Chapter 5 - The nursery door had been locked for eleven months.I knew because I had personally ordered it after Mara died.
No one was supposed to enter without security approval.
Yet when we reached the estate at 2:11 a.m., the door was open.
That was our first warning.
The second was the smell.
Dust.
Cold air.
Something else.
Burned paper.
I raised my hand.
Everyone stopped.
My security chief entered first.
Then Samuel.
Then Julian.
I followed.
The room was almost exactly as I remembered it.
A small white crib stood beneath the window.
A wooden rocking horse sat in the corner.
Mara had painted stars across the walls herself.
I walked toward the crib.
Then I noticed the floor.
One floorboard looked different.
“Stop.”
My security chief crouched.
He tapped it.
Hollow.
He pried it open.
Beneath the board was a metal box.
Inside were letters.
Photographs.
A digital recorder.
And a small envelope bearing Mara's handwriting.
FOR CESARE ONLY.
My hands trembled.
I opened it.
Cesare,
I was afraid you'd never find this.
I know what Julian has done.
I know what Marcus has done.
But neither of them is the person I fear most.
My eyes stopped.
Neither of them is the person I fear most.
Samuel leaned over my shoulder.
“Continue.”
I read on.
There is someone inside the foundation helping them.
Someone who has access to every account.
Every approval.
Every security file.
I couldn't identify them before I died.
If anything happens to me, don't trust anyone who tells you they had nothing to do with the money.
Especially the person who comes to you first.
I looked at Samuel.
He frowned.
“Who came to you first?”
I didn't answer.
Because I suddenly remembered.
The morning after Mara died, Samuel had been the first person to arrive at my house.
He had hugged me.
He had told me not to look at the financial records until I had grieved.
At the time, it seemed compassionate.
Now it felt strange.
I looked down at the letters.
There was another envelope.
Inside was a list of employee names.
Seven people.
Beside each name was a number.
Samuel was not on the list.
Neither was Julian.
But one name stood out.
Clara Bennett.
Mara's former nanny.
Next to her name was written:
WATCHED THE CHILD.
I frowned.
“Why would Mara suspect Clara?”
Julian stepped closer.
“She trusted Clara.”
“Then why put her name here?”
“I don't know.”
The digital recorder suddenly clicked.
A voice played.
Mara.
“If you're hearing this, I didn't survive.”
Her voice broke.
“I need you to understand something. The money isn't the real crime.”
I froze.
She continued.
“The real crime is what they bought with it.”
A pause.
“They didn't steal $1.4 million to get rich.”
“They used it to buy access.”
“Access to what?”
“Political contracts. Property transfers. Private security. Medical records.”
Then she whispered:
“And children.”
I stared at the recorder.
“What does that mean?”
Mara continued.
“There are families who were forced out of properties. Children were moved between guardians. Records were changed.”
The room felt colder.
“This isn't a fraud scheme.”
“It is a network.”
Then a man's voice appeared in the background.
Julian.
Mara stopped recording.
The file ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then we heard footsteps in the hallway.
Security drew their weapons.
The door opened.
Clara Bennett stood there.
She looked exactly as I remembered her.
Gray coat.
Dark hair.
Trembling hands.
“Mr. Cesare.”
Julian moved backward.
“You.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know where else to go.”
I stared at her.
“How did you get into this house?”
“I have a key.”
“You're supposed to be gone.”
“I've been hiding.”
“From whom?”
She looked toward the hall.
“They know I took something.”
“What?”
Clara stepped inside and closed the door.
“A second paper flower.”
My skin prickled.
“What?”
She reached inside her coat.
Pulled out another small flower.
This one had a red stamp.
Not blue.
Red.
She handed it to me.
Beneath the petals was a handwritten number.
HP-4828.
I looked at Samuel.
“Another invoice.”
Clara nodded.
“The next payment.”
“How did you get it?”
“Mara gave it to me.”
“Before she died?”
“Yes.”
“What did she tell you?”
Clara looked at Julian.
“She said never trust him.”
Julian flinched.
Clara continued.
“She said Julian was scared, but he wasn't the architect.”
“Who was?”
Clara's eyes moved toward me.
“The person inside your foundation.”
My phone rang.
Samuel's.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Cesare…”
“What?”
“They've frozen our main accounts.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
“The bank says the request came from your legal authorization.”
“That is impossible.”
Samuel looked at me.
“There is one problem.”
“What?”
“The request was authenticated with your private signature.”
Silence.
Someone inside my foundation wasn't just stealing money.
Someone had access to me.
Someone had my signature.
Someone had been waiting for tonight.
I turned toward Clara.
“Where is Elsie?”
Her face went pale.
“She was with the night guard.”
I grabbed my phone.
Called security.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a text arrived.
From an unknown number.
May you like
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE NURSERY CLOSED.
I ran.
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