Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
Charles Whitaker had managed our family’s legal affairs for twenty-one years.
He had handled our father’s estate.
He had written my marriage agreement.
He had established Daniel’s trust.
He had stood beside me at Jonathan’s funeral.
When I showed Marcus the recovered image, he stared at it for nearly a minute.
“Could the footage have been altered?”
“That is what Charles will claim.”
“What do you think?”
“I think he knew where the backup drive was kept.”
Charles arrived the next morning at eight.
He entered through the front door carrying his usual leather briefcase.
His silver hair was perfectly combed.
His expression was calm.
“Clara, you said it was urgent.”
I placed a printed photograph from the security footage on the desk.
He studied it.
Then he removed his glasses.
“That resembles me.”
“It is you.”
“No.”
“Your access card was used at the east gate.”
“My card was stolen two weeks ago.”
“You never reported it.”
“I assumed I had misplaced it.”
Marcus placed another document on the table.
It showed that Charles’s car had crossed the toll bridge near the estate at the exact time of the break-in.
Charles barely glanced at it.
“My driver uses the car.”
“Where were you yesterday afternoon?”
“At my office.”
“We checked.”
“You left at two fifteen.”
His calm expression finally shifted.
He looked disappointed rather than afraid.
“You have become suspicious of everyone.”
“Someone forged Daniel’s signature.”
“Someone stole the evidence.”
“And someone disabled the cameras using a company controlled by Vanessa’s adviser.”
Charles closed his briefcase.
“I warned your father that leaving you in charge would make you paranoid.”
The sentence silenced the room.
My father had trusted Charles more than anyone outside the family.
“What did my father leave me in charge of?”
Charles realized his mistake.
“His estate.”
“That was public.”
“You said he warned you.”
“About what specifically?”
Charles stood.
“I will not submit to an interrogation in a house I helped protect.”
“You helped protect the money.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Without me, Daniel would have lost his inheritance years ago.”
“Without you, perhaps no one would have known how to steal it.”
He walked toward the door.
I stopped him with one question.
“Who is Adrian Cross?”
Charles froze.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Then he turned.
“I have never heard that name.”
Marcus opened a file on the desk.
“Adrian Cross was a junior analyst at Whitaker Legal twelve years ago.”
Charles looked at Marcus with sudden hatred.
“He was dismissed.”
“For what?”
“Financial misconduct.”
“Why did you recommend his company to install our security system?”
“I did not.”
The room became quiet.
Marcus pushed forward a contract bearing Charles’s signature.
Charles stared at it.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
“That signature was copied.”
It was the same defense Vanessa had used.
Before I could respond, Daniel entered the study.
Vanessa followed him.
Charles immediately pointed at me.
“Your sister is constructing a conspiracy because she cannot accept your marriage.”
Vanessa moved beside Charles.
Too naturally.
As though they had rehearsed the moment.
Daniel looked from one face to another.
Then he placed the recorder on the desk.
“I listened to the entire recording.”
Vanessa’s shoulders stiffened.
Daniel looked at her.
“You did more than throw water at Clara.”
“You threatened to have Rosa deported.”
Vanessa’s mouth opened.
Daniel raised his hand.
“And you told the person on the phone that everything would belong to you after the wedding.”
Charles slowly turned toward her.
Vanessa had not known that part had been recorded.
Neither had I.
Daniel’s voice broke.
“Who were you talking to?”
May you like
Vanessa looked at Charles.
That single glance gave us the answer.
