Chapter 4 - THE SECRET MY FATHER LEFT BEHIND
My father had been dead for fifteen years.
Yet somehow, his name had just become the most dangerous name in the room.
“What did he leave?” I asked again.
My mother shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
She looked toward the windows.
Marcus immediately understood.
“We need to move.”
Victoria frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Marcus walked toward the curtains and pulled them shut.
“Your family has been monitored.”
My sister laughed nervously.
“By whom?”
“That's what we're going to find out.”
My mother sat down.
For the first time in my life, she looked old.
Not like the elegant woman who had been drinking champagne inside my mansion the night before.
She looked exhausted.
Broken.
Afraid.
“Your father wasn't poor when he died,” she whispered.
I stared at her.
“I know he had a life insurance policy.”
“That wasn't all.”
She folded her hands.
“He had investments overseas.”
“How much?”
She didn't answer.
“How much, Mom?”
“Enough to change everything.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
My mother looked at him.
“Hidden.”
“Where?”
She swallowed.
“Your father created a private trust before he died.”
My heart pounded.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because he didn't trust anyone.”
“Not even you?”
She looked away.
“Especially not me.”
That hurt more than I expected.
“Then why did you have the documents?”
“Because I was his wife.”
“And what happened to them?”
Her silence answered.
I stood.
“You destroyed them.”
“No.”
“Then where are they?”
She looked at Victoria.
My sister's expression changed.
“Mom…”
“Tell him.”
Victoria shook her head.
“You tell him.”
My mother's eyes filled with tears.
“The documents were hidden inside your childhood home.”
I stared at her.
“That house was sold.”
“Yes.”
“By you.”
“Yes.”
My voice became cold.
“Then where are the documents?”
My mother whispered:
“The buyer never received them.”
Daniel immediately understood.
“So they're still there?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Your father moved them before he died.”
“Where?”
My mother looked directly at me.
“He left a message.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
She closed her eyes.
“He said, ‘If Julian ever comes home, give him the key.’”
My heart stopped.
“What key?”
My mother slowly reached into her handbag.
She pulled out a small brass key.
I recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to my father.
I had seen it hanging from his key ring when I was a child.
I took it.
On the key was a tiny engraving.
17.
“What does seventeen mean?”
My mother whispered:
“Locker seventeen.”
“Where?”
“At the old train station.”
I stared at her.
“You kept this for fifteen years?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
She looked toward the door.
“Of what your father discovered.”
“What did he discover?”
She whispered:
“That the family business was being used to move stolen money.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Marcus asked:
“Who was doing it?”
My mother looked at me.
“Your father's business partner.”
“Who?”
She said the name.
“Richard Black.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Blackridge?”
My mother nodded.
“His son inherited the company.”
My stomach dropped.
“So Blackridge isn't trying to buy my mansion.”
“No.”
“They're trying to recover something.”
My mother nodded.
“The trust.”
I looked at the brass key in my hand.
“Then that's what they have been searching for.”
My mother nodded.
“And that's why they needed you gone.”
A chill ran through me.
“They tried to make me legally dead.”
“Yes.”
“They changed my insurance.”
“Yes.”
“They stole my money.”
“Yes.”
“And they starved my wife and child.”
My mother lowered her eyes.
Victoria suddenly spoke.
“We never intended for Elena to starve.”
I turned toward her.
“Then what did you intend?”
She couldn't answer.
I walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To locker seventeen.”
Marcus stood.
“I'm coming.”
Daniel followed.
Before I left, I looked at my mother.
“You're coming too.”
She stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because you know where this began.”
“And where it ends.”
She looked terrified.
“Julian…”
I opened the door.
“Get in the car.”
For the first time in fifteen years, my mother's secrets were no longer hers.
May you like
They were mine.
And I intended to uncover every one.
