Chapter 3 - Michael's Last Warning)
Richard read the first line twice.
Dad,
If you are reading this, something happened before I could tell you myself.
Claire watched the color leave his face.
Vanessa stood completely still.
Richard unfolded the rest of the letter.
His hands did not shake.
But his breathing changed.
Michael had written it nearly two years earlier.
Before Sophie was born.
Before the accident.
Before Vanessa and Richard had announced their engagement.
Richard began reading silently.
Claire wanted to ask what it said.
She did not.
The living room seemed to shrink around them.
Finally Richard looked up.
"How long have you known Martin Shaw?"
Vanessa blinked.
"Your attorney?"
"Answer me."
"Since you introduced us."
Richard handed Claire the photograph.
It showed Vanessa sitting at an outdoor restaurant.
Across from her was Martin.
The photograph was dated almost three months before Vanessa claimed they had ever met.
Claire looked at Richard.
Vanessa recovered quickly.
"It's a restaurant. We could have been seated near each other."
Richard unfolded another page.
"My son says he followed you there."
Vanessa's expression hardened.
Claire continued reading.
Michael had become suspicious after discovering that Vanessa was asking unusually detailed questions about Richard's estate.
At first he had thought she was simply interested in the lifestyle.
Then he noticed Martin giving her confidential information at a charity event.
Michael investigated.
He learned that Martin and Vanessa had known one another for years.
Long before Richard.
They had even been involved romantically.
Richard looked as if each sentence were cutting through something inside him.
Claire had never loved Vanessa.
But Richard had.
Or at least he had believed he did.
Michael's letter warned him that Vanessa and Martin might be working together to gain access to his wealth.
Michael had planned to confront them.
He never got the chance.
Claire's eyes stopped on the final paragraph.
Dad, if anything happens to me before we talk, do not assume the accident was only an accident until you've checked everything.
Claire looked at Richard.
Neither spoke.
Vanessa laughed.
It sounded forced.
"Michael hated me."
Richard slowly raised his eyes.
"He barely knew you when he wrote this."
"He was possessive of you."
"My son was thirty-two years old."
"He still didn't want you to be happy."
Claire stared at Vanessa.
Something about her calmness disturbed her.
Michael was dead.
Yet Vanessa was not offended by the accusation.
She looked irritated that the letter existed.
Richard folded it carefully.
"We're going to find out what he discovered."
Vanessa stepped toward the door.
"I'm done with this."
Thomas blocked her path.
Richard looked at him.
"Don't physically restrain her."
Vanessa smiled.
Then Richard added, "But photograph everything she takes from this house."
Her smile disappeared.
"You can't keep my belongings."
"Anything proven to be yours will be returned."
"This is humiliating."
Claire looked down at Sophie.
"Humiliating?"
Vanessa glanced toward the baby.
Claire felt anger rise again.
Richard saw it.
"Claire. Hospital."
She nodded.
This time they left.
Richard drove.
Claire sat in the back with Sophie.
For most of the trip, nobody spoke.
The pediatric emergency department was quiet in the late afternoon.
A doctor examined Sophie carefully.
No serious injury.
No fracture.
The mark on her arm was superficial.
Relief weakened Claire so suddenly she almost cried.
But the doctor asked several questions.
Had Sophie been hurt before?
Had she shown fear around a particular caregiver?
Were there unexplained marks?
Claire answered truthfully.
Yes.
Maybe.
Yes.
The doctor became more serious.
A social worker entered.
Claire's stomach tightened, but Richard placed one hand on her shoulder.
"Tell them everything."
So she did.
The unexplained crying.
The bruise near Sophie's shoulder two weeks earlier.
Vanessa's increasing hostility.
The slap Claire witnessed.
The security cameras.
The deleted footage.
The hospital contacted the proper authorities because an infant had allegedly been intentionally harmed.
Richard did not interfere.
He did not call powerful friends.
He did not ask anyone to make it disappear.
He simply said, "Preserve the truth."
While Claire completed paperwork, Richard received a call from Eleanor.
He walked into the hallway.
When he returned, his expression had changed.
"What happened?" Claire asked.
"Eleanor opened the flash drive."
Claire waited.
"It contains copies of financial statements."
"Yours?"
"Some."
"What else?"
"Insurance documents."
Claire felt cold.
"Whose insurance?"
Richard looked toward Sophie.
"Michael's."
Claire stopped breathing.
Michael had carried a large life insurance policy.
Claire knew because half of it had gone into a trust for Sophie.
But the copy on Vanessa's flash drive was different.
It included internal communications Claire had never seen.
Changes to beneficiary structures.
A corporate policy held through one of Richard's businesses.
And notes made by Martin.
Richard sat beside Claire.
"There was another policy."
"How much?"
"Twelve million dollars."
Claire stared at him.
"Who received it?"
"The Bennett Group."
Claire felt confused.
"Your company?"
"Yes."
"Why would Vanessa have that?"
Richard did not answer immediately.
Because both of them understood the more frightening question.
Why would Vanessa have collected documents about a dead man's insurance before becoming engaged to his father?
Richard's phone rang again.
Eleanor.
He answered.
Claire could hear her voice faintly.
"Richard, there is something else."
"What?"
"The deleted security footage."
Richard went still.
"Was it recovered?"
"Partially."
"How far back?"
"Six weeks."
Richard glanced at Claire.
Eleanor continued.
"There are forty-three manual deletion events."
Claire felt sick.
"Forty-three?"
Eleanor heard her.
"Claire, yes."
"Does it show Sophie?"
A pause.
"Some of it."
Claire closed her eyes.
Richard's voice hardened.
"I want every clip preserved."
"Already done."
"What about the person deleting them?"
"We traced the access source."
Richard waited.
"The deletions weren't made from Vanessa's phone."
Vanessa had seemed guilty.
Claire opened her eyes.
"Then whose device?"
Eleanor answered.
"Your study computer."
Richard frowned.
The computer in Richard's private study required both a password and a fingerprint scan.
Very few people ever entered the room alone.
Richard.
Thomas, occasionally.
Martin, during legal meetings.
And Michael, years ago.
Claire felt a horrible possibility form.
"When was Martin last at the mansion?"
Richard looked at her.
"Three days ago."
Claire's stomach tightened.
Eleanor continued.
"There is more. The access logs go beyond the camera archive. Someone opened your trust documents, property deeds, corporate succession files, and the electronic copy of your new will."
Richard became very still.
"What new will?"
Eleanor stopped speaking.
Richard repeated the question.
"I have not signed a new will."
Claire felt the room tilt.
May you like
Eleanor's voice became slow.
"Then we have a much bigger problem."
