Chapter 4 - The Letter Behind the Photograph
Lena held the letter without opening it.
Robert looked at her as though she were holding a weapon.
Susan stood completely silent.
Daniel watched from the doorway.
“Open it,” he said quietly.
Robert turned toward him.
“You have no right.”
Daniel didn't respond.
Lena broke the seal.
The letter was dated twelve days before her grandfather died.
She read the first paragraph.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
Her grandfather had written that he was sorry.
Sorry that Lena had been kept away from certain family decisions.
Sorry that he had allowed Robert to control the family's finances.
Sorry that he had trusted the wrong person.
Lena kept reading.
The letter explained that her grandfather had discovered money disappearing from one of his business accounts.
He had confronted Robert.
Robert had denied everything.
But her grandfather had not believed him.
He had hired Daniel Brooks to investigate.
That was why Daniel knew so much.
Lena looked up.
Daniel nodded.
Her grandfather had suspected Robert of moving money through several companies.
But there was more.
The money had been connected to a property purchase.
A property Robert claimed he had purchased himself.
Lena knew the property.
Their family home.
Her parents' house.
The house she had grown up in.
The house Robert now insisted she help pay for.
Lena stared at the page.
Her grandfather had written one sentence that made her stop breathing.
The house was never meant to belong to Robert.
It was purchased for Lena.
Lena looked at her parents.
“What?”
Robert's expression had become empty.
Susan lowered her head.
Lena continued reading.
Her grandfather had created a trust.
The house.
The investment account.
Several other assets.
All were intended to transfer to Lena when she turned twenty-five.
But the transfer had never happened.
Instead, control remained with Robert.
Lena looked at Daniel.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
Daniel's expression was heavy.
“Because the trust documents were changed.”
“By whom?”
He didn't answer.
She looked at Robert.
“You changed them.”
Robert's silence was enough.
Susan suddenly spoke.
“I didn't know.”
Lena turned toward her.
“You lived in that house.”
“I thought it was your father's.”
“He told you?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
Susan started crying.
“I believed what he told me.”
Lena's anger softened for half a second.
Then she remembered the envelope.
The salary demand.
The agreement.
The years of pressure.
“Why did you ask me for half my salary?”
Susan looked at Robert.
Robert looked away.
Lena understood.
“You knew.”
Susan whispered, “He said we were in debt.”
“You were.”
“We were.”
“Because of my money.”
Susan couldn't answer.
Robert suddenly walked toward the letter.
“Give me that.”
Lena stepped back.
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're reading.”
“I understand enough.”
Robert's voice became desperate.
“If you take this to court, you destroy this family.”
Lena stared at him.
“You destroyed it when you took what wasn't yours.”
Robert's face hardened again.
“You think you're innocent?”
Lena frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Robert pointed at her.
“Your grandfather wasn't the only one who made arrangements.”
Daniel suddenly stepped forward.
“Robert.”
But Robert continued.
“He left you more than money.”
Lena's eyes narrowed.
“What else?”
Robert smiled bitterly.
“You really don't know.”
Daniel's face changed.
Lena looked at him.
“You know.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he said:
“There is another trust.”
Lena's heart stopped.
“What trust?”
Daniel looked at Robert.
May you like
Robert smiled.
“The one your grandfather never told you about.”
