Chapter 5 - The Ledger Behind Our Bedroom Wall Exposed a Murder, a Missing Fortune, and the Person Who Had Ordered My Father’s DeathWe returned to the old house after midnight.
The house had been empty since Elena left.
I had never gone back.
Too many memories.
Her books.
Her perfume.
The dent in the kitchen counter where I had once slammed a glass.
The bedroom was exactly as I remembered it.
Almost.
Elena had told me the ledger was hidden behind the wall.
Marcus and Jonas searched until they found a loose panel.
Inside was a steel box.
No lock.
No dust.
Someone had opened it recently.
The ledger was still there.
So was a small black drive.
And a letter.
I opened the letter first.
The handwriting belonged to my father.
My hands shook.
Dominic,
If you are reading this, then I am dead.
I stopped.
Marcus read over my shoulder.
Keep reading.
The letter explained everything.
My father had discovered that someone inside the family had been transferring money from the trust.
For years.
Millions at a time.
The transfers went through shell companies.
Those shell companies were connected to one man.
Richard Hale.
But Richard wasn't alone.
He had a partner.
A woman.
The initials were V.V.
Victoria Vance.
My mother.
I couldn't breathe.
“No,” I whispered.
Marcus looked at me.
“Read the next page.”
I did.
My father wrote that he had confronted my mother.
She denied everything.
Then, three weeks later, my father died.
Officially, heart failure.
But the letter said otherwise.
He had been poisoned.
The ledger documented payments.
Doctor.
Coroner.
Security officer.
All paid.
The final payment was enormous.
Eight million dollars.
Recipient:
R.H. Holdings.
My stomach turned.
Richard.
My mother had helped kill my father.
I sat down on the floor.
The woman who had raised me.
The woman who had attended my father's funeral.
The woman who had told me every day that family came first.
She had murdered the man who gave me our name.
Marcus quietly asked,
“What's the drive?”
I plugged it into a laptop.
A video opened.
My father appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
I had never seen my father afraid.
He spoke directly into the camera.
“If Dominic sees this, then Elena must be alive.”
My throat closed.
He had known about her.
He had chosen her.
He continued.
“I knew my son loved Elena. I also knew my wife would destroy their marriage if she believed the child would activate the trust.”
He paused.
“She will use the fertility issue.”
My eyes widened.
“Your mother knows Elena cannot safely carry a pregnancy without specialized care. She will use that weakness against her.”
The video continued.
“I also discovered Richard has been working with an outside syndicate.”
I froze.
The Vance family had many enemies.
But one had been infiltrating us for years.
The video ended.
The final screen showed a single name.
MALACHI CROSS.
Marcus went pale.
“You know him?”
“I know of him.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone your father refused to work with.”
“Why?”
“He wanted control of the Chicago port network.”
My father had stood in his way.
So he had been killed.
But why did Elena have to disappear?
Because the trust was not the real prize.
The trust was leverage.
Whoever controlled the first grandchild controlled the board.
And whoever controlled the board controlled the Vance empire.
Someone wanted Clara.
Not because she was a child.
Because she was a key.
The next morning, someone attacked the old house.
The first bullet shattered a window.
Jonas shoved me down.
“Get behind cover!”
More shots.
We moved toward the basement.
Marcus carried the ledger.
Then someone shouted outside.
“Give us the girl!”
My blood froze.
They knew about Clara.
They knew.
Jonas fired back through the wall.
We escaped through the service tunnel beneath the house.
In the car, Marcus looked at me.
“We need to get Elena and the baby out of the hospital.”
“No.”
He stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because that's where they'll expect me to go.”
“Then where?”
I thought of my father's letter.
There was one last paragraph.
The safest place is where Dominic would never think to look.
I suddenly understood.
Elena's old grandmother had owned a farmhouse in Wisconsin.
I had never visited.
We could hide there.
But before we left, I needed one thing.
Elena.
We returned to the hospital.
She was sitting in bed.
“What happened?”
“They found us.”
Her face went white.
“They know?”
“They know about Clara.”
She looked toward the NICU.
“We have to leave.”
“I know.”
“Dominic.”
She grabbed my wrist.
“Listen to me.”
“What?”
“Your mother isn't the person you should fear most.”
“Who is?”
“Meera.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she knows where I hid the original ledger.”
“Where?”
Elena looked at me.
“In her father's office.”
Her lips trembled.
“Meera's father.”
I realized what she meant.
Meera's father was Richard Hale.
My family attorney.
The man who had forged my divorce.
The man who had helped steal forty-two million.
The man who had helped destroy my marriage.
My girlfriend was his daughter.
I felt sick.
“Did Meera know?”
“I don't know.”
“But she worked with him?”
“I don't know.”
Then the door opened.
Meera stood there.
Her face was pale.
“Dominic.”
Jonas moved between us.
Meera looked at Elena.
“I didn't know.”
Elena stared at her.
“Didn't know what?”
Meera's eyes filled with tears.
“That my father was planning to kill you.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“What did you say?”
Meera wiped her face.
“He told me you had ruined Dominic's life.”
She looked at Elena.
“He said you were dangerous.”
Then she looked at me.
“I believed him.”
“And now?”
“Now I know he lied.”
She reached into her handbag.
She placed a key on the table.
“The ledger.”
I stared at it.
“Where?”
“My father's private office.”
“Why give it to me?”
“Because he murdered my mother too.”
The room became silent.
May you like
Meera whispered,
“And I'm done protecting him.”
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