Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Had Been Watching Us
Mother refused to name the traitor that night.
She said there were some truths that became dangerous when spoken too early.
I wanted to argue.
Instead, she handed me a list of names.
Five employees.
One doctor.
One security officer.
And Victor Crane.
“Anyone on this list could be compromised,” she said.
Clara looked at the names.
“What about the traitor?”
Mother smiled.
“You'll know when you need to.”
I hated riddles.
I hated secrets.
I hated the fact that my mother had known all of this while I had spent eight months trying to save her with hospital appointments and expensive medicine.
The next morning, she told me something else.
“I want to meet Clara's mother.”
Clara froze.
“She passed away.”
“I know.”
Mother nodded.
“I wish I had met her before she died.”
Clara looked down.
“She was angry with you.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because I failed Thomas.”
That answer changed something.
My mother wasn't protecting herself anymore.
She was carrying guilt.
Two days later, Clara found a letter addressed to her.
It had been written by her mother years earlier.
She read it alone.
Then she came to me.
“I thought my mother hated the Hales.”
“She did.”
“She also loved your mother.”
I said nothing.
“She wrote that Eleanor was the only reason my father had courage to fight.”
I looked at her.
“What else?”
“She said if I ever came to this house, I should be careful.”
“Of whom?”
Clara looked at me.
“Of the person who always seems helpful.”
We both knew what that meant.
Victor.
That afternoon, I confronted him.
He denied everything.
“You're accusing me based on old papers.”
“I'm asking questions.”
“You are turning on the wrong person.”
“Then help me.”
“How?”
“Tell me where Northstar is.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“I don't know.”
“Then tell me why Thomas's daughter was being watched before she even came to this house.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You're becoming obsessed.”
“Maybe.”
He leaned closer.
“Your father would hate what you're doing.”
I stared at him.
“My father is dead.”
“And you're ruining what he built.”
I stepped forward.
“My father built this.”
I pointed around us.
“You helped him.”
Victor looked at me.
“Your father was not the man you think he was.”
“I know.”
“And neither are you.”
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
He walked away.
Clara had been standing in the hallway.
“You heard?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
“He's scared.”
“Of what?”
“Being exposed.”
That evening, we went to the old Hale estate.
The property stood outside the city, surrounded by trees and iron gates.
No one had lived there since my father died.
The moment we entered, I felt something familiar.
My father's scent.
Old wood.
Leather.
Smoke.
Memories.
Clara followed me.
“There.”
She pointed to the staircase.
A portrait of my father hung above it.
Someone had recently cleaned it.
I touched the frame.
It moved.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
We went inside.
The passage led to a private room.
A desk.
A safe.
A chair.
And a single envelope.
I opened it.
Inside was the original Northstar ledger.
Every payment.
Every name.
Every instruction.
And a letter.
From Adrian Hale.
“To my son.”
My hands shook.
I read.
“Bennett, if you are reading this, then I failed to protect the family from the world I built.”
I continued.
“I do not ask for forgiveness.”
My eyes burned.
“I ask you not to repeat me.”
Clara watched quietly.
“The money in this ledger was used to buy silence.”
“The people who received it were not all criminals.”
“Some were frightened.”
“Some were corrupt.”
“And some were innocent people trapped by men like Victor.”
I turned the page.
“Victor was never loyal to me.”
“He was loyal to control.”
My father had documented everything.
Including the warehouse explosion.
He named Victor.
He named the corrupt officials.
And he left one final warning.
“Someone close to Eleanor is still working for Victor.”
My heart stopped.
Mother had been right.
But then I saw a photograph.
A woman standing beside Victor.
My mother's chief nurse.
Dr. Rebecca Sloan.
Clara stared.
“She works here every day.”
“Yes.”
“She has access to your mother's medications.”
My stomach dropped.
We ran back to the mansion.
Mother was unconscious.
The monitor screamed.
Rebecca stood beside her.
When she saw us, she froze.
I moved toward her.
“What did you give her?”
“Nothing.”
Clara checked the medication tray.
One bottle was wrong.
Rebecca backed away.
“It wasn't me.”
“Then who?”
She began to cry.
“Victor.”
I stared.
“He threatened my son.”
“What did he make you do?”
“Change one of your mother's medications.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Why is she still alive?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I gave her the wrong dose once.”
“Once?”
“I couldn't do it again.”
Mother opened her eyes.
“Good.”
Rebecca gasped.
Mother had been awake.
“You never trusted me,” I said.
She smiled weakly.
“I knew something was wrong.”
I looked at Clara.
Then at my mother.
The danger had been inside our walls all along.
May you like
And Victor had just made his biggest mistake.
Because now we had the ledger.
