Chapter 7 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE WALLMichael returned to the mansion with police protection.
The house looked normal.
Too normal.
Every lamp was on.
The doors were unlocked.
The children's toys were exactly where they had left them.
Sophie was asleep on the sofa.
Lucas sat beside her.
He looked terrified but unharmed.
Michael rushed to him.
“Where's Victoria?”
Lucas pointed upstairs.
“She locked herself in Mom's room.”
Michael froze.
Rachel's bedroom had been sealed since her death.
He had never entered it.
Not once.
Victoria had.
Michael climbed the stairs.
Two officers followed.
The bedroom door stood open.
Victoria was inside.
Rachel's belongings were spread across the floor.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Letters.
Documents.
Michael stopped.
“What have you done?”
Victoria looked at him.
“I've been trying to find what Rachel hid.”
“You went through my wife's room.”
“No.”
She pointed to the wall.
“Rachel did.”
Michael frowned.
A section of wallpaper had been removed.
Behind it was a metal safe.
No combination.
Only a keypad.
Victoria looked at Lucas.
“He knows.”
Lucas backed away.
Michael crouched beside his son.
“What did Mom tell you?”
Lucas whispered:
“She said the door only opens when you tell the truth.”
Michael looked at the keypad.
Four numbers.
Lucas stepped forward.
“Mom said the numbers were the day she met Dad.”
Michael stared.
Rachel had met him in college.
September 17.
He entered 0917.
The safe clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a cassette recorder.
A stack of legal documents.
And a photograph of Rachel holding baby Sophie.
Michael picked up the recorder.
A label was attached.
FOR MICHAEL ONLY.
He pressed play.
Rachel's voice filled the room.
“Michael, if you are hearing this, I wasn't able to tell you everything.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
A pause.
“Victoria knows about Sophie.”
Michael looked at his daughter.
Rachel continued.
“She believes Sophie is the reason she can control you.”
Michael's face tightened.
“What does that mean?”
The recording crackled.
“I discovered Victoria wasn't interested in you.”
Silence.
“She was interested in Hayes Holdings.”
Michael stared.
Rachel's voice trembled.
“She needed access to the family trust. She needed someone to marry you, isolate you, and control the estate.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“Turn it off.”
Michael ignored her.
Rachel continued.
“Then I discovered something worse.”
A pause.
“The trust isn't the real target.”
Michael leaned closer.
“What is?”
Rachel whispered:
“Someone wants the original ownership records.”
The recording cut.
Then another voice appeared.
A man's voice.
Thomas Reed.
“The records were transferred in 2008.”
Michael looked at him in confusion.
The tape continued.
“The beneficiary isn't Michael.”
Michael stared at the children.
“The beneficiary is Sophie.”
His whole body went cold.
Victoria suddenly lunged for the recorder.
Michael caught her.
“Why does my six-year-old daughter own the controlling share of my company?”
Victoria screamed:
“Because she isn't supposed to!”
The officers grabbed her.
Lucas suddenly shouted.
“She knew!”
Michael turned.
Lucas was crying.
“She told me Sophie was the key.”
Michael looked at Victoria.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria stopped struggling.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in her eyes.
“Ask your wife's father.”
Michael stared.
“Rachel's father died before the children were born.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She whispered:
“He didn't.”
Related Stories
