Chương 10 - The Night New York Learned Her NameThomas had underestimated one thing.
Me.
Again.
He thought finding me alone with Adrian would make me panic.
It didn’t.
He thought bringing armed men would make me obedient.
It didn’t.
Mostly because Larkin had planned for exactly this.
Thomas stepped closer.
“Come with me.”
“No.”
His smile faded.
“I’m not asking.”
Adrian moved slightly in front of me.
Thomas laughed.
“Don’t be stupid, old man.”
Then headlights exploded behind us.
Three SUVs entered the alley from the opposite direction.
Larkin stepped out.
Thomas closed his eyes briefly.
“Of course.”
Larkin walked toward us.
“You used company resources to track Penelope?”
Thomas shrugged.
“You used company resources to track me.”
“Difference is, I own them.”
“Do you?”
That question hung in the air.
Larkin stopped.
Thomas smiled.
“Ask Dad.”
“He’s dead.”
“Exactly.”
I understood.
He knew.
Larkin didn’t.
I said, “Thomas.”
He glanced at me.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Do this here.”
He laughed.
“Why not?”
“Because once you say it, you can’t take it back.”
Larkin looked between us.
“What are you talking about?”
Thomas opened his arms.
“Family.”
I said quietly, “Thomas is your half-brother.”
Silence.
Even the men around us seemed to stop breathing.
Larkin stared at me.
Then at Thomas.
Thomas smiled.
“Surprise.”
Larkin said nothing.
Thomas continued.
“Robert Steves had an affair with my mother for six years.”
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
“Proof.”
“I have DNA.”
Larkin’s face changed.
“How?”
“Old medical samples.”
“You tested them?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Thomas’s smile disappeared.
“Same father.”
For a moment, the crime empire vanished.
They were simply two men learning that their family had lied to them.
Then Thomas said, “Which means I’m not your cousin.”
“No.”
“I’m your brother.”
Larkin’s expression hardened again.
“What do you want?”
“Half.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
Larkin almost laughed.
“That’s not how this works.”
“Maybe not legally.”
Thomas looked at me.
“But Penelope found something that changes the balance.”
“The trust.”
“Yes.”
“That money isn’t yours,” I said.
“It came from our family.”
“It came from victims.”
“Same difference.”
That sentence decided something for me.
Thomas wasn’t misunderstood.
He wasn’t merely reckless.
He believed power made ownership moral.
My father had spent his final years trying to undo damage caused by men like him.
I would not hand it back.
I said, “You’re not getting a dollar.”
Thomas looked almost sad.
“Penelope, I was hoping you’d be smarter.”
“I am.”
He raised his hand.
One of his men moved.
Before anything happened, police sirens sounded in the distance.
Thomas froze.
Larkin looked at me.
“You called police?”
“No.”
Adrian smiled.
“I did.”
Thomas swore.
Adrian held up his phone.
“Anonymous report. Armed disturbance.”
Thomas’s men began retreating.
Thomas pointed at me.
“This isn’t over.”
I met his gaze.
“Yes, it is.”
He got into his vehicle.
Then paused.
“No.”
“It ends when I decide it ends.”
He left.
The sirens grew louder.
We dispersed before they arrived.
By morning, everything changed.
Thomas disappeared from Steves Holdings.
Four board members resigned.
Two banks froze accounts.
Rumors spread across New York.
Someone leaked information about the internal split.
By noon, financial reporters were asking why Steves Holdings had canceled meetings.
By three, social media accounts posted blurry photographs from the Solstice Gala.
One photograph showed me walking beside Larkin.
Black dress.
Red lipstick.
Headline:
WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN BESIDE LARKIN STEVES?
Another:
THE SECRETARY WHO STOLE THE ROOM.
Then someone found my LinkedIn page.
My ordinary photograph.
Gray blazer.
Hair clipped back.
The transformation spread everywhere.
Millions of views.
Comments.
Speculation.
Some people said I was Larkin’s girlfriend.
Others said lawyer.
Others said undercover agent.
By evening, my name was trending.
PENELOPE WOODS.
The invisible secretary had become visible to everyone.
I hated every second.
Larkin entered the conference room where I was working.
“Don’t read the comments.”
“Too late.”
“How bad?”
“Apparently I’m either a genius, a gold digger, a federal informant, or secretly royalty.”
He sat across from me.
“One account says you’re an assassin.”
“That’s my favorite.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“Your anonymity is gone.”
“I know.”
“I can’t undo that.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
That surprised me.
“For inviting me?”
“For not understanding what Thomas was doing.”
I looked at him.
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“No.”
For once, I gave him something simple.
“You’re not responsible for every terrible person related to you.”
His eyes held mine.
The air changed.
Quietly.
Dangerously.
Then my laptop chimed.
An email.
Anonymous.
Subject:
YOUR FATHER’S FINAL ACCOUNT.
I opened it.
One attachment.
A video file.
My father.
Recorded two days before he died.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
He stared into the camera.
“If you’re watching this, Penelope, then the Steves family found you.”
He swallowed.
“And if Larkin is with you…”
Larkin moved beside me.
My father continued.
“…tell him his brother Ethan was murdered for the same reason I was.”
Larkin stopped breathing.
May you like
Then my father said:
“The person responsible is still alive.”
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