Chapter 64

Chapter 64
Kaitlyn’s Room – Blackthorn Estate, Late Morning

The small safe on her desk was closed, the ledger and tin inside were on her mind.

Kaitlyn leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, staring at the pale light filtering through the curtains. 

She let her hands fall to the desk, fingertips brushed the cool metal of the tin. The names in the ledger swirl in her mind. Reagen… every signature a mark of betrayal. Every transfer were ruin she had been born into.

Her father’s voice echoed in her mind again.
Every truth has a mask… Katie, peel it carefully.

Careful. That was the word she clung to. She didn't have to be reckless, or angry… but careful. She had learned the lesson well.

Her mind replayed the nights at her father’s study table, the coded notes, the whispered instructions, the feeling of triumph when she cracked a pattern. 

That memory now fueled her focus… she would peel this carefully, or risk everything to do so.

Her mind raced through options. Callum, Moore, and Vincent. They had different reactions in the face of danger. Callum would move swiftly, decisively, but visibly. 

Moore was silent, reliable, but elusive. 

Vincent pushed her, urged action, but he was unpredictable. 

Reagen would strike first the moment she sensed a shift.

Kaitlyn pressed her palms to her eyes. She needed a plan, not panic.

The first step was Callum. He needed to see the ledger, to know that Reagen had orchestrated more than personal attacks… she had targeted their bloodline. 

Callum's mother, Victoria Drake and her own parents, Robert Hart and Celeste Hart had left too many secrets.

Their death alone was something they still have no answer for. Who was responsible?
Someone had taken everything from her family. She needed to know who, and she needed proof.

But she could not risk an open confrontation, not yet.

Her fingers hovered over the phone. She considered a coded message, a single line only he would understand. Something to signal the urgency without revealing the exact evidence. 

She typed, deleted, and retyped, crafting a single sentence.

“I have it. Safe for now. Need to meet in private.”

Satisfied, she sent it, feeling the relief that came with secrecy that was shared just enough. She slid the device back into her coat.

Her thoughts returned to the vault. The first held bait. The second held the truth, and a knife. 

Her father had called it a “blade to cut the hand behind us.” It was not just a metaphor… it was a weapon against those who had orchestrated the family’s destruction.

Kaitlyn imagined the second vault, the layers of deception her father had built to protect the real truth. 

She pictured herself unlocking it again, running her fingers over the cold steel and feeling the knowledge, and the danger contained within.

Kaitlyn’s jaw tightened. Whoever had pushed her family down had assumed she would remain ignorant, powerless. That mistake would not happen again.

She began to map her next moves on a sheet of scrap paper:

Protect evidence – ledger, tin, bank card secured.

Gauge Callum’s readiness – private meeting, no witnesses.

Investigate Reagen’s network – subtle, careful, avoid direct detection.

Plan first strike – knowledge as leverage, not yet confrontation.

She drew arrows connecting the steps, circling critical points, jotting small annotations in the margins. 

As she wrote, a movement outside caught her attention. A figure passed beneath the window. Kaitlyn’s pulse quickened. She pressed herself against the desk, barely breathing, watching the edge of the curtain.

Moore.

The silent acknowledgment of his presence sent a chill down her spine, but also a surge of reassurance. 

He had chosen to watch, to guard, and to let her handle the first step. She nodded towards him, as a form of greeting.

Kaitlyn returned to her notes. 
The ledger held evidence. The vault contained the knife. 

Reagen had her hands in every corner, every shell company, every transaction, but she had underestimated the daughter she had left alive.

Her phone buzzed again. This time, Callum had replied.

“Meet me in the study in one hour. Alone. Bring nothing that can be traced.”

Kaitlyn was relieved. Callum understood the stakes, the necessity of discretion. It was rare to find someone who could move with both speed and silence. 

Together, they could begin unraveling the web Reagen had woven.

She packed the ledger and tin into her bag, leaving the small key in her jacket pocket. 

Before leaving the room, she glanced once more at the safe. The first vault had been bait. The second vault held the truth. And that truth… her father’s final message… was the key to cutting the hand behind them.

She ran her fingers along the top of the safe, while whispering a promise to her father. She would honor the layers of protection, the thought behind every hidden piece. Nothing would be rushed. She won't be careless.

She exhaled. The next hour would change everything.