Chapter 24 - The Parcel Richard Left
Elena placed Richard’s parcel on the library desk.
For years, she had believed the worst secrets in her marriage were the things Richard had feared about Garrick.
Now she understood that he had hidden an entire investigation, threats against their child and a protected witness whose identity remained unknown.
Garrick stood across from her.
He had not entered the mansion since the day authorities escorted him away. Elena had permitted him inside only because Richard’s instructions required his presence.
“This does not mean you are coming home,” she said.
“I know.”
“It does not mean I trust you.”
“I know.”
“It does not mean your father’s secrets excuse yours.”
“They don’t.”
Elena cut the outer cord.
Inside the parcel was a letter, a small electronic key and a photograph identical to Evelyn’s copy, except the girl’s face remained undamaged.
Garrick stared at her.
“I know her.”
The girl had appeared in photographs from one of his university investment programs. She had used the name Diana Lane and presented herself as an assistant to Conrad’s business partner.
She encouraged Garrick’s earliest technology proposal. She introduced him to investors who praised his ambition and suggested Richard was preventing him from succeeding independently.
Garrick had not seen her in twenty years.
Clara searched the name.
Diana Lane had no verifiable history before the investment program.
Richard’s letter explained that Diana was the daughter of a family whose home Conrad had stolen. She initially helped Conrad because he promised to return the property.
Later, Richard persuaded her to become a witness.
Before she could testify, she disappeared.
Richard believed Conrad had given her a new identity and used her to approach young heirs—including Garrick.
The electronic key opened an encrypted section of Mara’s records.
A list of aliases appeared.
Diana Lane.
Margaret Vale.
Evelyn Cross.
And one more identity.
Sabrina Devereux.
Garrick stepped back.
“That’s impossible.”
The birth dates were different, but photographs revealed a strong resemblance between Diana and Sabrina.
Not the same woman.
Mother and daughter.
Sabrina had not entered Garrick’s life by accident.
She had been raised by the missing witness and later recruited by the same people her mother once tried to expose.
Elena reached the final paragraph of Richard’s letter.
Diana contacted me shortly before my illness became public. She said Sabrina had been taken from her and raised to believe our family caused every loss in hers. I tried to find the girl. Celeste reached her first.
The letter ended without explaining whether Diana remained alive.
Then the mansion’s front-gate alarm sounded.
Teresa checked the security camera.
A courier stood outside holding a sealed evidence container.
May you like
The return label came from the property division that had stored Sabrina’s possessions after her case.
Inside the transparent container was the handbag Elena had dropped into the fire pit.
