Chapter 4 - The Secret Madison FearedThe stranger’s name was Daniel Cross.
Former investigator.
Former employee of Whitmore Security.
Formerly presumed dead.
Ethan stared at him.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Daniel gave a tired smile.
“So is your mother.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why bring me here?”
“Because I found the person who does.”
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“Your fiancée.”
Ethan felt his jaw tighten.
“Madison?”
Daniel nodded.
“She has been searching for Grace for months.”
“Why?”
“Because Grace knows what Madison’s father did.”
Ethan froze.
“Her father?”
“Victor Vale.”
Ethan recognized the name.
Victor Vale had been a major investor in Whitmore Systems fifteen years earlier.
Then he vanished.
Daniel continued.
“Victor Vale was laundering money through one of your father’s subsidiaries.”
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“And my mother found out?”
“She found out everything.”
Daniel reached into his coat.
He handed Ethan another file.
Inside was a company structure showing secret accounts.
Payments.
Shell corporations.
Bribes.
And one repeated name.
Madison Vale.
Ethan stared.
“This is recent.”
“Yes.”
“She’s still doing it.”
Daniel nodded.
“She didn't enter your life because she loved you.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The room suddenly felt too small.
“Why me?”
“Because marrying you would give her control of Whitmore Systems.”
Ethan looked up.
“What control?”
“The prenup.”
“What about it?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your fiancée made sure your legal team inserted a clause that transfers voting power if you die unexpectedly.”
Ethan’s stomach dropped.
“She planned for my death?”
“I believe she planned for several outcomes.”
Ethan looked at the photographs.
“Then why Clara?”
“Because Clara found something.”
“The box.”
Daniel nodded.
“What was inside?”
“I don't know.”
Ethan thought of Lily.
“She knows.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Because children see what adults ignore.”
At the mansion, Madison was making a phone call.
“She told him.”
A man answered.
“Who?”
“The child.”
Silence.
“What does Ethan know?”
“Enough.”
“Then you need to move the girl.”
Madison’s voice became cold.
“No.”
“You've already lost control.”
“I said no.”
“You know what happens if that evidence comes out.”
Madison clenched her jaw.
“I can fix this.”
“How?”
“I'll make Ethan think Clara stole the documents.”
“That won't work.”
“It will.”
“You're underestimating the child.”
Madison looked toward Lily’s room.
“I won't make that mistake again.”
She hung up.
Then she walked downstairs.
Lily was sitting alone at the breakfast table drawing.
Madison approached.
“What are you drawing?”
Lily didn't answer.
Madison looked down.
It was a picture of the mansion.
The staircase.
The study.
And three people standing beside a black car.
Madison frowned.
“Who are they?”
Lily finally looked up.
“You.”
Madison’s face hardened.
“Who else?”
“The man.”
“What man?”
“The one you said would take Mommy away.”
Madison grabbed the paper.
“Where did you see him?”
Lily smiled faintly.
“In the secret room.”
Madison went still.
“There is no secret room.”
Lily shook her head.
“Yes, there is.”
“Where?”
Lily pointed upward.
“Behind Mr. Ethan’s mother’s picture.”
Madison’s face drained of color.
She turned and ran.
At the exact same moment, Ethan returned.
He entered the mansion carrying Daniel’s file.
He saw Madison standing beneath Grace Whitmore’s portrait.
Her hand was pressed against a hidden panel.
She turned.
Their eyes met.
Ethan slowly closed the front door behind him.
“Interesting.”
Madison said nothing.
Ethan held up the file.
“Would you like to explain?”
Madison stared at him.
Then she smiled.
A terrifyingly calm smile.
“Before I do, Ethan…”
She pointed upstairs.
“You should ask Clara what she was doing in this house before she became your housekeeper.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“What?”
Madison whispered:
May you like
“She didn't come here for a job.”
“She came here because your mother hired her.”
