Chapter 4 - The Red LedgerThe clock struck once.
Twice.
Three times.
Sarah barely heard it.
She was staring at Daniel.
The recording had not been clear enough to show the exact moment his father died.
But the voice was unmistakable.
Eleanor had known.
She had helped.
And Daniel…
Daniel had been there.
“Turn it off,” Daniel whispered.
No one moved.
“Turn it off!”
He slammed his fist into one of the monitors.
Glass shattered.
Sarah flinched.
Leo cried out.
Margaret pulled Sarah behind her.
“You're going to have to do better than that.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You already have it.”
“No.”
Margaret pointed toward the screen.
“I have one recording.”
She looked at Eleanor.
“You destroyed everything else.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“I destroyed nothing.”
Margaret gave her a bitter smile.
“That's not what your accountant thought.”
Sarah saw a red leather ledger on the shelf behind Margaret.
The cover was scorched.
A single letter was stamped into it.
E
She reached for it.
Eleanor moved instantly.
“Don't touch that.”
Sarah stopped.
Margaret understood.
“That's the ledger.”
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
“You said it was gone.”
“It was supposed to be.”
Sarah opened it.
Page after page contained numbers.
Payments.
Dates.
Names.
Companies.
Several pages were marked with red circles.
“What are these?”
Margaret leaned closer.
“Payments to shell companies.”
Sarah looked at one name.
D.H. Security Holdings.
Another.
Aster Medical Trust.
Then a final line.
Her hands began to shake.
There was a large transfer made two years ago.
The recipient was…
Sarah Walker.
Sarah stared.
“What?”
Daniel went still.
Eleanor's eyes widened.
Margaret took the ledger.
“That's impossible.”
Sarah grabbed it back.
“Why is my name here?”
Nobody answered.
Sarah turned toward Daniel.
“You transferred money to me?”
“No.”
“Your mother did?”
“I don't know.”
Sarah flipped through the pages.
There were multiple payments.
Every month.
For three years.
The amounts were identical.
Exactly $8,000.
She had never received them.
She would have remembered.
Margaret's expression changed.
“Those aren't payments.”
“What are they?”
“Silence fees.”
Sarah's stomach dropped.
“For what?”
Margaret looked at her.
“You were being paid to stay quiet.”
Sarah laughed nervously.
“About what?”
Margaret didn't answer immediately.
Then she said the words.
“About your mother.”
Sarah went cold.
“My mother died when I was twenty-three.”
“I know.”
“You're saying she knew Eleanor?”
Margaret nodded.
“They knew each other long before you ever met Daniel.”
Sarah looked at the ledger again.
“Then why was I getting paid?”
“Because your mother discovered what happened eleven years ago.”
“And she kept quiet?”
Margaret shook her head.
“She tried to expose them.”
Sarah's eyes filled.
“My mother never told me anything.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
Sarah looked at Eleanor.
“You knew my mother.”
Eleanor finally met her gaze.
“Yes.”
“Did you kill her?”
Daniel whispered, “Sarah…”
She turned on him.
“Did you?”
Eleanor said nothing.
Margaret stepped forward.
“She didn't kill your mother.”
Sarah exhaled.
Then Margaret finished.
“Daniel did.”
The room fell silent.
Sarah stared at Daniel.
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“I was nineteen.”
“You drove the car.”
Daniel backed away.
Margaret continued.
“Your mother was following Eleanor that night.”
“She discovered the ledger.”
“She confronted her.”
“Daniel panicked.”
Sarah felt dizzy.
“Why would he…”
Margaret's voice cracked.
“Because he had already been told what would happen if the truth came out.”
Sarah looked toward Eleanor.
“You threatened him?”
Eleanor's face remained unreadable.
“He was a child.”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“He was your son.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Several people.
Police.
Daniel looked toward the door.
Then he smiled.
Sarah noticed.
It was the first time all night he had smiled.
“What?”
Margaret asked.
Daniel looked at the entrance.
“You're too late.”
The lights went out.
Every screen died.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then a single emergency monitor flickered on.
A countdown appeared.
00:09
Sarah stared.
“What's that?”
Daniel whispered:
“The archive purge.”
The number changed.
00:08
May you like
Then Daniel looked directly at Sarah.
“The room is going to erase itself.”
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