Chapter 4 – THE BLACK LEATHER LEDGER

The taxi dropped me off two blocks from my in-laws’ house in Marietta.

It was 7:45 PM. The street was lined with the expensive cars of Brandon’s relatives. Laughter and loud music drifted from the backyard patio. The party I had paid for was still going strong.

I didn’t go to the front door. I slipped through the side gate, moving quietly through the shadows of the tall oak trees.

I knew the layout of the house perfectly; Doña Brenda had forced me to deep-clean it two days before the wedding to “prove my worth.” The master bedroom was on the ground floor, facing the garden.

The window was unlocked. Brenda always left it open a crack for the evening breeze.

I pushed the glass up, hoisted myself over the sill, and landed silently on the plush bedroom carpet.

The room smelled overpowering of cheap floral perfume. I moved quickly to the large walk-in closet. Maya had told me the safe was bolted to the floor behind a row of Brenda’s winter coats.

I pushed the heavy fur coats aside. There it was. A heavy steel keypad safe.

My hands were shaking as I crouched down. I thought of Brandon’s birthday.

0-8-1-4-9-3.

The keypad beeped green. The heavy door clicked open.

I pulled it open. Inside were stacks of cash, a velvet jewelry box, and sitting right on top, a thick, black leather ledger.

I grabbed the ledger and flipped it open.

The numbers inside made my stomach turn. Page after page of meticulously recorded transactions. Deposits from “S.C. Boutiques”—my company. Withdrawals to offshore accounts. Hundreds of thousands of dollars moving through my pristine business infrastructure, washing Uncle Donald’s dirty money and paying off Brandon’s massive gambling debts.

But it was the final page that made me stop breathing.

It was a life insurance policy.

A newly opened policy on my life, for two million dollars. The primary beneficiary was Brandon. The secondary beneficiary was Brenda.

And the effective date was tomorrow.

They weren’t just going to ruin my business. They were planning to kill me.

“Looking for something, dear?”

I froze.

The closet light clicked on.

Standing in the doorway was Doña Brenda.

She wasn’t holding a weapon, but her eyes were colder than ice. She held a glass of red wine, looking down at me with absolute contempt.

“I knew you’d come back,” Brenda said, taking a sip of her wine. “Donald called me from the warehouse. He said you were snooping around. He also said Maya hit him with a pipe. Such a violent, low-class girl. I always told Brandon she was a mistake.”

I stood up, clutching the black ledger tightly to my chest.

“You took out a life insurance policy on me,” I said, my voice trembling with a mixture of terror and rage.

Brenda smiled, a chilling, maternal smile. “You work too hard, Savannah. A tragic car accident is completely believable for an exhausted young entrepreneur driving home late at night.”

“You’re insane,” I breathed.

“I am a mother protecting her son,” Brenda corrected sharply. “Brandon is weak. He gambles. He makes mistakes. But he is my blood. You are just a resource. A very arrogant, disobedient resource.”

She stepped aside, gesturing toward the bedroom door.

“Give me the ledger, Savannah. If you hand it over quietly, I’ll let you walk out the front door. We’ll simply proceed with the divorce and bankrupt your company. But if you try to leave with that book… well, Uncle Donald has some friends waiting in the driveway.”

I looked past her. Through the bedroom window, I could see two large men standing by a black SUV in the driveway.

I was trapped.

But then, my eyes darted to the velvet jewelry box sitting open in the safe.

Inside rested a stunning, authentic diamond necklace. Not glass. Not a cheap alloy. It was the centerpiece of Brenda’s pride, a piece she bragged about constantly.

I didn’t think. I reacted.

I grabbed the diamond necklace, wrapped it around my fist, and held my hand directly over the heavy floor vent at the base of the wall.

“Don’t move,” I warned, holding the diamonds dangerously close to the dark grate.

Brenda gasped, her aristocratic composure shattering. “Stop! That necklace has been in my family for three generations!”

“It’s about to be in your HVAC system,” I snapped. “Step away from the door.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she hissed.

I let go of the clasp. A portion of the diamond chain dangled into the dark vent.

“Try me,” I said coldly.

Brenda backed away, her hands raised, her eyes locked on the diamonds in panic.

I moved slowly out of the closet, keeping my hand over the vent until I reached the bedroom door.

“Brandon will find you!” Brenda screamed as I backed into the hallway. “He’s at your boutique right now! He’s dealing with Maya!”

My heart stopped.

I threw the diamond necklace hard into Brenda’s face. She shrieked, dropping her wine glass as she scrambled to catch her precious heirloom.

I bolted down the hallway, clutching the ledger, and sprinted out the front door, slipping right past the men in the driveway before they even realized I was there.

I dialed Chloe’s number as I ran down the street.

It went straight to voicemail.

Brandon was at my boutique. And he had Maya and Leo.

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