6

“You weren’t lying.” Levi says looking at me in shock. This was the first time I saw him actually shocked. That did nothing to assure me of my situation.

“No shit Sherlock. I told you and you wouldn’t believe I wasn’t out to get you.” I say annoyed. My heart ws racing, Aunt Liva sent people to bomb me?! I knew she was crazy but this is just beyond me. What? She knows international terrorists now? This is so messed up.

“Except… this was planted cause she somehow knew I was unto you both. To throw me off.”

My mouth fell open I couldn’t believe the words coming out of this man’s mouth. How could someone who is supposed to be so smart be so astute. “So what? I orchestrated everything?”

“Maybe!?” He starts. “This shouldn’t be so far fetched to you that i don’t trust you.”

“Wow.” I say offended. I just saw a death threat. I should be dead by Aunt Livia and all Levi Vanderbilt cared about was himself. “You know what? I can’t do this right now. Believe whatever you want I’m leaving.” Storming out.

The Vanderbilt estate at night felt alive in ways it shouldn’t. Shadows twisted in the corners of the hallways, whispering secrets I couldn’t quite catch. The air was heavy, like the place knew things about me I hadn’t yet learned.  

I wandered the halls, my feet guided by an impulse I didn’t fully understand. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for—some clue, some proof that this entire situation wasn’t as suffocatingly hopeless as it felt. Or maybe I was just trying to escape the weight of Levi’s gaze, which always seemed to know more than he let on.  

I saw it.  

Just like in the movies, there was a vault behind a painting. I knew Levi acted like a Bond villain but this was so cliche, even for him. I’d have rolled my eyes at if it didn’t hit me like a brick to the chest. Something about it was suspiciously quiet, the massive steel seizing all sound in the room, taking space. The kind of quiet that carried a threat. The Vanderbilt crest was etched into its surface, bold and unapologetic.  

I pressed my hand against the cold metal, feeling its resistance like it was challenging me. I had the nerve to be a little surprised when it didn’t budge, what was I thinking?

“What in the hell are you trying to do?” Levi’s voice was sharp slicing through the silence like a knife, I was startled.  

I spun around, my pulse quickening as he took a step towards me, instinctively wanted to back away. He was always there, wasn’t he? Lurking in the shadows, like some unfortunate ghost.  

“There’s a vault behind this painting,” I said, trying to sound as casual as I could, even though my voice shook slightly.  

He crossed his arms, his eyebrows going up a bit in amusement “And you thought you’d just... what? open it?”  

“I didn’t know what it was,” I snapped, defensive. “I wasn’t exactly planning a heist, Levi.”  

He sighed, stepping closer until he was standing beside me, staring at the vault like it was a familiar enemy. “It belonged to my father,” he said finally. “Or so I thought.”  

“What do you mean?”  

He hesitated, just long enough to make me uneasy. “It’s not just his. The vault’s biometric lock requires two matches to open; mine and yours.”  

My breath caught. “That’s impossible.”  

“It’s not,” he said simply. “I’ve already tested it.”  

I stared at him, my mind racing. “Why would it need my data?I did not even know that such a place exists until one week ago. ” 

 “That’s the million-dollar question,” Levi said, his voice as cold as stone but the look in his  eyes said something different. 

“For the fiftieth time Levi, I am not hiding something, I know nothing about, nor do I have anything to do with this estate,” I said, my voice full of annoyance. “We are both as clueless as each  other. ” 

He moved closer to me, not breaking his stare. “Your mother never mentioned anything? Never hinted at a connection to the Vanderbilts?”  

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “She barely talked about her past. I didn’t even know she had one.”  

Levi studied me for a moment, his expression softening just enough to make me feel like I wasn’t entirely under attack. But then he nodded toward the vault.  

“Well, Whatever’s in there, it’s tied to you as much as it is to me,” he said. “It involved the both of us, and I intend to get to the bottom of it.”  

•••

I had trouble sleeping that night. Half-formed memories of my mother blended with Levi's words as they echoed through my mind. When I asked too many questions, she would abruptly shift the topic and have quiet chats. I had always assumed that she kept secrets and was aloof. Now, though, I questioned whether it went beyond that. In my mind, the vault loomed enormous as a representation of all I desperately needed to know but didn't. 

The questions were still spiraling when I found the note.  

The heavy, pricey paper was pushed beneath my door. A hand I didn't recognise was writing my name across the front. I gently unwrapped it, and as I read the lines, my heart sank:What was inside? And why did it feel like opening it would change everything?  

Leave him, or you won’t leave alive.

The ink smudged slightly where my thumb pressed into the paper. I stared at it, my mind racing, my chest tightening. Who had sent this? One of Levi’s enemies? Someone from my past?  

Or was it Livia?  

I didn’t know. And that terrified me more than the words themselves.  

By the time I finally managed to fall asleep, the note was still clutched in my hand, its threat sinking into my skin like a brand.