Chapter 4
For three seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel grabbed the intercom.
“What did you say?”
Ryan’s smile widened.
“You heard me.”
“Where is it?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Diane looked delighted.
Victor Lane did not.
The attorney leaned toward Ryan and whispered sharply.
Ryan shook him off.
“My wife hid millions from me. Her family hid documents from her. Everyone has secrets.”
I stepped closer to the camera.
“What document did you take from my father’s office?”
Ryan’s face twitched.
Tiny.
But I saw it.
So did Daniel.
Victor turned toward him.
“Ryan.”
“I didn’t take anything.”
I said, “The office camera was disabled.”
Diane jumped in.
“Maybe your precious staff stole from you.”
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“That office has motion logs even when the interior camera is down.”
That was a bluff.
But Ryan didn’t know it.
His face drained.
Diane’s didn’t.
Interesting.
She grabbed his sleeve.
“We’re leaving.”
Ryan resisted.
“Mom—”
“Now.”
Victor looked relieved.
They walked back toward the waiting car.
Daniel immediately called Claire.
“We need an emergency injunction and preservation order. Devices, cloud storage, everything.”
He ended the call and turned to me.
“Tell me exactly what was in your father’s filing cabinet.”
“I don’t know.”
“You never inventoried it?”
“I couldn’t.”
His expression softened.
After Dad died, I had closed the office and barely entered for months.
Daniel knew that.
“He kept personal copies of estate documents,” Daniel said.
“Could there be another will?”
“No.”
“You sound sure.”
“I was there when the final will was signed.”
“Was Ryan telling the truth about something?”
Daniel hesitated.
That scared me more than Ryan’s threat.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He looked away.
“Your father changed his estate plan six weeks before he died.”
“I know.”
“No. You know he updated it.”
My throat tightened.
“What’s the difference?”
“He removed someone.”
“Who?”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“Your aunt Rebecca.”
I hadn’t heard that name in years.
My father’s younger sister.
They had fought constantly when I was a child.
Then Rebecca disappeared from family gatherings entirely.
“Why?”
“I don’t know the full story.”
“You manage the trust.”
“I manage investments. Claire manages legal administration.”
“Daniel.”
He stood.
“Your father believed Rebecca had stolen money from one of the family companies.”
“How much?”
“Nearly four million.”
I stared at him.
“Why wasn’t she charged?”
“Your grandfather stopped it.”
“Why?”
“Family scandal.”
Of course.
Rich families loved two things.
Privacy.
And pretending privacy was morality.
I walked back to the office.
Daniel followed.
We stood in front of the filing cabinet.
“Claire said don’t touch anything.”
“I’m not touching it.”
I looked carefully.
The top drawer contained old contracts.
The middle drawer held property deeds.
The bottom was personal.
The one that had been left slightly open.
I crouched without touching it.
Inside were folders.
My birth certificate.
My parents’ marriage certificate.
Old insurance documents.
And an empty space.
Rectangular.
Dust-free.
Something had been removed recently.
Daniel swore.
“What?”
“That space.”
“You recognize it?”
He nodded.
“Your father kept a red leather document case there.”
“What was inside?”
“I never knew.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then a text appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET YOUR HUSBAND STAY.
A second message arrived.
YOUR FATHER MADE THE SAME MISTAKE.
I showed Daniel.
His face hardened.
“Don’t respond.”
Another message.
ASK DANIEL WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT YOUR FATHER DIED.
I slowly looked at my cousin.
Daniel read the message over my shoulder.
His face changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
My heartbeat slowed.
“What happened that night?”
“Emily—”
“What happened?”
He stepped back.
“Your father’s death was an accident.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Daniel looked toward the office door.
Then toward the hall camera.
“Turn your phone off.”
“No.”
“Emily, please.”
I had never heard him sound like that.
I powered it down.
He walked to the window and stared outside.
“Your father called me the night he died.”
My mouth went dry.
“You told me he didn’t call anyone.”
“I lied.”
The betrayal landed quietly.
“What did he say?”
Daniel swallowed.
“He told me someone had discovered what was inside the red case.”
“Who?”
“He didn’t say.”
“And then?”
“He told me if anything happened to him, I had to keep you away from Rebecca.”
I stared at him.
“Rebecca hasn’t spoken to me in fifteen years.”
Daniel turned.
“That’s what we thought.”
My skin prickled.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, the office landline rang.
Nobody used that number.
Nobody.
Daniel and I looked at each other.
It rang again.
Then again.
I picked up.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar enough to make my childhood memories hurt.
“Emily.”
I gripped the receiver.
“Aunt Rebecca?”
May you like
She took a slow breath.
“Your husband has something that belongs to me.”
