Chapter 6
The vault in New York is underground, silent, sealed behind layers of security that make Michelle acutely aware of how small she is inside systems designed to crush people without ever touching them.
The banker recognizes Saxton immediately, shaking his hand with a smile that is too eager, too practiced, while barely glancing at her like she’s an accessory that came with him.
She stands slightly behind Saxton, watching him perform confidence like a language he learned fluently while she was learning how to disappear.
The box slides open.
The first revelation is not money.
It’s documents.
Trusts.
Shell companies.
Properties.
So many zeros her brain refuses to process them.
The second revelation hits when Saxton exhales, slow and satisfied.
“A billion,” he says quietly. “After taxes.”
Michelle’s mouth goes dry.
There’s a letter on top.
Handwritten.
Their grandfather’s name.
Saxton grabs it.
She doesn’t stop him.
That costs her immediately.
He reads fast, eyes scanning, expression shifting.
Then he laughs.
A sharp sound in the quiet room.
“What?” Michelle asks.
Saxton looks up.
“He knew,” he says. “He knew we’d fight.”
“What does it say?” she presses.
Saxton folds the letter carefully, deliberately.
“That if we keep it,” he says, “we die.”
The threat hangs there, real and immediate.
Michelle feels the floor tilt.
“And if we give it away?” she asks.
Saxton smiles wider.
“Then we get to live like saints instead of gods.”
The banker clears his throat nervously.
Saxton looks back at Michelle, eyes bright.
“Vote,” he says.
Her heart pounds.
She already knows this choice will cost blood.
