When she found her voice, she squeaked, "Cole these are gold bond certificates!" She picked up another one and found it was of similar quantity as the last one. She sifted through the pile and each of them had varied quantities mentioned in them but none was less than hundred troy ounces.

"And what is that?" asked Cole knowing that it was definitely something huge judging by her reaction. He scratched his head as confusion set in.

​​

Dawn gulped. She started to laugh. "Father was too clever. He had been stashing his money over here for years." She took out the one, which was at the bottom of the stash and pointed at the date. "Do you see that?"

Cole squinted his eyes to see the date. It was much before he was born.

"That was when I was only five years old!" she said as a shiver ran down her spine. Luke had been stashing his money in the form of gold bonds all this while. But for whom? He protected it with his life. Helena, Anne and Jason tortured him to give the location of his treasure, but he didn't and rather paid with his life after giving the key to Cole. He bought the first gold bond when Dawn celebrated her fifth birthday. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. When she took the pile out of the box, she saw that it was almost four inches thick. She couldn't even imagine how many bond certificates were there. "Gold price per troy ounce is approximately 1500 dollars." She picked up a certificate and put it near her face. Pointing at the numbers there, she said, "Each of these is at least hundred troy ounces. So can you imagine the worth of this certificate?"

Cole's mind froze. He couldn't calculate. He didn't want to calculate. He looked at the certificate with disbelief. He raised his shaky finger to touch it and traced the number. As if still in a trance, his gaze shifted to the stash of certificates kept inside. He shuddered, grabbed his hair in his hands and sat on the chair next to the table. "This is unbelievable!" Adrenalin gushed through his body and he felt he wouldn't be able to last a second. His heartbeat accelerated like a bullet train.

"Check those bags," said Dawn as she kept the certificates back in the box and clicked it close.

Cole exhaled. Every nerve in his body tingled when he touched the first bag. He untied the string and opened the mouth of the bag and his gaze fixed at the shiny stones that sparkled. "Fuck!" He spilled those stones on his palm. They lay there glittering. The light entering them split in seven colors and sent its brilliant hues in all directions. The lights scattered over Dawn and Cole's faces. Dawn picked up one of them and brought it to her eye level. "Diamond!" she said as she held the gleaming stone marveling its perfect features. Each of them was at least a carat or more. Polished and cut to perfection, the diamonds bounced rays of rainbow colors and the two people stood there transfixed.

Dawn's eyes traveled to Cole's hand and she placed the diamond bank in his hand. "This is crazy," she muttered. "Where did father get these from? Did he loot a diamond mine?" She opened the other blue velvet bag and found it stuffed with diamonds again. "My God!" she murmured. "All this was so near to us all the time yet we didn't know anything about it!" She couldn't think of the amount this all must be valued at. "Keep them back Cole, and be careful!" She instructed him.

Cole hurried up and closed the bags tightly. "What's in this box?" he said pointing to the last one.

Dawn opened it and a smile appeared on her lips. "That is dad's Rolex." She took it out and gave it to Cole. "I think he left it for you as a remembrance."

Cole wore it immediately feeling extremely happy.

When she was taking it out, her eyes fell on a folded piece of paper. She picked it up and opened it. It was a letter from their father, written in his handwriting with blue ink. "It's a letter from Dad," she said in a low voice and looked at Cole. "It is dated the day I was bitten. It means Father had come here after hiding us in the hospital and then he would have gone home!"

He imagined the series of events and it made him feel panicky. He stared at her and a moment later said, "Read it Dawn." She gulped and started reading it aloud:

"Dear Dawn and Cole,

First, I love you both a lot. If you are reading this letter, then I am no more in this world. I am sitting here in the locker room and writing this letter for you. I don't know how you will remember me, but I hope that you have forgiven me for the mess I have created. I haven't been an ideal father but I have tried to secure your future as much I could. Both of you are such lovely, strong and compassionate children that I feel blessed.

Even though the world has gone against you and tried to convince you that you are weaker than them, I am sure that you will always emerge victorious. Use this strength to get the best out of you. Life will try to break you, but remember that you both are too strong to withstand it. Never be afraid of the perils that it throws in your way. Trample the thorns and walk ahead. Always think of life as sea—ride its waves and don't let them gobble you. Unless you make mistakes, you will never know.

Your mother was a strong woman and I am glad that she has passed on those qualities to you. In comparison to her I was too weak—emotionally and physically. But I loved her madly. And I grieve her death till this day. The hole that she has left in my life is unimaginable. And I have no idea what happened to her. Nothing has been proven. I do hope that one day things come out.