Chapter 9 - The Ledger in the Nursery.
Emma was discharged from inpatient care five days later.
She refused to leave Beacon Crest completely.
Charles arranged a private family suite two floors beneath the NICU.
Emma slept there.
Showered there.
Ate there.
But most waking hours were spent beside Noah and Elise.
The twins became stronger in tiny increments.
Noah gained ounces.
Elise tolerated feeding for longer periods.
Every improvement felt like a victory.
Every alarm still stopped Emma's heart.
One afternoon, Charles entered carrying a cardboard box.
"What is that?"
"Items from your apartment."
Emma's expression changed.
Grant had changed the locks before she left the hospital.
Rebecca obtained an emergency order allowing Emma's personal property to be retrieved.
Emma opened the box.
Baby blankets lay on top.
Then books.
Photographs.
A small wooden music box her grandmother had given her.
Emma smiled sadly.
Charles sat beside her.
"There's more being stored securely."
Emma lifted a framed ultrasound photograph.
Grant had once stood beside her during that appointment.
He had cried when they heard two heartbeats.
At least, she thought he had.
She no longer knew which memories were real.
Beneath the photograph was a leather notebook.
Emma frowned.
"This isn't mine."
Charles looked at it.
The cover was dark green.
No name appeared.
Emma opened it.
Rows of numbers filled the pages.
Dates.
Payment amounts.
Vendor codes.
Initials.
Charles leaned closer.
"What is that?"
"I don't know."
Emma flipped through.
Then she recognized a code.
VC-17.
Vantage Clinical.
Her pulse changed.
"Grandfather."
Charles reached for his phone.
"Don't touch anything else."
Daniel arrived within thirty minutes.
The notebook was photographed before anyone handled it further.
Emma explained where it had been found.
"In a box from the nursery?"
"Apparently."
Daniel frowned.
"Why would Grant keep financial records there?"
Emma thought.
"He didn't use the nursery."
"Never?"
"He said the smell of paint bothered him."
Daniel looked through the photographed pages.
"Maybe someone else hid it."
Emma remembered their housekeeper, Rosa.
Rosa had worked with them twice each week.
She had abruptly quit one month earlier.
At the time, Grant said she wanted to move closer to her daughter.
Emma had never spoken to her directly.
Daniel immediately tried locating her.
By evening, he had an answer.
Rosa had not moved.
She had been fired.
Emma stared at the message.
"Why?"
"Grant accused her of stealing."
Emma's stomach tightened.
"That doesn't sound like Rosa."
"Her attorney agrees."
"She has an attorney?"
Daniel nodded.
"Because Grant threatened criminal charges if she contacted you."
Emma slowly sat down.
"What did she see?"
Daniel arranged a video call.
Rosa appeared on the screen from her sister's house.
The older woman began crying when she saw Emma.
"Mrs. Holloway."
"Emma."
Rosa wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I should have called."
"Grant threatened you."
"He said he would tell immigration that my nephew was working illegally."
Emma's face hardened.
"He wasn't."
"I know."
Rosa looked frightened even now.
Emma softened her voice.
"Tell me what happened."
Rosa nodded.
"One night I was cleaning Mr. Holloway's office."
She took a breath.
"Miss Vanessa was there."
Emma remained still.
"They were arguing."
"About what?"
"Money."
Rosa looked down.
"Mr. Holloway said the reports didn't matter because no hospital would trace the equipment back to him."
Daniel leaned closer.
"Do you remember his exact words?"
Rosa nodded.
"He said, 'Hospitals blame machines, manufacturers blame hospitals, and babies can't testify.'"
Emma felt nauseated.
Charles stood and walked away from the screen.
His anger was too visible.
Rosa continued.
"I dropped something."
"They heard you?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"Mr. Holloway asked how long I had been standing there."
Emma whispered.
"And you said?"
"I lied."
Rosa's voice shook.
"I told him I heard nothing."
Emma looked at the leather notebook.
"Did you hide something in the nursery?"
Rosa nodded.
"The green book."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Where did it come from?"
"His desk."
"Why did you take it?"
"Because I was afraid he would destroy it."
Emma closed her eyes.
Rosa continued.
"I wanted to give it to you."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because the next morning, he fired me."
Emma looked at the notebook.
"Why the nursery?"
Rosa gave a sad smile.
"Because Mr. Holloway never went inside."
Emma's throat tightened.
The room created for his children had become the safest place to hide evidence from him.
Daniel examined one of the ledger pages.
Then his expression changed.
"Charles."
"What?"
"Look at this payment."
Charles came closer.
A transfer of nine hundred thousand dollars appeared beside a code.
BC-PROCUREMENT.
Emma frowned.
"Beacon Crest?"
Charles's face went cold.
"That isn't possible."
Daniel pointed lower.
Beside the payment were two initials.
M.S.
Everyone looked toward the hallway.
May you like
Beacon Crest's chief medical officer was Dr. Margaret Sloan.
And suddenly, the investigation was no longer entirely outside the hospital.
