Chapter 8 - the woman at the gate)
The car stopped outside.
Daniel moved Isabella behind him.
Jonah walked toward the security monitor.
The gate camera showed a black sedan.
Beatriz stepped out.
She was not alone.
A man in his sixties emerged from the passenger side.
Silver hair.
Dark glasses.
Expensive navy suit.
Daniel did not recognize him.
Adrian did.
"Victor Hale."
Daniel looked at him.
"Who?"
"The man in the photograph."
Daniel stared again at Claire's photograph.
Same jaw.
Same posture.
Older now.
But unquestionably the same man.
"What does he want?"
Adrian's voice dropped.
"Control."
"Of what?"
"Your company. Isabella's inheritance. Anything he can convert into influence."
"Why would Beatriz bring him here?"
"Maybe she didn't."
The gate intercom rang.
Daniel answered.
Beatriz appeared on the monitor.
"Daniel, open the gate."
"No."
Her expression tightened.
"We need to talk."
"We are talking."
"Not like this."
Daniel glanced at Victor.
He stood behind her calmly.
"Who's your friend?"
Beatriz hesitated.
"A lawyer."
Victor smiled slightly.
Adrian muttered, "Of course."
Daniel touched the intercom.
"Name?"
Victor stepped toward the camera.
"Victor Hale."
His American accent was smooth.
"Mr. Whitmore, I represent Beatriz regarding certain false allegations made against her."
Daniel almost laughed.
"That was fast."
"Serious matters require serious responses."
"She hasn't been accused formally."
"Then perhaps we can keep it that way."
Daniel looked at Adrian.
Adrian shook his head.
Do not open.
Daniel agreed.
"Leave."
Beatriz moved closer.
"Daniel, you're making a mistake."
"That's possible."
His voice became quiet.
"I've made several."
Beatriz's expression shifted.
For a moment, anger broke through.
Then disappeared.
"You think Isabella told you everything?"
Daniel's hand tightened on the monitor.
"What does that mean?"
"Open the gate."
"No."
"Then ask her about the pool."
Daniel felt Isabella move behind him.
He turned.
She had gone pale.
"Isabella?"
Beatriz saw her through the camera feed.
Her smile returned.
"Ask her."
Daniel switched off the intercom.
He crouched.
"Sweetheart."
Isabella's eyes filled.
"What happened at the pool?"
She began shaking her head.
Daniel did not push.
"Okay."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Daniel, take her upstairs."
Daniel's anger flashed.
"You don't give instructions in my house."
"Fine. Then listen to advice from someone who knows Hale."
"What does he want?"
"Fear."
"He's got the wrong house."
Adrian looked toward Isabella.
"Does he?"
Daniel hated him for being right.
They moved Isabella upstairs.
Rosa stayed with her.
Daniel returned.
The car remained outside.
Victor stood beside it making a phone call.
Beatriz paced.
Jonah closed the curtains.
Ethan spread the documents on the table.
"Adrian, start talking."
Adrian sat.
"Victor Hale was Claire's father's financial adviser."
Daniel frowned.
"I knew all of Charles's advisers."
"Not officially."
"What does that mean?"
"Hale arranged private deals."
"Legal?"
"Some."
"And the others?"
Adrian looked at the table.
"Nobody proved anything."
"Claire did?"
"She started to."
Daniel felt cold.
"Before she died."
"Yes."
"What did she find?"
"Money moving through shell companies connected to her father's estate."
"How much?"
"At least twelve million."
Daniel stared.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Maybe she planned to."
"You knew?"
"Only pieces."
Daniel stepped toward Adrian.
"For four years?"
"I didn't connect everything until Beatriz approached me."
"What did she want?"
"The trust structure."
"Why?"
"She claimed you planned to marry her."
Daniel said nothing.
Adrian continued.
"She asked what rights she would have over Isabella's assets as a stepmother."
"None."
"Correct."
"What did you tell her?"
"That."
"And?"
"She became very interested in emergency guardianship."
Ethan leaned forward.
"That should have alarmed you."
"It did."
"So you paid her?"
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"I made a mistake."
Daniel laughed once.
A humorless sound.
"That's a useful phrase today."
Adrian ignored it.
"I offered her consulting work so I could monitor her."
"Why not tell Daniel?"
"Because I didn't know whether Daniel was involved."
The room went silent.
Daniel stared at him.
"You thought I was stealing from my own daughter?"
"I thought someone close to Claire had helped Hale."
Daniel stepped forward.
Ethan blocked him.
"Daniel."
Adrian continued.
"Claire didn't trust many people at the end."
"You have no right to say her name."
"I have the emails."
Daniel stopped.
"What emails?"
Adrian pulled out his phone.
"Claire emailed me two days before she died."
Daniel's chest tightened.
"Show me."
Adrian opened an archived message.
Claire's name appeared at the top.
Daniel could barely look.
The message read:
Adrian,
I found the second ledger.
It proves Victor was not working alone.
I need you to check the trust documents before I speak to Daniel.
Do not call me at home.
C.
Daniel read the words twice.
"Second ledger?"
Adrian nodded.
"I never found it."
"Who was working with Hale?"
"I don't know."
"You said you had emails."
"That was the last one."
Daniel looked toward the closed curtains.
Outside, Victor waited.
"Why is he here now?"
Adrian answered quietly.
"Because he knows you're looking."
The intercom rang again.
Daniel did not answer.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
One photograph.
Isabella standing near the villa pool.
Taken weeks earlier.
Behind her, Beatriz stood close enough to touch her.
Below the photo was one sentence.
There are recordings you have not seen.
Daniel stared at the message.
Then another arrived.
This one showed Claire.
Alive.
Sitting in the driver's seat of her car on the night she died.
The photograph had been taken less than an hour before the crash.
A man stood beside the passenger door.
His face was hidden by shadow.
But his wrist was visible.
Around it was a watch Daniel recognized.
Because Daniel owned the identical model.
Only twelve had ever been made.
May you like
And he had given one of them as a gift.
To his brother Ethan.
