"The pain's still there. The grief... and shame. But I get it now. Shutting it off, it's a cheat. I mean, you put up this wall and shut out everything that makes you who you are. Nothing affects you, nothing matters. But things do matter."
***
Seque...
"I know you think you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it," Her voice echoed through the basement.
I shared a nervous look between Scott and Stiles. I've talked to the both of them about this. Scott should be the one to tell her-
"I know I'm on the list," She clapped her hands together. "So how much am I worth?"
Okay this is not where I thought that was going...
"Four million," Scott replied after looking at Stiles.
Stiles scratched the back of his neck, "Are you okay?"
She nodded as if it was a dumb question, "Yeah. Brianna is worth 40, Scott 25, and Kira six. They'll take you guys out way before me."
"Forty?! I'm worth forty million?!" I asked, mouth gaped open and eyes wide.
Not only did Stiles keep it from me that I was on the list, but he forgot to tell me that I'm worth more than anyone! I'm surprised I'm not lying in a ditch somewhere with a wooden steak in my heart!
"Yeah. Sorry bud but, you're screwed," She gave me a pat on the back before making her way to the door.
"No one is screwed and no one is going to die," Scott promised.
Malia stepped forward, her claws digging into the engraved lines. With a few swift movements of her wrist the door began to slide open, revealing the inside of the Hale vault.
***
Stiles sat on the floor against a box and Malia was asleep on the floor near him. Scott sat hunched over on a crate while Kira was looking around the room.
Me, well I was leaned against the wall. Sweating all the liquid from my body while I also froze. My condition has gotten way worse as well as everyone else's.
"You know this is where it all started," Stiles' voice echoed. "That's where the money was." He pointed to the safe that was on a table beside Scott.
"117 million in bearer bonds."
Kira picked up a jar on a shelf, looking at it questionably. "How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?"
"The bank, I guess," he replied. "They just let it sit here the whole time collecting dust."
My legs began to wobble from my position so I slowly slid down the concrete wall before I fell, holding onto my head as the room began to spin.
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"You know bearer bonds are basically extinct?"
"Why does it matter?"Kira asked him.
"You know how many problems that money could solve?"
"For you?"
"Me. My dad..." Stiles looked down at his hands. "The Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him."
![Altered // Stiles Stilinski [BOOK 2]](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/65804858-64-k872169.jpg)