Chapter 5 - Anna's Letter
Rebecca did not burn the letter.
She almost did.
Then she realized destroying it would create a problem if Charles ever needed to know exactly what Anna had written.
So Rebecca hid it.
That decision ultimately destroyed everything.
She placed the envelope inside a locked compartment at the bottom of her bridal trunk.
Sophie saw where.
Three nights later, the mansion hosted a wedding-planning dinner.
Rebecca, Charles, Charles's wife Evelyn, Nathan, Ian Brooks, and several vendors filled the dining room.
Lucas spent most of the evening answering business calls.
Sophie sat quietly near the end of the table.
Rebecca's parents barely acknowledged her.
Charles raised his glass.
"To Lucas and Rebecca. Two families becoming one."
Sophie looked at him.
"Does becoming one family mean somebody has to leave?"
The table went silent.
Lucas lowered his phone.
"What?"
Rebecca's smile froze.
"Sophie."
The girl looked at her father.
"If you marry Rebecca, do I still live here?"
Lucas stared.
"Of course you do."
Rebecca laughed.
"Where would you go?"
Sophie looked directly at her.
"The school."
Rebecca set down her glass.
Lucas frowned.
"What school?"
Sophie hesitated.
Rebecca answered.
"We toured a private academy last month."
"You did?"
"It's excellent. Small classes."
"You never mentioned boarding school."
"It's not necessarily boarding."
Sophie whispered.
"She said it was."
Lucas turned.
"Rebecca?"
Rebecca smiled tightly.
"I was exploring options."
"For my daughter?"
"For our daughter."
Sophie immediately shook her head.
"I'm not your daughter."
Rebecca's cheeks flushed.
Lucas intervened.
"Okay. Enough."
Charles cleared his throat.
"Children often resist change."
Lucas looked at him.
"No one is sending Sophie anywhere."
Rebecca reached for Lucas's hand.
"Of course not."
The conversation moved on.
But Ian Brooks watched Rebecca for the rest of dinner.
At 10:30 p.m., after the guests left, Sophie slipped into Rebecca's bridal room.
She had watched Rebecca enter the lock code several times.
314.
Rebecca's birthday.
The trunk opened.
Sophie found Anna's envelope beneath layers of tissue paper.
She took it.
Then she heard footsteps.
Sophie closed the trunk and crawled beneath a long table covered with fabric.
Rebecca entered with Charles.
"Lucas is becoming suspicious," Rebecca said.
Charles poured himself water.
"Suspicion doesn't matter after the marriage."
"It does if Ian gets the audit opened early."
"The audit date is tied to the marriage."
"And if Lucas cancels?"
Charles looked at her.
"He won't."
"You didn't see him tonight."
"I saw a man who feels guilty every time you cry."
Rebecca said nothing.
Charles continued.
"Use that."
Rebecca's voice hardened.
"I'm marrying him, Dad. I'm not proud of what we're doing."
Charles laughed.
"Don't suddenly develop a conscience."
"I never agreed to hurt Sophie."
"No one's hurting her."
"You want her placed in boarding school."
"I want her away from Margaret."
"She's seven."
"She's the beneficiary of twenty-six million dollars."
Rebecca stared at him.
"She doesn't even know what that means."
"She doesn't need to. Margaret does."
Charles stepped closer.
"The moment the audit begins, they'll trace the old accounts. We need Rebecca Bennett, spouse and guardian, in the room when decisions are made."
"I'm not her guardian."
"You will be."
"Lucas hasn't signed."
Charles smiled.
"He signed more than he realizes."
Under the table, Sophie covered her mouth.
Rebecca walked toward the trunk.
Sophie stopped breathing.
Charles's phone rang.
He answered and walked toward the door.
Rebecca followed.
"Don't leave yet."
The door closed behind them.
Sophie waited.
Then she ran.
She hid Anna's letter inside her pillowcase.
She wanted to give it to Lucas immediately.
But he was not home.
A problem at one of Bennett Holdings' warehouses had taken him to Baltimore overnight.
Sophie called Margaret instead.
This time Margaret answered.
"I found Mommy's letter."
The grandmother became silent.
"Where?"
"Rebecca had it."
"Sophie, listen to me. Do not open it."
"Why?"
"Because it was written for your father."
"Rebecca said Grandpa Charles wants my money."
Margaret inhaled.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes."
"Where is Rebecca now?"
"Downstairs."
Margaret's voice became urgent.
"Hide the letter somewhere Rebecca won't find it. Tomorrow morning I'll come to you."
"You'll come here?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
For the first time in years, Sophie smiled while speaking to her grandmother.
She moved the letter from her pillowcase to the pocket inside Anna's old winter coat hanging at the back of Sophie's closet.
The next morning Margaret did not arrive.
Because fifty miles from Rosewood Mansion, her car was struck at an intersection.
Margaret survived.
Her wrist was broken.
Her phone was destroyed.
The driver who hit her disappeared.
Police initially called it an accident.
Then Ian Brooks discovered something strange.
The vehicle had been rented.
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The rental agreement used a corporate account.
Whitmore Strategic Partners.
