Chapter 6: The Voice in the Darkness
Sam screamed.
“Stay where you are,” Naomi called.
A chair scraped across the floor.
Julian switched on his phone light and found the study door standing open.
“Victor’s gone.”
“So is Noah’s backpack,” Celeste said.
They hurried into the corridor.
Smoke curled from the drawing room fireplace.
Victor stood before it with the backpack in his hands.
“Stop!” Eleanor shouted.
He pulled out a small recorder and dropped it into the flames.
Noah tried to run forward, but Naomi held him.
Victor watched the plastic casing curl.
“There.
Now this circus ends.”
Eleanor stepped between him and the fire.
“You frightened my daughter, stole her letters and kept her children from me.”
“You cannot prove any of it.”
“I can prove the trust was altered.”
“A document found in a desk opened by a key Rose supplied?
Any competent solicitor will tear it apart.”
“You forged my signature.”
“Prove that too.”
Miriam raised the scorched account page.
“This transfer connects you to V.H.
Holdings.”
“It connects initials to a company.”
Victor turned to Eleanor.
“I will offer you one final arrangement.
Keep the estate.
Keep your social standing.
I will establish a generous fund for the boys, and they will live elsewhere.”
“They are not objects to be stored elsewhere.”
“Then prepare to lose this house, Julian’s company and every board seat your family holds.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
Victor smiled at him.
“Tell your mother what happened when Rose first wrote to you.”
Eleanor turned.
“Julian?”
He looked at the floor.
“I was nineteen.
A letter came to my university.”
“You knew she was alive?”
“I gave it to Victor.”
Rose’s voice still came through Naomi’s phone.
“You never answered me.”
Julian stepped closer to the screen.
“Victor said you were trying to turn me against Mum.
I believed him.”
“You were my brother.”
“I know.”
“No, Julian.
You knew my handwriting.
You knew I was frightened, and you handed my words to the man frightening me.”
Julian’s eyes filled.
“I failed you.”
Victor spread his hands.
“There.
Even her beloved brother wanted nothing to do with her.”
Eleanor looked ready to fall.
Noah took her hand.
“Grandmother, Mum said people can do the wrong thing and still choose the right thing next.”
Julian lifted his head.
“He’s right.”
Victor nodded toward the fireplace.
“The right thing burned.”
“No,” Celeste said.
“The original burned.”
She held up Noah’s tablet.
“The recorder uploaded automatically whenever it connected to the estate Wi-Fi.”
Miriam pressed play.
Victor’s voice filled the room.
“You will sign away your claim, Rose.
If you contact Eleanor again, I will use your medical history to take those boys.
You know I can.”
Victor’s face emptied of color.
A second voice followed—Rose’s.
“And the money you moved from the children’s fund?”
“You will forget it if you want your sons beside you tomorrow.”
Julian stepped toward him.
“How much did you take?”
Victor moved toward the side door.
Miriam blocked it.
“The auditor is already reviewing the accounts.”
Rose spoke through the phone.
“Play the final minute.”
The recording crackled.
Victor’s voice returned.
“Adrian should never have questioned the insurance papers.
His signature was useful once.
It can be useful again.”
May you like
Rose looked directly through the screen.
“Mum, ask Victor why his company collected two million dollars after my husband didn’t survive that accident.”
