Chapter 14
I tried to run.
Julian caught me at the elevator, not by grabbing me, but by stepping in front of the doors.
“Mara.”
“My sister.”
“I know.”
“I have to go.”
“And walk straight into Marion Ashford’s hands?”
“If she has Lena—”
“She wants you scared enough to move alone.”
I hated that he was right.
I hated that fear made me feel sixteen again.
Powerless.
Accused.
No one listening.
Detective Chen arrived ten minutes later.
Lena’s campus security confirmed she was safe in her dorm.
The ID had been stolen from her bag.
Safe.
I sat down on the floor because my legs stopped working.
Julian crouched across from me.
He did not say calm down.
Good.
I might have slapped him.
Instead, he said, “Breathe with me.”
I did.
Once.
Twice.
Then anger replaced fear.
Clean anger.
Useful anger.
“I want everything opened,” I said.
Detective Chen lifted an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“My mother’s storage boxes. Her old shelter records. Medical files. Anything tied to Elena Ellison.”
Julian nodded.
“I’ll help.”
I looked at him.
“No. I want access, not permission.”
Something like respect moved through his face.
“Then you’ll have it.”
By noon, we were in Queens at the storage unit I had paid for every month even when I could barely afford groceries.
Boxes of my mother’s life sat under buzzing lights.
Clothes.
Old photos.
Shelter paperwork.
A Bible she never read but never threw away.
In the last box, beneath winter blankets, I found a locked metal case.
The key was hidden inside the locket chain clasp.
I opened it.
Inside were letters from Vivienne.
And one birth certificate.
Mine.
My father’s name was listed as unknown.
May you like
But behind it was a DNA report.
Julian Vale was marked as possible paternal match.
