Chapter 7 - The Tape for SophiePolice flooded the mansion.
Victor was arrested.
Richard Bell was found hiding inside the wine cellar.
Thomas Wren was nowhere to be seen.
For the first time in weeks, Daniel allowed himself to believe the danger had passed.
It hadn't.
The memory card remained on his desk.
He waited until Sophie was asleep before watching it.
Eleanor appeared.
No trembling.
No fear.
Just exhaustion.
“Sophie,” she said.
Daniel's heart tightened.
“I don't know when you will see this.”
Eleanor smiled faintly.
“You may be too young to understand everything.”
She placed a red ribbon on the table.
“This ribbon belonged to your mother.”
Daniel frowned.
Eleanor continued.
“The ledger isn't valuable because of the money.”
She pointed behind her.
“It is valuable because of the names.”
A photograph appeared.
Five people stood together.
Eleanor.
Victor.
Thomas.
Richard.
And someone else.
Daniel leaned toward the screen.
He knew that face.
His father.
But his father had died seventeen years earlier.
The recording continued.
“The trust did not begin twelve years ago.”
Daniel stared.
“It began when your grandfather died.”
Eleanor lowered her voice.
“He left a private agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“An agreement that transferred controlling interest in the family company to a person outside the family.”
The screen shifted.
A document appeared.
At the bottom was a signature.
Nathan Vale.
Daniel's dead father.
And beside it was another signature.
Daniel could barely breathe.
Thomas Wren.
Thomas had been working with the family for seventeen years.
Before the trust existed.
Before Sophie was born.
Before Eleanor's supposed death.
A new line of text appeared.
Beneficiary: Unknown.
Daniel froze.
The file ended.
Then another opened automatically.
A photograph of Eleanor stood on the screen.
Written beneath it:
THE WOMAN WHO INHERITED THE TRUST WAS NOT ELEANOR.
Daniel read it twice.
Then a knock sounded.
He turned.
Mara stood in the doorway.
“You're awake.”
Daniel closed the laptop.
“She left another message.”
Mara sat down.
“What did she say?”
“She said the trust began before I was born.”
Mara's face changed.
“So it's true.”
“You knew?”
“No.”
Daniel studied her.
“Then what are you afraid of?”
Mara looked toward the staircase.
“My mother.”
“Eleanor?”
Mara nodded.
“She had a sister.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“My aunt.”
“Who?”
“Lillian Vale.”
Daniel had never heard the name.
Mara continued.
“Lillian disappeared before our father died.”
“Why?”
“Because she claimed Eleanor stole her identity.”
Daniel felt the room become colder.
Mara whispered,
“She said the woman who raised us wasn't Eleanor.”
Daniel looked at the laptop.
“The woman who inherited the trust was not Eleanor.”
Mara nodded.
“That sentence isn't about money.”
“What is it about?”
“Identity.”
Daniel stood.
“Where is Lillian now?”
Mara hesitated.
“She sent a letter three days before your mother died.”
“Where is it?”
“I burned it.”
“Why?”
“Because it said one thing.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
Mara's voice dropped.
“Eleanor knew Lillian was alive.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Daniel turned.
A shadow passed beneath the door.
Mara whispered,
“Someone followed us.”
The doorknob began to turn.
And a woman's voice spoke from the other side.
“Daniel?”
He froze.
He knew the voice.
May you like
He had heard it in the recordings.
It belonged to his mother.
Related Stories
