Chapter 5 - The Woman Emily Chose
Grace wanted to leave.
Not because she was guilty.
Because she was terrified.
“I’m a nanny, Daniel.”
“You’re the person Emily trusted.”
“That doesn’t make me ready to fight your family.”
“No.”
I looked toward the staircase where Noah was sleeping.
“But you already did.”
Grace had put herself between Victoria and my son before she knew I was home.
She had taken the blow meant for him.
She had searched Emily’s room after noticing Noah’s blanket had been tampered with.
She had protected evidence when the power failed.
Emily had chosen correctly.
By afternoon, the police executed a search warrant on Bell’s medical office.
They found almost nothing.
Computers wiped.
Files missing.
Security footage erased.
But one nurse remembered seeing Marcus there several times during Emily’s final year.
Marcus denied it.
Then detectives showed him parking records.
He stopped denying it.
“I was meeting Bell.”
“Why?” I demanded.
Marcus sat in my attorney’s conference room with his lawyer beside him.
He looked exhausted.
“To find out what Emily knew.”
“About the stolen money?”
“Yes.”
“You gave Victoria access to Noah’s trust.”
“I gave her limited access to financial documents.”
“Why?”
“Because she was helping me investigate the foundation.”
Victoria as investigator.
The lie was almost insulting.
Marcus leaned forward.
“I met her through Bell.”
That surprised me.
“Bell introduced you?”
“Yes.”
“She told me she worked in forensic accounting.”
“She said someone inside the foundation was stealing.”
“And you believed her?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
Marcus stared at the table.
“I fell in love with her.”
I almost laughed.
“You planned to take my son with a woman you loved?”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Victoria started threatening me.”
“With what?”
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
He looked at me.
“Embezzlement.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“You did steal money.”
“I moved money.”
“That’s stealing.”
“I thought I was moving it temporarily.”
“Four million dollars?”
He slammed his palm on the table.
“She told me the foundation was under investigation.”
“She said if I didn’t relocate assets, the government could freeze everything.”
“I believed her.”
“Then Emily discovered the transfers.”
Marcus nodded.
“Emily threatened to expose me.”
“So you tried to discredit her.”
“No.”
“Then why did Bell start describing her as unstable?”
Marcus said nothing.
That answer was enough.
“You let him do it.”
“I didn’t know how far they would go.”
“They?”
“Victoria and Bell.”
I stood.
“And when did you realize?”
Marcus whispered,
“The night before Emily died.”
The room became silent.
“What happened?”
Marcus looked at his lawyer.
His lawyer shook his head.
Marcus ignored him.
“I went to Emily.”
“To warn her?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
He swallowed.
“Victoria had asked me whether Emily usually drove herself to her appointments.”
My heart began hammering.
“I told Emily not to use her car.”
“But she did.”
Marcus looked broken.
“No.”
“She didn’t.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Emily left the house in another vehicle that morning.”
I stared at him.
“But the police said she died in her car.”
May you like
Marcus slowly shook his head.
“The car in the crash was yours.”
