Chapter 4 - The Family BusinessThe name was Richard Voss.
Victor had always told me the company belonged to a group of investors.
He had never mentioned Richard.
Never once.
Detective Morgan showed me corporate records.
Richard Voss was listed as the controlling shareholder.
Victor was the chief operating officer.
Raul was head of security.
Helena was listed as a consultant.
Nora had worked in the company media department.
It wasn't just a family.
It was a machine.
And I had unknowingly married into it.
"Why would they want me gone?" I asked.
Detective Morgan leaned back.
"We don't know yet."
Alex looked furious.
"Find out."
"We're trying."
Then Detective Morgan placed another document on the bed.
"This was recovered from Victor's office."
I looked at it.
My name appeared across the top.
Below it was a title:
SUBJECT: ELENA HALE.
I felt sick.
The report described me as unstable.
Emotionally volatile.
Possessive.
Potentially dangerous.
It contained fabricated incidents.
Arguments.
Suicidal comments.
Claims that I endangered myself and others.
Every lie was written professionally.
Every lie had dates.
Every lie had witnesses.
I looked at Alex.
"They've been building a case against me."
Detective Morgan nodded.
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"At least eighteen months."
I stared at the pages.
Then I noticed something.
One sentence was underlined.
"Subject has family history of mental illness."
I looked up.
"My family doesn't."
Alex shook his head.
"That's completely false."
Detective Morgan circled the sentence.
"Where did this come from?"
"I don't know."
My mind raced.
Then I remembered something.
My mother.
Before she died, she had told me something strange.
She had warned me never to trust Victor's family.
At the time, I thought she was simply worried.
She had died two months after my wedding.
The official cause was heart failure.
Suddenly, I remembered the night of her funeral.
Victor had insisted I stay home.
He said the roads were dangerous.
He had gone alone.
Why?
I looked at Alex.
"Did Mom ever tell you anything about Victor?"
Alex frowned.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Then his expression changed.
"Wait."
"What?"
"She gave me a box."
I stared at him.
"What box?"
"After she died."
"Where is it?"
"At my house."
Alex stood.
"I'll get it."
Detective Morgan stopped him.
"Don't touch anything until we know what it is."
Alex nodded.
Two hours later, officers retrieved the box.
It was old.
Metal.
Locked.
Alex placed it on the hospital table.
"I never knew what was inside."
Detective Morgan opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Letters.
Bank statements.
And one envelope with my name on it.
My hands shook as I opened it.
The letter was from my mother.
My heart broke before I even finished the first sentence.
"Elena,
If you're reading this, something has happened to me, and I need you to understand one thing.
Your husband is not the man you think he is."
I stopped.
Alex read over my shoulder.
The letter continued.
"Do not trust Victor.
Do not trust Helena.
Do not trust Raul.
And never, under any circumstance, sign anything they place in front of you."
I covered my mouth.
The letter was dated six months before my wedding.
My mother had known.
She had tried to warn me.
Then I saw the final paragraph.
"I discovered what the Voss family has been doing for years.
I was supposed to meet someone who could expose them.
If I disappear, look inside the blue ledger."
I looked at Detective Morgan.
"What blue ledger?"
He searched the box.
Nothing.
Alex searched again.
Still nothing.
Then the bottom of the box lifted slightly.
Alex pressed it.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small blue notebook.
Detective Morgan slowly removed it.
The first pages were filled with names.
Payments.
Dates.
Locations.
People who had received money.
People who had made problems disappear.
Then we reached the last page.
At the bottom was a single entry.
My mother's name.
Beside it were four words:
"Paid to silence her."
I stopped breathing.
Alex grabbed the ledger.
"Who paid?"
There was no name.
Only a set of initials.
R.V.
Richard Voss.
Detective Morgan's face hardened.
"This changes everything."
I stared at the page.
"My mother didn't die naturally."
Nobody answered.
Then Alex turned one more page.
A folded photograph fell out.
He opened it.
It showed my mother standing outside the Voss company building.
Beside her stood Richard.
And Victor.
But that wasn't what made me gasp.
There was another person in the photograph.
A young woman.
I knew her.
She had been dead for six years.
Victor's first wife.
The woman everyone said had killed herself.
May you like
On the back of the photo were six words:
"She wasn't the first."
