Chapter 4 - The Brother Nobody Mentioned
Margaret stood so quickly that the chair scraped across the floor.
“Vanessa told us she didn’t have any family.”
Daniel’s gaze stayed on the computer.
“She told me her brother died ten years ago.”
Grant opened the corporate registration documents.
“Adrian Vale is very much alive.”
Emily leaned closer.
The address listed for Calder Strategic Holdings was a commercial building downtown.
The company had been created fourteen months earlier.
Three months later, the suspicious payments had begun.
Daniel looked at Grant.
“Print everything.”
Grant nodded.
Margaret covered her mouth.
“She was going to marry you.”
Daniel said nothing.
“She was going to become part of this family.”
“I know.”
Margaret’s anger broke through her shock.
“She lied from the beginning.”
Daniel stood.
“We don’t know how far back the lies go.”
Emily quietly moved toward the doorway.
Daniel noticed.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the staff quarters.”
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
Daniel softened his tone.
“Vanessa already tried to frame you once.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s coming after me again.”
Grant answered before Daniel could.
“It means exactly that.”
Emily looked at him.
Grant held up the silver access card.
“You found this.”
“If Vanessa realizes you found it, you’re a problem.”
Emily swallowed.
Daniel stepped closer.
“You’re staying in the main house tonight.”
“I work here, Daniel.”
“Tonight you’re not working.”
Emily almost argued.
Then she saw something in his expression.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
“All right.”
Margaret took Emily’s hand.
“You can use the east guest suite.”
Emily nodded.
Two police officers remained on the estate.
Daniel canceled the remaining party arrangements.
Flowers were removed.
Tables were cleared.
The engagement celebration that had been planned for that evening disappeared piece by piece.
At 1:17 a.m., Emily lay awake in the guest room.
Her cheek still hurt.
But the pain was not what kept her awake.
She kept remembering Vanessa’s face before the lights went out.
Vanessa had looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
As if the missing drive mattered more than the exposed necklace.
Emily sat up.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She stared at the screen.
A message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT QUIET.
Emily’s heart began pounding.
Another message arrived.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU FOUND.
She immediately called Daniel.
He answered after the first ring.
“What happened?”
She read the messages.
Thirty seconds later, Daniel and Grant were outside her door.
Grant photographed the screen.
“Don’t respond.”
Emily nodded.
A third message appeared.
Daniel watched it arrive.
ASK DANIEL WHAT HAPPENED TO ROBERT CARTER.
Emily froze.
Daniel’s face lost its color.
Margaret appeared in the hallway.
She had heard the voices.
“What’s wrong?”
Emily looked at Daniel.
“Who is Robert Carter?”
Daniel did not answer.
Margaret did.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“He was your father.”
Emily stared at her.
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“My father died in a car accident.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“That is what you were told.”
Emily’s breath caught.
Daniel looked toward his mother.
“Mom.”
Margaret shook her head.
“She deserves to know.”
Emily stepped backward.
“Know what?”
Margaret looked directly into Emily’s eyes.
“Your father worked for this family.”
Emily could barely breathe.
May you like
Margaret continued.
“And seventeen years ago, he was accused of stealing from us.”
