Chapter 2 - The File Elena Left BehindRichard carried Noah upstairs himself.
The boy's feet were red from the cold.
A servant brought blankets and warm milk while Richard stayed beside him.
Downstairs, the birthday dinner continued in uneasy silence.
Richard didn't care.
At the lodge's private study, he locked the door and removed the memory card.
His hands were steady.
His breathing wasn't.
He connected the card to his laptop.
One folder appeared.
No title.
No photographs.
Just twelve audio files.
The first file was seventeen seconds long.
Richard clicked it.
Static filled the room.
Then Elena's voice.
Soft.
Terrified.
“If you're hearing this, something happened to me.”
Richard stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“I don't know who I can trust anymore.”
A chair scraped somewhere in the background.
“I tried telling Mark.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Elena whispered:
“He already knows.”
The recording ended.
Richard stared at the screen.
He played it again.
Same words.
Then he opened the second file.
Elena sounded exhausted.
“I found transfers from the Hawthorne Foundation into three shell companies.”
Richard leaned closer.
The Hawthorne Foundation was his family's charitable organization.
He knew the accounts.
He had never personally managed them.
That responsibility belonged to Mark and the company's chief financial officer, Daniel Cross.
Elena continued.
“The money disappears the same day it's transferred.”
A pause.
“Claudia knows.”
Richard felt cold despite the fire roaring beside him.
The recording ended.
He opened the third file.
There was only one sentence.
“He isn't dead.”
Richard stared at the screen.
Who?
Elena's voice never clarified.
The fourth file was longer.
Six minutes.
Richard heard Elena whispering from what sounded like a garage.
“Daniel told me to stop.”
Her breathing became faster.
“He said the accounts weren't the real problem.”
Richard's pulse jumped.
“What does that mean?” he whispered.
Elena continued.
“He said someone inside the family has been selling confidential company information.”
A man's voice appeared faintly in the background.
Elena lowered her voice.
“He said if Richard finds out, they'll come after Noah.”
Richard slammed his fist against the desk.
“No.”
The recording ended.
He immediately opened the fifth file.
Nothing.
Only static.
Then, faintly:
“Claudia.”
The voice was so quiet Richard almost missed it.
“Claudia was there the night they changed the documents.”
A loud metallic sound interrupted the recording.
Elena gasped.
Then silence.
Richard sat motionless.
Someone had clearly known about the recordings.
Someone had tried to destroy them.
He opened the remaining files.
Most were corrupted.
One contained a photograph.
Elena had photographed a handwritten ledger.
Several numbers were circled in red.
At the bottom of the image was a sentence:
ASK RICHARD ABOUT THE SECOND ACCOUNT.
Richard's stomach tightened.
The second account.
He knew what that meant.
Years earlier, after Elena joined the family business, Richard had created a private contingency account.
Only three people knew about it.
Richard.
Daniel Cross.
And Mark.
Richard suddenly remembered the last conversation he'd had with Elena.
She had wanted to tell him something.
He had told her they would talk after his birthday.
Her accident happened two days later.
Richard opened the final undamaged file.
Elena spoke from somewhere inside a vehicle.
“Richard, listen carefully.”
Her voice cracked.
“Don't trust the police report.”
Richard's eyes widened.
“Your accident wasn't an accident.”
The recording ended.
He played it again.
Then again.
A knock hit the study door.
Richard closed the laptop.
“Who?”
“Dad?”
Mark.
Richard stood.
“What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Richard walked to the door but didn't open it.
“About what?”
Silence.
Then Mark said:
“The airplane.”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“How did you know there was something inside it?”
No response.
Richard opened the door.
Mark stood alone.
His face looked older than it had an hour earlier.
“I didn't know.”
“Claudia did.”
Mark's eyes flickered.
Richard stepped closer.
“My grandson was put outside in the snow tonight. You stood there and called it punishment. Then the moment I opened that toy, you looked terrified.”
Mark lowered his head.
“Dad, you don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Mark looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
Richard laughed once, without humor.
“This is my house.”
“No.”
Mark's voice shook.
“This isn't about the house.”
Richard stared at him.
“What is it about?”
Mark swallowed.
“Noah.”
Richard's expression changed.
Mark whispered:
“They've been watching him.”
Before Richard could ask who they were, a crash erupted downstairs.
Glass shattered.
May you like
Someone screamed.
Then the lights went out.
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