Chapter 5
I was at the police station within an hour.
But I knew it was useless.
Helen owned half the cops in the city.
By the time we filed the report, Lila would be on a plane to somewhere with no extradition treaty.
I was right.
The detective in charge yawned when we showed him the note.
Said it was probably a prank.
Said Lily was fine, no harm done, why was I making such a big deal?
I walked out of the station before I said something I’d regret.
Mia was waiting for me outside.
She’d driven straight from her office.
“Let me help you,” she said, grabbing my arm.
“Helen is my mother, but she’s evil. I’ve known it since I was a kid. She made my dad’s life a living hell until he died. She’s been using Daniel her whole life. I don’t want her to hurt you. Or Lily.”
I looked at her.
Really looked at her.
She was telling the truth.
I could see it in her eyes.
“Okay,” I said.
“But if you help me, there’s no going back. Helen will disown you. She’ll try to destroy you too. Are you ready for that?”
Mia squared her shoulders.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life to stand up to her. What do you need?”
“First, I need you to stay on the board. Helen thinks you’re still on her side. I need you to feed me everything that happens in those meetings. Every vote. Every secret. Every time she meets with someone who isn’t on the calendar.”
Mia nodded.
“Done. What else?”
I took a deep breath.
Told her everything.
Who I really was.
The Voss Global fortune.
The four years of buying Langford stock.
The night Helen, Daniel, and Lila had tried to kill me.
Mia didn’t flinch.
She cried when I told her about Lily.
Cried harder when I told her about the syringes.
When I was done, she hugged me so tight I could barely breathe.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t know. I’m so sorry I didn’t stop her.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said.
“Helen manipulates everyone. That’s what she does.”
The next two weeks were a war.
Every day, Helen leaked a new lie to the press.
I’d faked my death to avoid child support.
I’d stolen the Voss fortune from my own family.
I was an unfit mother who shouldn’t be allowed within a hundred miles of any child.
She filed a dozen different lawsuits.
Against me.
Against Voss Global.
Against Blackwood Capital.
She tried to freeze all my assets.
Tried to get a court order to take Lily away from me, claiming I was mentally unstable.
I fought back with strategy.
Not anger.
Not violence.
Intelligence.
Every time she filed a lawsuit, my lawyers filed three more.
Every time she leaked a lie, I leaked a small, carefully chosen truth.
A bank record showing Helen had embezzled $12 million from the Langford pension fund.
An email showing she’d bribed a city inspector to ignore safety violations at three of their factories.
A photo of her meeting with a known mob lawyer in a back alley restaurant.
I never leaked everything at once.
Just one thing a day.
Enough to keep the pressure on.
Enough to make the board members nervous.
Enough to make them start questioning Helen.
Mia was my secret weapon.
She sat in every board meeting.
Voted against Helen every chance she got.
Fed me copies of every private document.
Told me when Helen was planning her next move before she even made it.
Slowly, the other board members started to side with us.
They didn’t care about justice.
They cared about money.
And every time Helen opened her mouth, the stock dropped another 5%.
At the end of the month, the court sent me a summons.
The trust fund case.
The one Helen had filed four years ago, to take my shares after I “died.”
The judge had scheduled a final hearing.
If I didn’t show up in court in ten days and prove I was alive, the shares would be legally Daniel’s.
Forever.
And with those shares, Helen would have enough to fire Mia.
To dilute my stock.
To sell the company and run.
If I did show up…
I’d have to stand in front of the whole world.
Admit I was alive.
Face Helen, Daniel, and Lila in open court.
And Helen would be ready.
She’d have every lawyer in the state.
Every lie she’d ever told polished to a shine.
Every witness money could buy.
That night, I sat on Lily’s bed while she slept.
Watched her chest rise and fall.
She’d had a bad dream earlier.
Cried and said a “scary lady” had tried to take her from the playground.
I’d held her until she fell back asleep.
Promised her no one would ever hurt her.
Ever.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
A text from Mia.
Just sent.
Helen just called an emergency board meeting for tomorrow.
She’s going to ask them to issue a public statement supporting her.
Saying you’re a fraud and they’re backing her 100%.
If they vote yes… every major bank in the country will cut ties with you.
You’ll never get a loan again.
You’ll never win in court.
I stared at the text.
Then I looked at Lily.
I’d spent four years hiding.
Four years working in the dark.
No more.
May you like
Tomorrow, the whole world was going to find out exactly who Elena Voss was.
And Helen Langford was never going to know what hit her.
