The Red Evening

Chapter Forty-Nine

The clicking of my booties echoed throughout the cold, dimly lit hallways of the storage unit facility. I walked for what felt like an eternity, searching for the three units. Unlocking the unit wasn't easy with trembling hands. I took a deep breath before lifting up the door, anticipating the worst.

To my surprise, the unit was filled with antique furniture - tables, chairs, a buffet and a few grand vases. They weren't covered in dust which gave me the impression that they had been placed in the unit recently. I had more confidence in the situation and walked over to the next unit to unlock it.

The second unit had numberous of large paintings in their frames. They looked aged, and although I wasn't an art connoisseur, I could tell that they were valuable. I admired the delicate paintings before moving on to the next unit.

The third unit had shocked me to the point that my mouth dropped, and I stopped in my tracks. It was filled with bulks of baby formula. There were cans upon cans, stacked and wrapped. I knew for a fact that my dad didn't run an orphange for newborn children. There was no reason to have an excessive amount of formula.

I used the car key's to rip through the thick wrap and pulled out one of the cans. I opened it, unsealed it, and inspected the contents. The powder in the can was white, fine, and reminded me of snow. I wasn't familiar with baby formula, but I used my phone to look up images and formula powder had a yellow undertone.

My intuition told me that dad used the cans to disguise the transferring of drugs. I wanted to call Art and confirm, he would know all the facts. He had sworn to never to get involved in the world of crime and as much as he was the carrier of definite answers, I couldn't call him. I placed the can back in the stack and locked that storage unit.

The other two units had to be hiding criminal paraphernalia in plain sight. I slowly walked over to the buffet and opened the drawers, finding stacks of money. I opened all the drawers and they all contained money. The only question that remained was: real or fake? There was no way for me to know.

I had been overwhelmed by the amount of criminal activity that took place in the storage units and locked them all. I stormed out of the storage facility, livid that my dad would burden me with all his filth. I didn't want to be associated with these items.

I raced down the streets to Raphael's office, ready to protest. It was Sunday and the average person didn't work, but working with criminals required one to be on the clock. I pounded on his office door and yelled his name.

He opened it, looking displeased, and offered me a seat. I decided to stand considering that our interaction would be short. I tossed the key onto his desk and we both glared at each other.

"I don't want the inheritance," I growled. "If it means I have to give up the five million, so be it."

Raphael still stood by the door and blocked me from leaving. "That wouldn't be very wise, Morena. Your father entrusted you for a reason."

"He wants me to go to prison," I snapped. "I'm pregnant and married, I have an actual family that I can't abandon. He wouldn't understand that because he was a shit dad."

"You shouldn't disrespect the dead," he warned. "Take a seat and we can talk about it." He placed a firm hand on my arm and attempted to walk me towards the desk.

I pushed his arm away and crossed my arms. "I don't want any of it," I said, strongly. "I'm leaving," I announced and shoved past him.

"I suppose the burden can be placed on your unborn child," he informed, casually.

The blood rushed in for every inch of my body to my hands and I stormed over to him, grasping him from his suit jacket. "Is that a threat?" I yelled. "Do not fuck with me or my child."