
Coldly.
“That’s comforting.”
“She wanted access to your father.”
“So she dated me.”
“Yes.”
“And when she couldn’t get what she needed?”
“She started looking elsewhere.”
David’s face tightened.
“The man she cheated with.”
Elena nodded.
“He worked for Victor.”
David looked at Marcus.
Marcus had been silently listening near the door.
“Name?”
“Ethan Cole.”
Marcus immediately typed something into his phone.
Maya watched David.
“Is that what she stole?”
David did not answer.
Maya stepped closer.
“David.”
He looked at her.
“When Victoria left, she took a drive from my office.”
“What was on it?”
“Corporate archives.”
“Your father’s?”
“Some.”
“And you thought she wanted money?”
“Yes.”
“What if she wanted evidence?”
David stared at the photograph again.
Everything he had believed about Victoria suddenly looked less certain.
Marcus’s phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
“Ethan Cole is alive.”
David’s head snapped toward him.
“Where?”
“Florida.”
Elena whispered, “No.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Maya asked.
Elena looked terrified.
“He’s not in Florida.”
Marcus frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw him three months ago.”
Maya stared.
“Where?”
“Here.”
“At the hospital?”
Elena nodded.
“He came to see me.”
“What did he want?”
“The records.”
David stepped closer.
“Did you give them to him?”
“No.”
“Where are they?”
Elena looked at Maya.
Then away.
Maya’s stomach dropped.
“Mom.”
“I hid them.”
“Where?”
Elena hesitated.
Maya gave her a look.
“Seriously?”
“In your apartment.”
Maya froze.
“My apartment?”
“In the old wooden recipe box.”
Maya stared at her.
“The one in my kitchen?”
“Yes.”
“The box I have nearly thrown away six times?”
“Yes.”
David looked at Marcus.
“Go.”
Marcus was already moving.
“I’ll send security.”
“No,” Elena said sharply.
Marcus stopped.
“Why?”
“Because Ethan will notice.”
Maya looked at David.
“So what do we do?”
David’s eyes moved toward her.
“You stay here.”
She laughed.
“No.”
“Maya.”
“No.”
“This isn’t dinner anymore.”
“I noticed.”
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
“And you do?”
David opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Maya nodded.
“Exactly.”
An hour later, Marcus quietly entered Maya’s apartment while building security watched the hallway from a distance.
David stayed at the hospital with Maya.
Elena prepared for surgery.
At 1:18 p.m., Marcus called.
David answered.
“Did you find it?”
Silence.
“Marcus?”
“The recipe box is here.”
“And?”
“It’s empty.”
Maya’s heart sank.
David stood.
“Someone got there first.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The apartment wasn’t searched.”
Maya frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Nothing is disturbed.”
David understood immediately.
“Then whoever took the documents knew exactly where they were.”
Elena’s expression changed.
Only three people knew about the box.
Elena.
Maya.
And someone Elena must have trusted.
Maya slowly turned toward her mother.
“Who else did you tell?”
Elena looked at the photograph again.
And whispered,
“Victoria.”
At that exact moment, Maya’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke.
A voice David had not heard in eleven years.
“Maya Carter?”
Maya looked at David.
“Yes.”
The woman inhaled.
“My name is Victoria Lane.”
David’s face lost all color.
Victoria continued.
“If David Prescott is with you, don’t let him leave.”
Maya’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Why?”
A pause.
Then Victoria whispered,
May you like
“Because I finally know who destroyed his uncle’s boat.”
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