Lennox's POV
Marion's hand feels like paper in mine.
She's been awake for twenty minutes, and she's spent nineteen of them crying and apologizing.
"I should have protected you," she whispers for the tenth time, her voice weak from surgery. "I should have seen what Vivian was doing. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry."
"Aunt Marion, please." I squeeze her hand gently. "You have nothing to apologize for. You saved me. You took me in when I had no one."
"But I didn't save you from her." Marion's eyes fill with fresh tears. "I didn't save you from my sister. And now look what she's done to your life."
A chill runs down my spine. "What do you mean? What did Vivian do?"
Before Marion can answer, the hospital room door swings open.
Jamie Park walks in carrying a thick folder and wearing her lawyer face—the one that means someone's about to get destroyed in court.
Jamie's been my best friend since elementary school. We used to climb trees and catch fireflies and promise to be friends forever. Then I left for New York, and we lost touch. When I came back to Willowbrook two weeks ago, she was the first person to reach out—no judgment, no questions, just "I'm here if you need me."
"Lennox," Jamie says, her voice tight. "We need to talk. Now."
Something in her tone makes my stomach drop. "What's wrong?"
Jamie glances at Marion, who nods weakly. "Tell her. She deserves to know."
Jamie pulls up a chair and opens the folder. "I've been investigating Marion's medical bills like I promised. The surgery Caden paid for should have been covered by insurance—Marion had excellent coverage through her teaching job. But someone drained her health savings account. Someone transferred over two hundred thousand dollars out of her medical fund over the past five years."
My mouth goes dry. "Who?"
"Your Aunt Vivian." Jamie pulls out bank statements covered in yellow highlights. "She had power of attorney over Marion's accounts. Claimed she was helping manage bills while Marion was sick. Instead, she systematically stole everything."
The room spins. "That's impossible. Vivian is wealthy. She doesn't need—"
"It wasn't about money." Jamie's jaw clenches. "It was about control. About making sure Marion couldn't help you. About keeping you desperate and dependent."
She pulls out printed emails. My hands shake as I read them.
From: [email protected]
Subject: The Lennox Problem
"She's getting too confident. Too successful. Time to remind her where she belongs. I'm sending you access to her cloud storage. Take what you need. Destroy her reputation. Make sure she has nowhere to go but back here—broken and controllable."
The date on the email is from eight months ago.
Eight months before Marcus stole my portfolio.
"There's more," Jamie says quietly, pulling out another stack. "Vivian's been in contact with Marcus for over a year. She fed him information about your work schedule, your passwords, your vulnerabilities. She told him exactly when to strike for maximum damage."
I can't breathe. My vision blurs. "Why? Why would she do this?"
Marion speaks up from the bed, her voice cracking. "Because she hated that I was happy without money. Hated that you and Caden loved each other despite being poor. Vivian's spent her whole life believing money equals worth. When you fell in love with Caden—a mechanic's son with nothing—it proved her wrong. She couldn't stand it."
The pieces start falling into place. Every conversation with Vivian when I was seventeen. Every warning about "ending up like your parents—in love and dead broke." Every promise of help if I'd just leave Caden and "make something of myself."
"She made me leave," I whisper, the realization crushing me. "She told me I was ruining his life. That he'd resent me eventually. That if I really loved him, I'd let him go."
"And you believed her," Jamie says gently, "because you were seventeen and grieving and she was the only family you had left besides Marion."
Tears stream down my face. "I thought I was saving him. I thought leaving was the right thing—"
The hospital room door opens again.
Aunt Vivian walks in carrying flowers, her smile perfectly pleasant. She's wearing an expensive suit and pearls, looking every inch the successful businesswoman.
When she sees the papers spread across my lap, her smile freezes.
"Well," she says calmly. "I see you've been busy."
Jamie stands, putting herself between Vivian and the bed. "Mrs. Sutherland, I'm serving you notice of a criminal investigation. Embezzlement, fraud, conspiracy—"
"Oh, please." Vivian sets down the flowers with deliberate care. "I helped Marion manage her accounts. If there were accounting errors—"
"They weren't errors." My voice comes out stronger than I feel. I stand, facing the woman who destroyed my life. "You stole from your own sister. You ruined my career. You manipulated me into leaving the only person I ever loved. Why?"
For one second, Vivian's mask slips. I see rage—pure, burning rage.
Then she smiles.
"I saved you," she says coldly. "From poverty. From a life of struggle with that worthless boy. I gave you opportunities—"
"You gave me hell!" My voice breaks. "You made me believe I was doing the right thing by leaving! You made me hate myself for ten years!"
"Good." Vivian steps closer, and I see the monster she's always been hiding. "You needed to learn that love without money means nothing. Your parents learned that lesson too late—they died broke and in debt, leaving you with nothing. I wasn't going to let you make the same mistake."
The cruelty in her voice steals my breath.
"My parents died in a car accident," I whisper. "They died because a drunk driver hit them—"
"They died because your father couldn't afford proper car maintenance," Vivian interrupts sharply. "Because they chose love over security. Because they were fools who thought feelings could pay bills. I taught you better. I made you stronger."
"You made me broken!" I scream. "You destroyed everything good in my life!"
"I made you successful!" Vivian shouts back. "You became a famous photographer because I pushed you! Because I forced you away from that dead-end town and that dead-end boy! You should be thanking me!"
"Thanking you?" I can barely speak through my rage. "You stole from Marion! You helped Marcus betray me! You ruined my career and my reputation and—"
"And you came crawling back exactly like I planned," Vivian says with satisfaction. "Broke. Desperate. Ready to finally learn your place. This was always going to be the ending, Lennox. You, back in Willowbrook, dependent on family, finally understanding that I was right all along."
Jamie pulls out her phone. "You're admitting to conspiracy and fraud. On recording."
Vivian's smile doesn't fade. "Sue me. I have excellent lawyers. And by the time any case goes to trial, I'll be long gone with assets safely hidden offshore." She looks at me with something like pity. "You can't win, Lennox. You never could. I've been playing this game longer than you've been alive."
She turns to leave, then pauses at the door.
"Oh, and one more thing." Vivian's voice drops to something poisonous. "Caden will never forgive you once he knows the truth. Ten years of pain, ten years of building his empire on heartbreak—all because you were weak enough to believe my lies. He'll hate you even more once he realizes you chose my approval over his love. That you didn't fight for him. That you gave up."
She walks out, leaving destruction in her wake.
I collapse against the wall, my legs giving out. Sobs tear from my chest—ten years of guilt and pain and self-hatred exploding all at once.
"She's wrong," Jamie says fiercely, kneeling beside me. "Caden will understand—"
"No." I shake my head violently. "Vivian's right. I was seventeen but I still made the choice. I still left without explaining. I still believed her lies because part of me—" My voice breaks. "Part of me thought she was right. That I wasn't good enough for him. That loving me would drag him down."
Marion's weak voice comes from the bed. "Lennox, honey—"
"I have to tell him." I force myself to stand on shaking legs. "I have to tell Caden the truth before Vivian does. Before she twists it even more."
Jamie grabs my arm. "Wait. There's something else. Something I didn't want to tell you until I was sure, but—" She pulls out one more document. "Vivian's financial records show large payments to someone in Willowbrook. Monthly transfers for the past three years. Fifty thousand dollars a month."
"To who?"
"That's the problem. The account is hidden behind corporate shells. But whoever it is has been working with Vivian this whole time. Someone local. Someone who's been helping her keep tabs on you and Caden. Someone who—"
My phone rings. Caden calling.
My hand shakes as I answer. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" His voice is sharp. Urgent. Scared.
"The hospital. Why? What's wrong?"
"Stay there. Lock the door. Don't let anyone in except me or security."
My heart stops. "Caden, what—"
"Victoria's missing," he says grimly. "She cleaned out her bank accounts this morning and disappeared. My investigator thinks she's not working alone. Lennox, I think whoever's been helping Vivian is about to make their move. And I think you're the target."
The line goes dead.
I stare at Jamie, my blood running cold.
"What is it?" she asks.
Before I can answer, the hospital lights flicker.
Then go out completely.
Emergency backup lights cast everything in red. An alarm starts blaring. Nurses run past the door shouting about a power failure.
And in the darkness of Marion's hospital room, I hear footsteps.
Slow. Deliberate. Coming closer.
Someone is in the hallway.
Someone who knows exactly where I am.
And they're not here to talk.