Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Insulted Rose Was Hiding the Secret Her Family Had BuriedVanessa Whitmore was arrested before she could leave Chicago.
She had been laundering money through shell companies.
But she wasn't the mastermind.
That was the frightening part.
She confessed immediately.
“I didn't know where it came from.”
Nathaniel stared at her.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I was given accounts.”
“By whom?”
She cried.
“Your grandfather.”
“My grandfather is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Rose.”
I frowned.
“My mother-in-law knew.”
“How?”
“She helped build the trust.”
“Why didn't she tell Nathaniel?”
“Because she was threatened.”
“By who?”
“Marcus.”
I looked at Nathaniel.
“Then why did Vanessa insult her?”
Vanessa lowered her head.
“Because I was trying to get her to leave.”
“Why?”
“I thought she remembered.”
“Remembered what?”
“The night Julian disappeared.”
Everything became clearer.
The restaurant had been the meeting place.
Rose had been there.
She had seen Marcus.
She had seen Julian.
She had seen the exchange.
But fear had buried the memory for twenty-five years.
Until her seventy-ninth birthday.
She chose Maison Greer because something inside her remembered.
Nathaniel found his mother later that evening.
He knelt beside her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Rose cried.
“I was afraid.”
“You could have trusted me.”
“I did.”
“Then why?”
“Because I knew what they'd do.”
“To Julian?”
“To you.”
Nathaniel hugged her.
I looked away.
It was a private moment.
But then Rose said:
“Emma saved me.”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“She treated me like I mattered.”
He nodded.
“She matters to me too.”
My heart skipped.
Rose smiled.
“Good.”
I pretended not to hear.
But I couldn't stop thinking about his words.
That night, Nathaniel and I sat in the library.
“You understand what happens now?” he asked.
“The trust gets exposed.”
“Yes.”
“Your family loses billions.”
He nodded.
“We'll survive.”
“Will you?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at him.
“You're not afraid?”
“I've been afraid for twenty-five years.”
“What changed?”
“You.”
I looked away.
“Don't say things like that.”
“Why?”
“Because I might believe you.”
He smiled.
“I hope you do.”
For the first time, I let myself look at him differently.
Not as my employer.
Not as the billionaire who entered Maison Greer.
As a man.
A son.
A brother.
A man who had lost twenty-five years.
And maybe someone who was finally ready to live.
But happiness didn't last.
At midnight, the foundation alarm sounded.
A fire had started at Maison Greer.
We rushed there.
The restaurant was burning.
Smoke filled the dining room.
The old photographs were destroyed.
The cellar was flooded.
The evidence chamber was gone.
I stared at the flames.
Someone had tried to erase everything.
Nathaniel stood beside me.
“We still have the ledger.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“It was in my bag.”
It was gone.
A note lay on the ground.
You should have stayed in the kitchen.
Nathaniel picked it up.
His face hardened.
“Marcus.”
“Why?”
“He's done waiting.”
Suddenly a voice came from behind us.
“Actually.”
We turned.
Vanessa stood there.
She was holding a gun.
“My dear.”
I froze.
She looked at Nathaniel.
“You inherited the company.”
She looked at me.
“And she inherited your mother's trust.”
“What?”
Vanessa smiled.
“The ledger isn't the only thing your father hid.”
I stared.
“What did my father hide?”
She laughed.
“A fortune.”
“How much?”
“Three billion.”
Silence.
“The trust wasn't two hundred million.”
“It was the key.”
“To what?”
Vanessa smiled.
May you like
“The real Whitmore fortune.”
Then she fired.
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