Chapter 4 - The Blind CEO Saw the Woman Who Wanted His Wife Dead
The music box was gone.
Someone had entered Thea's old apartment.
Nothing else was missing.
Only the box.
Lachlan immediately understood.
“They're looking for the ledger.”
“And they know my mother told us.”
“Yes.”
“Then we should leave.”
“No.”
Thea stared.
“No?”
“We're closer than we've ever been.”
“You don't understand. My mother almost died.”
“I understand.”
“You could die.”
He looked at her.
“So could you.”
She hated how calm he sounded.
They returned to the Voss estate.
Security doubled.
But the real danger came from inside.
Astrid collapsed during breakfast.
Poison.
The doctor saved her.
Before losing consciousness, she whispered one name.
“Elena.”
Thea frowned.
“Who is Elena?”
Lachlan went pale.
“My father's former assistant.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
“Everyone you know is dead.”
His jaw tightened.
“She disappeared seven years ago.”
Gideon arrived.
“She didn't disappear.”
He placed a file on the table.
“She changed her name.”
“To what?”
“Dr. Elena Ward.”
A physician at the private hospital.
The same hospital treating Thea's mother.
Thea's stomach twisted.
They returned to the hospital.
Elena Ward was waiting.
She was in her fifties.
Calm.
Elegant.
Too calm.
“You finally came.”
Lachlan stared.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You know about the ledger.”
Elena smiled.
“I know where it is.”
Thea stepped forward.
“Where?”
“In your possession.”
“The music box is gone.”
Elena's expression changed.
“Then Julian has it.”
Lachlan looked at her.
“Why are you helping us?”
She sighed.
“Because your father saved my life.”
She told them the truth.
Julian had been stealing money from the company for years.
When Lachlan's father discovered it, he planned to expose him.
Julian arranged his death.
Elena had helped hide evidence.
Then she disappeared.
But Julian found her.
He forced her to keep working in the hospital.
“And Thea?” Lachlan asked.
Elena looked at her.
“Julian found out your father had hidden the ledger with your family.”
“Why choose me?”
“Because Julian needed someone close enough to the evidence.”
Thea felt sick.
“My marriage.”
“Yes.”
“He arranged it?”
“Not entirely.”
Elena looked at Lachlan.
“Your grandmother arranged the marriage.”
“But Julian influenced her.”
“Yes.”
Lachlan's face became cold.
He had finally found the thread connecting everything.
The marriage.
The contract.
The hospital.
The sedative.
The attacks.
All roads led to Julian.
That night, Thea discovered the missing music box in her bedroom.
It had been placed on her pillow.
She froze.
A note lay beneath it.
OPEN IT ALONE.
She should have called Lachlan.
Instead, she opened it.
Inside was a folded paper.
A list of names.
Judges.
Police officers.
Executives.
Then one final name.
LACHLAN VOSS
Thea's hands shook.
Why was his name there?
The door opened.
Lachlan entered.
He saw the paper.
“What is that?”
She handed it to him.
He read.
His expression changed.
“This is impossible.”
“You're on the list.”
“I know.”
“No. Look at the date.”
He did.
The date was six months before his father's death.
Thea looked at him.
“Your father thought you were involved.”
Lachlan went still.
“My father never trusted me.”
“Why?”
“I was the last person to see him alive.”
Silence.
Thea's heart broke for him.
“You thought he died because of you.”
“Yes.”
“And all these years?”
“I thought I failed him.”
Thea stepped closer.
“You didn't.”
He looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I've watched you.”
She touched his hand.
“You protect people even when they don't know it.”
He stared at her.
Then he kissed her.
This kiss was different.
Desperate.
Emotional.
A confession without words.
When they pulled apart, Thea whispered:
“I love you.”
Lachlan closed his eyes.
Then he said the words she had feared most.
“I love you too.”
The happiness lasted six seconds.
Gideon burst through the door.
“Boss.”
Lachlan turned.
“Your grandmother is gone.”
“What?”
“She left the estate.”
“Where?”
“Julian took her.”
Thea's face went pale.
A message arrived on Lachlan's phone.
BRING YOUR WIFE TO PIER 18.
Another message followed.
COME ALONE.
Lachlan looked at Thea.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“We go together.”
He wanted to argue.
But he knew now that Thea was not the girl who had entered his marriage afraid.
She was his partner.
He reached for her hand.
“Then together.”
They left.
Neither noticed the black car waiting across the street.
Inside sat Julian Voss.
May you like
He watched them drive away.
And smiled.
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