Trust Fund Trouble
img img Trust Fund Trouble img Chapter 4 Trust Is a Loaded Word
4
Chapter 6 Family Assets, Fatal Liabilities img
Chapter 7 Three Minutes to Burn img
Chapter 8 Ghosts Don't Just Vanish img
Chapter 9 The Mirror Effect img
Chapter 10 Red Flags and Revolutions img
Chapter 11 Ghosts in the Code img
Chapter 12 Blueprint and betrayals img
Chapter 13 Ghost protocol img
Chapter 14 A House Built on Schemes img
img
  /  1
img

Chapter 4 Trust Is a Loaded Word

There's something twisted about walking into a party where everyone's hiding their face especially when you're already not sure who you can trust.

The Delacroix Masquerade Gala wasn't just a party. It was an institution. An annual power play where every person in the room either wanted to be seen, wanted to disappear, or wanted to make someone else disappear.

I fell in all three categories.

"I can't believe we got in," Dani whispered, adjusting her bejeweled black mask as we stepped into the marble lobby of the Delacroix estate.

"Correction," I said. "You got in because you're brilliant with fake credentials. I got in because I'm Alec's chaos date."

He'd sent the invite with zero warning and a four-word text:

Wear black. Trust me.

Now I stood in a silk gown with a plunging back, my hair pinned in soft waves, and a diamond masquerade mask that Alec claimed had been "just lying around."

His version of casual was worth more than my scholarship.

"Trust you," I muttered under my breath. "Still deciding."

The ballroom was a cathedral of chandeliers and shadows. People glided across the floor like living illusions champagne in hand, secrets tucked beneath feathers and sequins.

Alec appeared through the crowd like he'd been designed to own this world. Midnight suit. Matching mask. Controlled danger.

He didn't look at anyone else when he saw me.

"You clean up alright," he said, voice low near my ear.

"You don't look like you're hiding anything."

"That's the point." He held out his hand. "Come with me."

We slipped past the dancers, through velvet-draped corridors until we reached a private balcony overlooking the estate gardens. Quiet. Safe. For now.

Alec pulled a folded photo from his jacket. "This is who we're here for."

I studied it. A man in his sixties. Silver hair, hawk-like expression. Unsmiling.

"Who is he?"

"Malcolm West. Used to run legal for the Foundation's offshore assets. Retired last year after what they called 'a private health crisis.'"

"Translation: got paid to shut up."

"Exactly. But if anyone knows where the ledger is

"It's him."

We turned back toward the ballroom only to see Malcolm, unmasked, at the edge of the crowd. Laughing with a woman in red.

Alec cursed under his breath. "He wasn't supposed to show his face."

"You think it's bait?"

"I think it's a risk we take."

He pulled two earpieces from his pocket. "Stay close. Don't talk unless you have to."

"Are we playing spies now?"

"We're not playing."

The crowd thickened as we moved closer. Dani was working her way through the other side of the ballroom, phone hidden in a clutch, capturing background intel.

Alec positioned us near a marble column just as Malcolm excused himself and walked toward the courtyard.

"This is it," Alec said, nodding. "We follow."

He started after him but someone stepped into my path.

A tall figure in a gold mask. Broad shoulders. Clean-cut suit. I didn't recognize him, but he clearly knew me.

"You're Sylvia's girl," he said.

My stomach dipped. "Sorry, I think you have the wrong

"No. I remember her. Same eyes. Same defiance." His voice was smooth, practiced. "You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you."

He smiled. Not kind. "We're both ghosts, darling. But only one of us was meant to stay dead."

Before I could speak, he slipped back into the crowd gone.

"Ivy," Alec's voice crackled in my earpiece. "Where are you?"

"Got delayed," I whispered. "Heading out now."

I found him by the rose fountain in the courtyard, arguing with Malcolm in hushed tones.

"I don't care who sent you," Malcolm said, voice shaking. "The ledger's gone. Burned."

"Then why are you still alive?" Alec asked.

Malcolm's eyes darted toward me. "She doesn't belong in this."

"She's the reason it matters," Alec snapped.

Malcolm hesitated. Then: "You want the real truth? It's not about money anymore. It's about blood."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Your mother was part of the project, yes but she wasn't the only one. There were others. Designed for legacy. For control."

I took a step forward. "Designed?"

"You were born from a contract. A selection. You're not just an heir, Miss Monroe. You're a contingency plan."

My stomach twisted.

He continued, "There's a list. Names. Your mother took the original copy. Hid it. They've been hunting for it ever since."

Alec pressed closer. "Where?"

"Somewhere safe. But not safe enough." He looked at me. "You're not just a target. You're a key."

Then he turned and staggered.

I thought he was drunk until I saw the dart in his neck.

He collapsed before Alec caught him.

"Go," Alec hissed. "Now!"

We ran. Through the garden, into the servant halls, out the side exit. Somewhere behind us, people screamed.

We didn't stop until we reached Alec's car, parked a block away.

He slammed the door. "They tried to silence him."

"Did they succeed?"

"He's alive. But barely. I called a medic team. One I trust."

I sat there, breathing hard.

"He said I'm a key," I whispered. "A key to what?"

"I don't know yet," Alec said. "But whatever your mother took... it matters more than we thought."

I turned to him. "What if I'm not ready for this?"

"You are."

"How do you know?"

He leaned in, close enough I could see the storm behind his eyes.

"Because I've never seen anyone run toward danger the way you do."

My breath caught.

There it was.

Not just tension. Not just chemistry.

A real moment.

He could've kissed me then and maybe he would've but my phone buzzed, breaking it.

Dani.

"We've got a problem. Someone's leaking our moves. I think we have a mole."

I stared at the screen.

"We've got a problem. Someone's leaking our moves. I think we have a mole." Dani

Alec's jaw tightened. "How sure is she?"

"She wouldn't say it unless she was 100%."

He nodded once, calculating. "We've been too loud. The break-in at your dorm. Nina. Now tonight. Someone's tipping them off."

"Someone close," I said, dread crawling under my skin. "We're not working with a crowd. It's just us."

"Exactly," he said. "That narrows the suspects."

I frowned. "Are you accusing Dani?"

"No," he said quickly. "Not yet. But we need to assume every angle's compromised."

By the time we made it back to campus, Dani was pacing outside the old conservatory near the quad jittery, red-eyed, and clutching her phone like it held the trigger to a bomb.

"There's something I haven't told you," she said before either of us spoke.

Oh no.

"Dani..."

She held up a hand. "Wait. I wanted to protect you, Ivy, but now I think I made it worse."

She turned her screen to us. A message chain.

Dozens of texts from a contact saved only as: M.

M: We want the original. Stay out of the rest.

M: This doesn't have to touch Ivy.

M: She's walking into a fire.

M: Tell her nothing. Keep her safe.

Alec's eyes narrowed. "Who's M?"

"I don't know," Dani said. "They've been texting me since the day you got that letter from the lawyer. I thought at first I thought maybe it was someone who knew your mom. Maybe someone trying to help."

"You didn't think to mention that?" My voice cracked louder than I intended.

"I was scared, Ivy," she said. "It felt like we were finally getting answers. But the more I ignored them, the angrier they got."

I scrolled to the most recent text.

M: Final warning. Back off. We've neutralized West. Next is Alec.

I looked up, heart slamming. "They knew about tonight."

"Someone's feeding them live updates," Alec said, voice cold. "Either your phone's compromised or you're being watched."

Dani backed up a step. "I swear I didn't tell anyone. But someone must be tapping me. I don't know how else they'd know."

Alec took her phone and handed me his. "We go dark. No more texts. No more calls. From now on, we communicate one way only."

"Signal?" I asked.

"Too risky. I've got a hardline setup. Offline drive system. Secure location."

Dani sank onto the steps. "We're really in it now, huh?"

"We've been in it," I said. "We just didn't know who was watching."

That night, we relocated everything to Alec's off-grid studio a gutted industrial loft tucked behind a graffiti-covered warehouse. No cameras. No Wi-Fi. No digital footprint.

He worked silently, burning through data backups, scanning Dani's phone for trackers, setting up encrypted logs. The tension between us felt sharp now. Like electricity before a storm.

"You okay?" he asked, not looking up.

"No," I said. "But I don't have the luxury of falling apart."

"You do," he said. "Just not yet."

I leaned back against the cold metal table, watching him. "Why are you really doing this, Alec?"

He paused.

"For the truth?"

"No," I said. "You could've walked away the second this got messy. But you didn't."

He stood, walked toward me, stopped just inches away.

"I don't walk away from people I care about."

The air snapped tight between us. My heart thudded loud enough to hear.

"You care?" I whispered.

His voice lowered. "Too much."

I didn't think. I just moved.

Our lips met like a fuse lit hungry, reckless, inevitable.

There was nothing gentle about the kiss. It was everything we'd been holding back. Weeks of tension. Secrets. Glances. It felt like breaking a dam.

When we finally pulled apart, breathless, his forehead rested against mine.

"I shouldn't have done that," he said softly.

"Too late."

We stood there in silence, in a bubble of our own making until the monitor buzzed.

Alec rushed over.

"Encrypted audio feed," he said. "Someone's transmitting near the hospital archives."

He typed rapidly, isolating the frequency. A voice filtered through, warped and low.

"Target moved early. Monroe girl survived. Ledger not recovered. Proceeding to Phase Two."

I stared at him.

"What's Phase Two?"

He looked at me, face gone pale.

"It means they're done playing."

            
            

COPYRIGHT(©) 2022