Chapter 13 - E.C.
Lena looked at Robert.
“Who is E.C.?”
Robert didn't answer.
Susan did.
“Ethan Carter.”
Lena frowned.
“Who is Ethan Carter?”
Robert's face collapsed.
Daniel slowly sat down.
Emily looked at Lena.
“He is your grandfather's son.”
Lena stared.
Another sibling.
Another secret.
Another person erased from the family history.
Robert shook his head.
“He died.”
Emily said, “No.”
Daniel looked at the records.
“Ethan was born before Robert married Susan.”
Lena couldn't believe it.
“How many people did this family hide?”
Emily answered softly.
“Enough to make the truth look impossible.”
Ethan had disappeared years earlier.
But his name had been used to create a holding company.
A holding company that received money from Lena's trust.
Lena looked at Robert.
“You used his name.”
Robert said nothing.
“Why?”
Robert finally sat down.
“Because your grandfather trusted Ethan.”
“Where is he?”
Robert looked toward Richard.
Richard answered.
“Somewhere safe.”
Lena stared.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Emily stepped closer.
“The important thing is not where Ethan is.”
“What is?”
“He has the final records.”
“What records?”
“The ones that prove who moved the money.”
Lena looked at Daniel.
“Can we find him?”
Daniel nodded.
“If the records are genuine.”
Emily handed him another envelope.
“He sent these to me.”
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a handwritten statement.
Ethan claimed that Robert had not acted alone.
There had been another person.
Someone inside the family.
Someone who had controlled the forged signatures.
Someone who had intercepted the letters.
Someone who had convinced Susan to sign the trust amendment.
Lena's eyes moved to her mother.
Susan shook her head.
“No.”
The statement contained only initials.
S.C.
Susan began crying.
Lena stared.
“Mom?”
“I didn't do that.”
Daniel read the final paragraph.
“It says S.C. does not mean Susan.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Then who?”
Daniel turned the page.
There was another name.
Samantha Carter.
Lena had never heard it.
Robert's face became expressionless.
Emily looked at him.
“Tell her.”
Robert whispered:
“She was my sister.”
Lena stared.
“What happened to her?”
“She died.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Robert looked at her.
Emily continued.
“She disappeared.”
Lena felt dizzy.
“How many people are alive?”
No one answered.
Then Lena's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice said:
“Lena?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Ethan.”
She froze.
“I've been trying to reach you.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is listening.”
Lena looked around the room.
Everyone was silent.
Ethan continued.
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
“The money isn't the real reason your father is afraid.”
Lena's heart pounded.
“Then what is?”
Ethan paused.
“The house.”
Lena looked toward the window.
“The house?”
“Your grandfather built something beneath it.”
“What?”
Ethan's voice dropped.
“A vault.”
The call ended.
Lena looked at everyone.
Robert suddenly stood.
“We're leaving.”
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Robert pulled away.
“You don't understand.”
Lena stared at her father.
“What is beneath my house?”
Robert looked at her.
For the first time in her life, he looked like a frightened child.
May you like
Then he said:
“Everything.”
