For several seconds after Andrea's words, Raven didn't move.
Neither did Eleanor.
The night suddenly felt colder.
Raven's phone remained pressed against her ear while her eyes stayed fixed on Eleanor.
"Say that again," Raven said.
Andrea's voice came through clearly.
"Your mother's name is attached to the same private trust that received the payment from Mark Vance. Adrian Vance also had authorization on the account."
Raven's jaw tightened.
"And you're certain?"
"We checked it three times."
Raven looked away.
"How long has this account existed?"
"Almost twelve years."
"Twelve…"
Raven's voice trailed off.
Her mother had been alive then.
She had been running the Hale empire.
Raven remembered those years.
Her mother had been successful, respected, and powerful.
But there had always been something Raven couldn't understand.
There were nights when her mother would leave the house without explanation.
There were phone calls she refused to take in front of Raven.
There were people who would visit and leave through the back entrance.
Raven had always thought it was business.
Maybe it wasn't.
"Andrea," Raven said, "I want the complete transaction history."
"I'll send it now."
"Every transaction."
"Understood."
"And find out who established the trust."
"I'll need some time."
"Take the time."
Raven ended the call.
Eleanor was staring at her.
"What does this mean?"
Raven slipped her phone into her pocket.
"I don't know yet."
"But my father and uncle were authorized on an account with your mother."
"Yes."
"And there was a payment three days before she died."
"Yes."
Eleanor swallowed.
"Do you think they killed her?"
Raven's expression hardened.
"I don't know."
It was the first time Eleanor had heard uncertainty in Raven's voice when it came to her mother's death.
Raven always seemed so certain.
So controlled.
So convinced that Jeff and Bella had been responsible for destroying her life.
Now, for the first time, there was a crack in that certainty.
Eleanor stepped closer.
"Raven."
Raven looked at her.
"We'll find the truth."
Raven gave a faint smile.
"You keep saying that."
"Because I mean it."
Raven looked down at their hands.
Eleanor was still holding hers.
"I don't deserve you."
Eleanor shook her head.
"Don't say that."
"Your family is connected to the darkest part of my past."
"But I'm not them."
Raven looked into her eyes.
"I know."
Eleanor stepped closer.
"And whatever happened between our families happened before we knew each other."
Raven nodded.
"But it still affects us."
"Then we'll face it together."
Raven's expression softened.
She leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss against Eleanor's forehead.
"I promise."
---
They eventually returned to the city.
Raven drove Eleanor home, but neither woman said much.
The information from Andrea had changed the atmosphere between them.
Not their feelings.
Those were stronger than ever.
But now there was another invisible line between them.
Their families.
Their past.
And the possibility that their love had somehow been caught in the middle of something that began long before they met.
When Raven stopped outside the Vance estate, Eleanor didn't immediately get out.
She looked at Raven.
"Will you call me when Andrea sends the records?"
"Yes."
"Even if it's late?"
"Especially if it's late."
Eleanor smiled.
"You really don't sleep, do you?"
"Not when there's something bothering me."
Eleanor reached over and squeezed her hand.
"Then try to sleep tonight."
Raven smiled.
"I'll try."
Eleanor opened the door.
Before she stepped out, Raven called her.
"Eleanor."
She turned.
Raven looked at her for a moment.
"Don't let them make you doubt what we have."
Eleanor's expression softened.
"I won't."
She stepped out of the car.
Raven watched until Eleanor entered the house.
Only then did she drive away.
---
Inside the Vance estate, Eleanor found Sofia sitting alone in the living room.
Her mother looked exhausted.
"You're back."
"Yes."
Sofia looked at the clock.
"It's late."
"I know."
She sat opposite her mother.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Eleanor asked,
"Mom, what was Dad's relationship with Raven's mother?"
Sofia's face immediately changed.
"You asked him?"
"No."
"Then don't."
"Why?"
"Because you don't understand what you're getting involved in."
Eleanor leaned forward.
"Then explain it to me."
Sofia looked away.
"Some things are better left buried."
"Not anymore."
Sofia stared at her daughter.
"Eleanor…"
"I know about the Blackwood Circle."
Sofia's eyes widened.
"I know Dad and Uncle Adrian were involved."
Silence.
"And I know Raven's mother was connected to them."
Sofia's lips parted.
"Who told you?"
"You did."
Sofia looked down.
"I told you only enough to keep you safe."
"Safe from what?"
Sofia didn't answer.
Eleanor's voice softened.
"Mom, did Dad have anything to do with Raven's mother's death?"
Sofia closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Eleanor immediately noticed the hesitation.
"You don't know?"
"I wasn't there."
"But you suspect something."
Sofia looked at her.
"Your father made mistakes."
"What kind of mistakes?"
"Serious ones."
"And Uncle Adrian?"
Sofia's expression hardened.
"Adrian was always more dangerous."
Eleanor felt a chill.
"Why?"
"Because Adrian never believed in limits."
Before Eleanor could ask another question, Sofia stood.
"You need to stay away from this."
"I can't."
"You can."
"No, Mom."
Eleanor stood too.
"Raven is already involved. If my family is connected to what happened to her mother, then I'm involved whether I like it or not."
Sofia stared at her daughter.
For a moment, she saw not the little girl she had once protected, but the strong woman Eleanor had become.
"You love her."
It wasn't a question.
Eleanor smiled faintly.
"Yes."
Sofia's eyes filled with emotion.
"Then you have to be careful."
"I will."
Sofia walked toward her and gently touched her cheek.
"Your father will not understand."
"Then he'll have to."
---
Across town, Raven arrived at Apex Raven Global.
Jane was still in the office.
She looked surprised.
"You're back?"
"Yes."
"At this hour?"
"I need the conference room."
Jane immediately followed her.
Raven removed her coat and placed it over a chair.
"Lock the floor."
Jane looked at her.
"Are we expecting trouble?"
"No."
"Then why lock it?"
"Because I don't want anyone listening."
Jane nodded.
Within minutes, Andrea arrived.
She placed a laptop and several documents on the table.
"I have the first part."
Raven sat down.
"Show me."
Andrea opened the records.
The account had been created eleven years and eight months ago.
The original trustees were:
Ellen Hale.
Mark Vance.
Adrian Vance.
Raven stared at the screen.
Her mother's name.
Mark.
Adrian.
Together.
"What was the trust for?"
Andrea opened another document.
"That's the strange part."
Raven frowned.
"What?"
"There was no obvious beneficiary."
"Nothing?"
"Not initially."
Andrea clicked again.
A list appeared.
Raven's eyes moved down the screen.
Then stopped.
Beneficiary: Raven Hale.
Raven froze.
"What?"
Andrea nodded.
"Your mother created the trust for you."
Raven leaned closer.
"When?"
"Five years before her death."
Raven's breathing became shallow.
"Why would she need Mark and Adrian?"
"We don't know."
"Who had access?"
"Your mother, Mark, and Adrian."
Raven stared at the screen.
Then Andrea opened another file.
"There was one final transaction."
"When?"
"Three days before your mother's death."
Raven's eyes narrowed.
"How much?"
Andrea gave her the amount.
Raven went silent.
It was enormous.
"Where did it go?"
Andrea looked at her.
"That's what we haven't figured out."
"Why?"
"Because the receiving account was closed immediately after the transaction."
Raven leaned back.
"Who closed it?"
Andrea's expression became grim.
"Your mother."
Raven's heart stopped.
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"So she made the payment herself?"
"It appears that way."
Raven stared at the screen.
Everything she believed about that night was beginning to collapse.
If her mother had made the payment herself, then maybe Mark and Adrian weren't the people who had paid someone to hurt her.
Maybe they had been helping her.
Maybe the secret wasn't about betrayal.
Maybe her mother had been preparing for something.
Andrea opened one final document.
"There is something else."
Raven looked up.
"What?"
Andrea turned the laptop toward her.
A handwritten note had been scanned into the file.
The handwriting was unmistakably her mother's.
Raven read it.
If Raven ever finds this account, tell her the truth only when she is ready. Mark knows what happened. Adrian knows what happened. But neither man knows the whole story.
Raven's eyes widened.
Andrea continued reading silently.
Then she looked at Raven.
"There's more."
Raven's voice was barely audible.
"What?"
Andrea pointed to the bottom of the page.
There was one final sentence.
And if the woman wearing the silver mask returns, Raven must never trust her.
Raven stared at the words.
The masked woman.
V
The same woman from the photographs.
The woman connected to Mark and Adrian.
The woman who had been standing beside her mother.
Raven slowly closed the laptop.
"Find her."
Andrea nodded.
"We will."
Raven stood.
For five years, she had been hunting the wrong enemy.
And now, for the first time, she had a name to chase—
but not the name she expected.
Because somewhere in Chicago, the woman wearing the silver mask was still alive.
And she knew exactly what happened to Raven's mother.
To be continued…