Chapter 4
I read the message again.
Then again.
My mother didn't die knowing the whole truth.
The words made no sense.
My mother had died after a long illness.
I remembered her final weeks.
The hospital room.
The machines.
The way her hands had grown thinner.
There had never been any mystery about her illness.
At least, that was what I'd always believed.
"Dad," I whispered, "what does this mean?"
He reached for the photograph.
I hesitated.
Then handed it to him.
His expression changed as he examined it.
"I remember this event."
"What event?"
"The hotel expansion announcement. Your mother had just helped negotiate the financing."
I frowned.
"Victoria was involved?"
He nodded.
"At the time, yes."
I looked at the photograph again.
Victoria was smiling beside my mother.
They looked like friends.
Real friends.
The kind who trusted each other.
"What truth didn't Mom know?"
Dad shook his head.
"I don't know."
But something about his voice told me he was remembering more than he wanted to say.
I stood.
Lily stirred against my chest.
I immediately lowered my voice.
"Dad, please don't hide things from me."
He looked at Lily.
Then back at me.
"Sit down, sweetheart."
I remained standing.
"No."
He sighed.
"Your mother suspected Victoria had been diverting money through several consulting companies."
My stomach tightened.
"How much?"
"Several million dollars may have been involved."
I stared at him.
"Several million?"
He nodded.
"Your mother hired an outside accountant. Before the review was completed, her health deteriorated."
I looked toward the window.
"Did Victoria know?"
"She knew questions were being asked."
"And after Mom died?"
Dad rubbed his forehead.
"I authorized a review. We recovered some funds through a settlement, but the evidence was incomplete."
"Did Victoria admit anything?"
"No."
I thought about the photograph.
The date.
The message.
"Then why would someone send this now?"
Evelyn spoke from the doorway.
"Richard, there may be someone who knows."
We both turned.
She hesitated.
"Your former chief financial officer contacted me yesterday."
Dad frowned.
"Harold?"
"Yes."
I looked between them.
"Who is Harold?"
"Harold Pierce," Dad said. "He managed the company's finances when your mother was alive."
Evelyn nodded.
"He retired eight years ago. Yesterday, he asked whether Victoria Sterling was still doing business with us."
My heartbeat quickened.
"Why?"
"He wouldn't explain over the phone. He said he needed to speak with Richard privately."
Dad stood.
"Call him."
Evelyn stepped outside.
I looked at my father.
"Did you know he called?"
"No."
I believed him.
But I was beginning to understand how much of my family's history had been buried beneath silence.
I sat down again.
Lily woke and began fussing.
I checked her diaper and settled her for feeding.
Dad turned toward the window to give me privacy.
That small gesture surprised me.
He used to make everything feel like a meeting.
Now he seemed to understand that sometimes I needed space.
After Lily settled, I asked quietly, "Did you ever receive my letters?"
Dad turned.
"What letters?"
My stomach dropped.
"The letters I sent after I left."
His face changed.
"Nia, you never wrote to me."
I stared at him.
"Yes, I did."
He shook his head.
"I checked the mail every day."
I swallowed.
"I sent three letters."
Dad slowly sat down.
"Where?"
"To the mansion. Your home address."
He looked stunned.
"I never received them."
I felt my chest tighten.
I remembered writing the first letter six months after our argument.
I'd told him I was working at a small community clinic.
I'd told him I missed him.
I'd told him I wasn't ready to come home, but I wanted us to start talking.
When he never answered, I assumed he was punishing me.
The second letter had been angrier.
The third had been an apology.
All unanswered.
"Dad, I waited for you."
His eyes filled.
"I waited for you too."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Evelyn returned.
"Harold has agreed to meet."
Dad stood.
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
I looked at him.
"I'm coming."
He hesitated.
I raised an eyebrow.
He gave a tired smile.
"All right."
That evening, Evelyn arranged a secure suite for Lily and me while security investigated the threats.
Dad offered to take us to his mansion.
I refused.
Not because I hated him.
But because I wasn't ready to return to the place where I'd felt so trapped.
He accepted my decision.
Before leaving, he stood beside the door.
"Nia?"
I looked up.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry about our last argument."
My throat tightened.
He continued.
"I wanted you to join the company because I believed it would give you security."
I looked down at Lily.
"I wanted to become a nurse."
"I know."
"You said I was throwing my future away."
His face filled with regret.
"I was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of losing you the way I lost your mother."
My eyes filled.
He stepped closer.
"But I handled that fear badly."
I swallowed.
"I was afraid too, Dad."
He nodded.
"I know that now."
When he left, I sat beside the window and cried.
Not from fear.
Not from anger.
But because the wall between us had finally begun to crack.
The next morning, Harold Pierce arrived at the hotel.
He was seventy years old, with silver hair and tired eyes.
He looked at me for a long moment.
"You're Lorraine's daughter."
I nodded.
He smiled sadly.
"You have her eyes."
We sat in Dad's private meeting room.
Harold placed an old leather folder on the table.
"I should have come forward years ago."
Dad leaned forward.
"Harold, what happened?"
Harold looked at me.
"Your mother discovered that money was being diverted from the hotel expansion project."
I held my breath.
"Victoria?"
He nodded.
"But she wasn't working alone."
Dad's face tightened.
"Who else?"
Harold opened the folder.
Inside were copies of contracts, bank records, and handwritten notes.
He pointed to a signature.
I recognized the name immediately.
I had seen it on holiday cards throughout my childhood.
I had heard it spoken with affection.
And I had once called the man Uncle.
"Daniel Cross," I whispered.
Harold nodded.
"Your father's oldest friend."
My father stared at the document.
Then Harold said the words that made the room feel suddenly cold.
"Richard, Victoria and Daniel didn't just steal money from the company."
May you like
He looked toward my mother's photograph.
"They used Lorraine's illness to hide what they were doing."
