Chapter 5 - The Woman They Buried
Elara stared at the letter. "I never knew your father made a trust." Julian shook his head. "Neither did I."
The trust would activate if Julian had a child; at eighteen, she would gain voting rights in a charitable holding company. Maeve Bell was named independent trustee.
"They knew about her," Elara said. "Maybe not from the beginning, but they know now. That's why someone searched my apartment."
A margin note said the records were split between Bellweather Bank and the person who signed the original transfer.
"Who signed it?" he asked.
Elara turned the page. The signature was not hers. It belonged to Graham Pike.
A noise came from the hall. Julian pushed the documents into his jacket and stepped toward the door, but Elara caught his arm.
"Wait. Listen."
Footsteps stopped outside. A man's voice spoke quietly into a phone.
"She's in the west wing. The girl is with her. No, Lydia said no damage to the property. She wants the mother removed and the child brought to her."
He opened the door so fast the man stumbled backward. It was one of the household guards, a man Julian had hired himself.
"Who are you talking to?" Julian demanded.
The guard reached for his belt. Julian caught his wrist and drove him against the wall. The radio fell to the floor.
"Answer me."
"Mr. Vale, I was following orders."
"Whose orders?"
Julian took the phone and called his security chief. "Lock down every exit, and get Detective Renee Torres on a direct line."
He ordered the guard restrained and sent two trusted staff members to escort Elara and Maisie to the car. Before they could leave the nursery, Lydia appeared at the far end of the corridor.
She looked at the folder in Julian's hand and stopped smiling.
"Your father was a sentimental fool," she said. "He left you a mess, and now you've brought it home."
"You forged the letters," Julian said. "You framed Elara."
"I protected this family."
"From what? The truth?"
"That child is not going to inherit my company."
"It's not your company to give away," Julian replied.
Lydia stepped closer and lowered her voice. "If you take her side, you will lose everything your father built."
Julian glanced at his daughter. Maisie was holding the teddy bear so tightly its worn ear bent beneath her fingers.
"Then I'll lose it," he said.
May you like
A second later, every light in the west wing went out.
From the darkness came a crash, a child's cry, and the sound of someone running toward the garden doors.
