Chapter 3 - Six Years of Silence
Six years earlier, she had been the sharpest auditor on the Vale Foundation team. She could find a missing dollar in a thousand-page report and explain a complex financial scheme without making anyone feel stupid. She laughed with her whole face, drank terrible coffee, and kept a red pencil tucked behind her ear.
They had fallen in love in the middle of a winter audit, between late-night spreadsheets and arguments about whether a charity could be honest while its donors were not. Julian had wanted to tell his family about her. Elara had asked him to wait until the foundation's books were clean.
"Your mother doesn't like me," she had said once.
"My mother doesn't like anyone who tells her no."
"Then she'll hate me by Friday."
He had kissed her forehead. "Let me worry about Lydia."
The night Elara disappeared, he had been overseas negotiating a hospital expansion. His phone stopped reaching her. His assistant said she had resigned.
The next morning, the foundation's legal department presented him with records showing money transferred to an account in Elara's name.
He had demanded an investigation. His mother had insisted the police handle it. By the time he returned, Elara's apartment had been cleared, her work email shut down, and a warrant issued for her arrest.
Now Julian sat across from her in the study, looking at the woman who had raised his daughter without him.
"Why didn't you tell me about Maisie?" he asked.
Elara gave a small, bitter laugh. "I tried. I sent letters to your office, to the house, and to the hotel in London. Every one came back. I called your private line until a man told me that if I contacted you again, he'd make sure I went to prison."
"Who?"
"Graham Pike. Your mother's chief financial officer."
"Why come back now?"
"Because Maeve found the proof. And because someone is trying to frighten me into silence. I don't need your money, Julian. I need the truth before they hurt my daughter to keep it buried."
"I want a paternity test," he said.
Elara's expression closed. "Of course you do."
"That isn't an accusation."
"It's what a man says when he wants to delay believing a woman."
Before he could answer, his phone buzzed. A message from his head of security filled the screen: UNKNOWN VEHICLE AT EAST GATE. DRIVER CLAIMS TO BE POLICE.
NO UNIT NUMBER.
Then another message arrived, from a number he did not recognize.
SEND THE WOMAN OUT, OR THE GIRL WILL BE TAKEN FROM YOU.
May you like
Julian looked up. Elara had read his face.
"They're already here," she whispered.
