Chapter 19 — The Man Everyone Blamed

Chapter 19 — The Man Everyone Blamed

Miyaka read the sentence again.

Then again.

He is not the man everyone thinks he is.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the notebook.

For years, Adrian Valmont had existed in her mind as nothing more than a name attached to old stories. A businessman. A dangerous man. Someone who had been involved with both the Laurent and Reyes families before disappearing under circumstances nobody could properly explain.

Now his name was written in her father's handwriting.

Not beneath a warning.

Not beside an accusation.

But beside a sentence that sounded almost like a defense.

Miyaka sat down on the floor.

The house was completely silent around her.

She turned the page carefully.

The next few entries were dated within the same month.

Most were short.

Some had been crossed out.

Others were written so hastily that the ink had scratched into the paper.

Valmont approached me again. He says the information was never about money.

Miyaka frowned.

She turned the page.

Laurent believes I betrayed him. He is wrong. But if I explain everything now, they will look for her.

Her heart began beating faster.

Her.

There was no question who her father meant.

Miyaka swallowed.

She kept reading.

Moises is still close to her. This makes things worse.

She stopped.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

Moises.

Even then.

Even when they were children.

Even when she had no idea that adults were watching them, her father had known how close they were.

She turned the page.

The writing became less organized.

They think separating the boys and the girl will solve it. It won't.

Another page.

The tree is no longer safe.

Another.

If anything happens to me, she must never be taken to the Laurent house.

Miyaka stared at the words until they blurred.

Her father had known.

He had known something was coming.

He had known she might be targeted.

And yet he had never told her.

A strange mixture of anger and grief rose inside her.

She closed the notebook.

For several seconds, she simply sat there.

Then her phone rang.

She nearly dropped the notebook.

Jason.

She answered.

“Jason?”

His voice came through immediately.

“Where are you?”

“At home.”

“You're alone?”

Miyaka frowned.

“Why?”

“Because I found something.”

She stood.

“So did I.”

There was a pause.

“That's not what I wanted to hear.”

“Come over.”

“I was going to tell you the same thing.”

“Then hurry.”

“I'll be there.”

The call ended.

Miyaka looked down at the notebook.

For a moment, she considered hiding it.

She didn't.

She carried it downstairs and placed it on the dining table.

Then she noticed something else.

There was an envelope tucked between two pages.

She pulled it free.

Her father's handwriting was on the front.

For Miyaka — only if Moises has returned.

She froze.

The room seemed suddenly colder.

He had expected this.

Somewhere in the past, her father had considered the possibility that Moises would come back.

That alone made her hands shake.

She didn't open it.

Not yet.

A few minutes later, someone knocked.

Miyaka opened the door.

Jason stood there, breathing slightly harder than usual, his hair damp from the rain.

He looked at her face.

Then at the notebook in her hands.

“Oh.”

“You found something too.”

He stepped inside.

“I think we might be dealing with something much bigger than we thought.”

“That seems to be the theme of my life lately.”

Jason gave her a tired smile.

“Yeah. You've always had terrible timing.”

“You're one to talk.”

“I know.”

They sat at the table.

Jason placed an old folder beside the notebook.

“I found this at my father's house.”

Miyaka opened it.

Inside were photocopies of business records, newspaper clippings, and several handwritten notes.

She recognized the symbol immediately.

Her stomach tightened.

“Where did he get these?”

“My father kept them hidden.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

Jason leaned back.

“But there's something strange.”

He pulled out one particular document.

It was an old company report.

The name at the top read:

VALMONT HOLDINGS

Beneath it were the names of several subsidiaries.

Miyaka scanned the page.

“What's strange?”

Jason pointed to the bottom.

“Look at the ownership records.”

She did.

Her eyes widened.

“The company wasn't owned entirely by Valmont.”

“No.”

She looked closer.

There were three major shareholders.

Valmont Holdings.

Laurent Industries.

And—

“Reyes?”

Jason nodded.

“Your father owned shares?”

“Apparently.”

Miyaka sat back.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“That's what I thought.”

She looked at him.

“If my father and Moises's father were partners…”

“They were.”

“And Valmont was involved…”

“He was.”

“Then why did everyone say the partnership collapsed because of stolen money?”

Jason shook his head.

“Because someone wanted that story believed.”

Miyaka stared at the documents.

A thought occurred to her.

“Did you tell Moises?”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

Jason hesitated.

“I wanted to make sure this wasn't another trap.”

She understood.

After everything they had discovered, caution wasn't paranoia anymore.

It was survival.

Jason pulled another paper from the folder.

“This is where it gets weird.”

He placed it on the table.

It was a shareholder agreement.

Miyaka read the first paragraph.

Then the second.

Her expression changed.

“What?”

Jason watched her.

“Read the last section.”

She did.

A clause had been handwritten into the agreement.

If any shareholder attempts to transfer control without unanimous consent, all confidential records will be released to the designated heir.

Miyaka's eyes stopped moving.

“Designated heir.”

Jason nodded slowly.

“That's you.”

“No.”

“Miyaka—”

“No.”

She pushed the paper away.

“That's impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm not an heir.”

“You might be.”

“My father didn't own enough to make me some kind of heir.”

Jason leaned forward.

“Maybe it's not about ownership.”

The room became quiet.

Miyaka remembered the stranger beneath the mango tree.

The heir.

She remembered her father's locked doors.

The old notebook.

The metal plate.

REYES BLOOD.

Suddenly, the pieces felt less random.

Not complete.

But connected.

Jason watched her carefully.

“You remembered something.”

Miyaka nodded.

“The man at the tree.”

“What about him?”

“He called me the heir.”

Jason's face lost its color.

“He said that?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“When I was little.”

Jason stared at the papers.

“Then your father knew.”

“I think so.”

Neither spoke for several seconds.

Finally Jason said, “We need Moises.”

Miyaka looked toward the window.

“I know.”

She picked up her phone.

Before she could call, it rang.

Moises.

She answered.

“Hello?”

His voice was unusually serious.

“Where are you?”

“At home.”

“Is Jason with you?”

Miyaka looked at him.

“Yes.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Moises?”

“I need you both to stay inside.”

Jason immediately sat straighter.

Miyaka felt a cold sensation move through her chest.

“What happened?”

“I found something.”

Her eyes dropped to the notebook.

“What?”

“My father's records.”

“And?”

“He wasn't working against your father.”

Miyaka's breath caught.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the documents show they were working together.”

She looked at Jason.

He mouthed, I knew it.

Moises continued.

“And there's another name in the records.”

“Valmont?”

“No.”

Miyaka's heart stopped.

“Then who?”

There was a pause.

When Moises finally answered, his voice had changed.

“Someone whose name shouldn't be there.”

Miyaka stood.

“Who?”

He didn't answer immediately.

Then he said quietly,

“Your mother.”

Miyaka froze.

Jason looked at her.

“What did he say?”

She couldn't respond.

Moises continued.

“I found a document dated three days before I disappeared.”

His breathing was audible through the phone.

“Your mother signed it.”

Miyaka's fingers tightened around the phone.

“What did she sign?”

Another pause.

Then Moises said,

“The agreement naming you as the designated heir.”

The call went silent.

Miyaka looked down at her father's notebook.

For the first time, she wondered whether the secrets surrounding her childhood had begun long before Moises ever disappeared.

And if her mother had been part of the agreement—

then perhaps the person who had separated them had never been trying to protect Miyaka from the secret.

Perhaps they had been trying to keep the secret inside her family.