Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE RECORDINGDaniel escaped through an underground tunnel that opened behind the old greenhouse.
By the time the police surrounded the property, he was gone.
Eleanor was arrested, but she refused to answer questions. She sat in the police car wearing an expression of cold annoyance, as if the entire night were merely an inconvenience.
Emily watched from the library window.
“She still believes she can win,” Jonathan said.
“She has always believed that.”
“Because no one ever stopped her.”
Emily looked down at the brass key in her hand.
“Open the vault.”
Rosa nodded.
They returned to the passage.
The bullet hole in the stone was only inches from where Emily had stood. She touched the wall and felt the coldness beneath her fingertips.
Daniel had aimed at her.
Not at Jonathan.
Not at Rosa.
At her.
The vault door opened with a deep metallic groan.
Inside were shelves filled with boxes, files, hard drives, and envelopes marked with dates. Arthur had preserved everything.
Bank transfers.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
A small wooden box sat alone on the center table.
Emily walked toward it.
Her name was written on the lid.
She opened it with trembling hands.
Inside was a letter.
Emily,
If you are reading this, then the people I feared have shown you who they truly are. I am sorry you were brought into this family’s darkness. You deserved a husband who protected you, not one who measured your life against an inheritance.
I want you to know that I never blamed you for loving Daniel. He was raised to believe that power mattered more than kindness. That lesson came from his mother, but I failed to stop it.
The child you carry is the only innocent heir this family has produced in a generation. Protect her, but do not allow wealth to turn her into what Daniel became.
There is one truth I could not prove before my death. It concerns the night your father died.
Emily stopped reading.
Her father’s death had always been described as an accident.
He had been driving home from a business meeting when his car crashed on a wet road. He had died instantly.
Arthur continued:
Your father, Michael Hart, discovered that Eleanor was using Whitmore Holdings to launder money through overseas accounts. He confronted her. Two days later, he died.
Emily’s vision blurred.
Rosa touched her shoulder.
“Keep reading.”
I believe his death was arranged. I sent the evidence to him before he died, and I instructed him to send copies to you if anything happened. He never did. Either the files were lost, or someone intercepted them.
If you find the missing ledger, you will know why your father had to disappear.
Emily lowered the letter.
“My father knew.”
Jonathan looked through the boxes.
“Arthur suspected a connection, but he never found the ledger.”
Rosa went to the far shelf.
“He told me it was hidden in the room where Eleanor kept her wedding dress.”
Emily understood immediately.
“The attic.”
They climbed to the third floor.
The attic had been sealed for years. It contained old trunks, furniture, paintings, and boxes of children’s clothes. Dust covered everything.
Rosa walked toward a tall wardrobe.
“Eleanor kept her wedding gown here.”
The wardrobe was empty.
Jonathan examined the wooden floor.
“There are newer nails beneath this section.”
They removed the boards.
A small metal box was hidden beneath them.
Inside was an old ledger wrapped in plastic.
Emily recognized her father’s handwriting.
The pages contained records of payments made to politicians, judges, private investigators, and doctors. Several payments were connected to companies controlled by Eleanor.
Near the back of the ledger was a list of names.
One name was circled in red.
Daniel Whitmore.
Emily felt as if the floor had shifted beneath her.
The final pages contained a note from her father.
Arthur,
If you receive this, then I am in danger. Eleanor found out that I have copies of the transfer records. She told me Daniel is not your son and that she will destroy everyone who stands in her way.
I should have gone to the authorities. I thought evidence would protect me.
I was wrong.
If I die, protect Emily. She believes Daniel loves her. Do not tell her the truth unless you are certain she is safe.
Emily pressed the ledger against her chest.
Her father had been trying to protect her even while he was dying.
She thought of Daniel proposing to her outside the courthouse. He had worn a simple gray suit and held a ring inside a paper cup because he wanted to surprise her.
Had that moment been real?
Or had he chosen her because her father’s death had left her vulnerable?
A noise came from the hallway.
Jonathan stepped in front of Emily.
“Who is there?”
No answer.
Then the attic door slammed shut.
Eleanor’s voice came from behind it.
“You should have left the past buried.”
A key turned in the lock.
Smoke began creeping beneath the door.
Emily coughed.
“Fire,” Jonathan said.
Rosa rushed toward the window.
The attic was three floors up. The only escape was a narrow exterior balcony.
Jonathan grabbed a heavy chair and smashed the window.
Cold air rushed inside.
Flames began licking along the hallway.
“Emily, climb through!”
“I can’t.”
Her stomach cramped.
A painful contraction seized her body.
She gripped the wooden wardrobe.
“Emily?” Rosa shouted.
“My baby…”
Jonathan broke the remaining glass and helped her toward the balcony.
Below them, firefighters were gathering at the front entrance.
Emily stepped onto the narrow stone ledge.
Behind her, the attic filled with smoke.
Rosa climbed out next, followed by Jonathan.
Eleanor had set the fire to destroy the evidence.
But she had made one mistake.
She had forgotten that Arthur built a second staircase connecting the balcony to the servants’ quarters.
Rosa remembered.
They reached the lower floor just as firefighters entered the mansion.
Emily was taken outside and placed into an ambulance.
As she lay on the stretcher, she saw Daniel standing across the road.
His face was hidden beneath a hood.
He looked directly at her.
Then he lifted one hand.
In it was a photograph.
Emily recognized it immediately.
It was a picture of her father standing beside a newborn baby.
Her.
May you like
Daniel tore the photograph in half.
Then he disappeared into the crowd.
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