Chapter 3
I didn't sleep that night.
Lily slept in my bedroom with the door open and a night-light glowing beside her pillow.
I sat in the study until dawn, reading my father's notebook.
The first pages contained ordinary business notes. Construction contracts. Property purchases. Donations to local charities.
Then the entries changed.
My father had suspected that Richard was diverting money from one of our family foundations.
At first, the amounts were small.
Then they grew.
My father had hired an independent accountant to investigate. Before the accountant could deliver his findings, he disappeared from the records and stopped answering calls.
The final entries were more disturbing.
Richard had requested copies of my father's estate documents.
Richard had attempted to change the authorized signatories on several accounts.
And Richard had repeatedly visited my father's house during the weeks before his death.
I remembered those weeks.
My father had been exhausted. He'd complained about stress, but he'd never explained why.
I'd assumed he was simply struggling with his health.
The last page contained a sentence that made me grip the desk.
If anything happens to me, protect Marcus and his child. Richard believes the inheritance belongs to him.
My phone rang.
It was my attorney, Evelyn Brooks.
I'd called her the previous evening, but she hadn't expected me to send photographs of handwritten notes before sunrise.
"Marcus," she said, "I need you to tell me whether anyone else has accessed these documents."
"I don't know."
"Then don't confront Richard again until we've secured everything."
"There's an original will mentioned in the notebook."
She fell silent.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Your father's estate was settled using a document that named you as the sole beneficiary. If there's another valid will, we need to establish what it says and whether it was properly executed."
"Could Richard have stolen it?"
"Possibly. But we need evidence, not assumptions."
I looked toward the bedroom.
"What about Vanessa?"
"Do you believe she has been abusing Lily?"
"I found my daughter eating on the floor beside the trash. She told me Vanessa withheld meals."
"Then Lily's safety comes first. Keep them separated, document everything, and let the appropriate professionals evaluate what happened."
After the call, I contacted my sister.
Danielle arrived within an hour.
She took one look at Lily and began crying.
"Oh, sweetheart."
Lily hid behind my leg.
Danielle immediately crouched to her height.
"You don't have to talk to me. I just want you to know you're safe."
Lily studied her face before slowly stepping forward.
My sister hugged her gently.
Then she looked at me.
"How long has this been happening?"
"I don't know."
"Marcus, she's afraid of her own shadow."
The words landed like a punch.
I arranged for Danielle to take Lily to the pediatrician while I met Evelyn.
Before leaving, I checked the security system.
Several camera recordings were missing.
Not just from the previous night.
Entire weeks had disappeared.
Someone had accessed the system using an administrator account.
I found the login timestamp.
Richard had entered the property twice while I was traveling.
Vanessa had been home both times.
I copied the remaining records and gave them to Evelyn.
By noon, we had discovered another problem.
A bank statement showed that more than two hundred thousand dollars had been transferred from a charitable trust connected to my father's estate.
The recipient was a consulting company I didn't recognize.
Its registered address led to a private mailbox.
Its listed director was Vanessa.
I stared at the document.
"She stole from my father's foundation?"
"We don't know the full circumstances yet," Evelyn said. "But the records warrant investigation."
I remembered Vanessa insisting that she needed access to the household accounts because she understood charitable administration.
I had trusted her.
I had trusted Richard.
Both had used that trust to get closer to everything my father left behind.
Then Evelyn opened another file.
"This is the document your father used to establish Lily's educational trust."
I frowned.
"I signed that after his funeral."
"You signed a summary. The actual trust agreement contains a restriction."
"What restriction?"
"Your father's estate cannot be transferred, pledged, or used as collateral for another person's private debt."
I looked at her.
"Why would that matter?"
She turned the page.
"Because someone appears to have attempted to use the family property as collateral."
The signature on the attached authorization looked almost like mine.
Almost.
I leaned closer.
The signature had been copied from a document I'd signed years earlier.
Someone had forged my name.
"Who submitted this?"
Evelyn tapped the corner of the page.
"Richard Cole."
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message from Vanessa appeared.
We need to talk before you destroy everything.
Another message followed.
Richard isn't the only person your father was afraid of.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
"Where are you?" I demanded.
"Somewhere safe."
"Safe from whom?"
She began crying.
"Marcus, I know you hate me. But I need you to understand that Richard threatened me."
"That doesn't explain what you did to Lily."
"I know."
Her admission surprised me.
"I know I hurt her," she whispered. "I was wrong."
"Then tell me the truth."
She hesitated.
"Richard said your father had hidden the original will. He told me that if I helped him find it, we could protect our future."
"Our future?"
"He promised me money."
I felt sick.
"You used my daughter to help a man steal from my family?"
"No. I didn't know everything he was doing."
"But you knew enough to be afraid."
She said nothing.
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
"Richard has a copy of the original will."
I gripped the phone.
"Where?"
"In a safe at his office."
"What's in it?"
Her voice broke.
"Your father didn't leave you everything, Marcus."
May you like
She took a trembling breath.
"He left Lily something that Richard believes is worth millions."
