Chapter 4 - Toby Ran to the Abandoned Hail Estate Looking for His Father—And Inside, Julian Found the Room Where His Mother Had Hidden the Evidence That Could Destroy VictorThe old estate was thirty miles outside Manhattan.
We arrived to find the gates open.
That was wrong.
They had been locked for years.
Julian entered first.
Michael followed.
Ivy held my hand.
Snow had started falling.
The house was dark.
Toby's footprints led inside.
“Stay close,” Julian said.
We followed.
The footprints ended in Margaret's old study.
Toby was sitting on the floor.
He was holding a photograph.
Michael rushed to him.
“Toby.”
The boy looked up.
“I found it.”
“What?”
“Mommy.”
He showed us the photograph.
Margaret held him as a baby.
She was smiling.
Michael began crying.
“She loved you.”
Toby looked confused.
“Then why did she leave?”
Michael didn't know how to answer.
Julian crouched.
“She didn't.”
Toby looked at him.
“She stayed as long as she could.”
Julian touched the photograph.
Then noticed the wall behind it.
A hidden compartment.
He opened it.
Inside were documents.
A recording device.
A diary.
And a map.
Margaret had hidden everything here.
The diary revealed the full story.
She had discovered that Victor Shaw was laundering money through the Hail organization.
She had tried to expose him.
Her husband was involved.
Her father-in-law was involved.
Michael tried to help.
They planned to leave.
Then Margaret became pregnant again.
She discovered Michael had a son.
She created the trust.
She planned to protect Toby.
Then Victor discovered the plan.
He threatened her.
The diary ended two days before her death.
If I die, it was not an accident.
I felt cold.
Julian read the next page.
The person responsible is someone my husband trusts.
His face changed.
His father.
Not Victor.
His father.
I looked at Julian.
“Your father killed her?”
The diary didn't say.
But it suggested he knew.
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
He turned the page.
There was a letter addressed to him.
Michael,
Your brother will not know the truth.
If he learns it too early, they will kill him too.
Protect him from the family you were born into.
Julian stopped reading.
I saw something break in him.
He had spent his whole life believing his father's death had been tragic.
Now he wondered whether his father had killed his mother.
And whether his entire childhood had been built around a lie.
Then someone clapped.
Slowly.
From the doorway.
Victor Shaw.
He had found us.
He smiled.
“Beautiful reunion.”
Julian stood.
“Where is your weapon?”
Victor laughed.
“I'm not here to fight.”
“Then why?”
“To make an offer.”
Julian stepped forward.
“You took my mother.”
Victor sighed.
“Your mother was weak.”
Michael lunged.
Julian stopped him.
Victor smiled.
“Still impulsive.”
“What do you want?”
“Toby.”
“No.”
“Then your companies.”
“No.”
“Then your life.”
Julian stared.
Victor explained.
The trust could only be activated if Toby remained alive and legally recognized.
If Toby disappeared, the assets transferred.
Victor wanted to create the appearance that Toby had been moved voluntarily.
He would then forge records showing Julian abandoned his guardianship.
The inheritance would collapse.
Julian refused.
Victor looked at me.
“And you, Elena.”
I froze.
“How does he know my name?”
He smiled.
“I know everything about the people around Julian.”
He knew Ivy.
Her school.
My mother.
Our apartment.
Everything.
He threatened us.
Julian stepped between us.
“Enough.”
Victor smiled.
“Tomorrow morning, you will sign.”
“No.”
“Then people you love disappear.”
Julian's eyes hardened.
“You've made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You assumed fear works on me.”
Victor laughed.
“And doesn't it?”
Julian looked at Toby.
“No.”
The next morning, we staged the signing.
Julian pretended to agree.
Victor believed he had won.
But we had hidden recording equipment.
Every demand was documented.
Every threat captured.
Every financial transaction traced.
The federal agents arrived.
Victor was arrested.
The operation collapsed.
But when the evidence was examined, one thing remained.
A final file.
Margaret had labeled it:
THE PERSON WHO REALLY KILLED ME.
Julian opened it.
A video.
His father.
He confessed.
He had not killed Margaret.
He had covered up her murder.
Because he was afraid of Victor.
But he knew who gave the final order.
Victor's partner.
A senator.
Someone still alive.
The investigation wasn't finished.
And neither was our danger.
Because the senator had enough influence to destroy evidence.
Julian looked at me.
“We need to move.”
“Where?”
“A place nobody can reach.”
Ivy spoke.
“Where Toby can have Brown Dog.”
We looked at her.
Julian smiled.
“Exactly.”
The Hail lake house.
Away from Manhattan.
Away from the city.
Away from everyone.
We packed.
But as we drove away, I saw a black sedan following us.
Julian noticed too.
He turned.
“Don't look.”
Ivy asked:
“Who is it?”
“No one.”
She frowned.
“You're lying.”
Julian looked at her.
“She's terrifying.”
I smiled.
She was.
But the sedan stayed behind us.
It followed us all the way north.
And when we reached the lake house, its lights disappeared into the trees.
Someone had followed us.
Someone still wanted Toby.
May you like
And this time—
we didn't know who.
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