He stopped and looked at me, a slow, grim smile spreading across his pale face.

The streetlamp cast long, dark shadows across his eyes.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my hand freezing on the doorknob.

“Daniel didn’t start those accounts five years ago,” Elias said softly.

He reached into his wet coat pocket and pulled out a small, plastic-wrapped folder.

“He took over those accounts from your father’s old estate,” Elias said.

“That’s a lie,” I whispered.

“Check the signatures on the original trust deeds, Ava,” Elias said, holding the folder out to me.

The rain was pooling on the plastic cover.

“Your father was the one who built the system Daniel used.”

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low murmur.

“If I fall, your father’s legacy goes with me.”

I stared at the folder in his hand.

My heart hammered against my ribs as the rain continued to fall around us.

Behind me, inside the warm hallway, my cell phone began to ring.

The ringing phone echoed through the narrow hallway of my new apartment.