Chapter 13 - GRANDMA'S REAL SECRET
Evelyn finally revealed what she had kept hidden.
Grandma had known about the financial scheme for decades.
She had collected documents.
Bank records.
Contracts.
Witness statements.
Photographs.
Recordings.
She had hidden them throughout the Hart property.
But she never released them.
Rebecca asked why.
Evelyn answered:
“Because your grandmother was waiting for the right person.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew you would leave the family before you became trapped by it.”
Rebecca sat quietly.
“She knew I'd come back?”
“She believed you would.”
Rebecca looked at the flash drive.
“Then what is on this?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I still don't know.”
Rebecca connected it again.
A folder appeared.
Inside was one audio file.
Grandma's voice returned.
“My dear Rebecca.”
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“If you are hearing this, then I am gone.”
A pause.
“I am sorry you had to learn about your family this way.”
Rebecca listened.
“I could have told you everything when you were younger.”
Another pause.
“But you deserved a life that wasn't defined by our mistakes.”
Rebecca wiped her eyes.
“Thomas tried to expose the truth.”
The recording continued.
“He failed.”
Rebecca's heart sank.
“He disappeared because he discovered that the people behind the scheme had infiltrated our family.”
Rebecca looked at Claire.
Grandma continued.
“Your father was involved.”
Harold's face flashed through Rebecca's mind.
“But he was not the architect.”
Rebecca leaned closer.
“The architect is the person who benefited from every lie.”
The recording stopped.
Rebecca waited.
Then another file appeared automatically.
A video.
Grandma was sitting at the old dining table.
She looked older.
Tired.
But determined.
She held a document.
“This is the final piece.”
She placed it on the table.
Rebecca couldn't read it.
The image blurred.
Grandma smiled sadly.
“If you are watching this, I have already given the original to someone I trust.”
The screen went black.
Rebecca stared.
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“That is what we need to discover.”
Claire suddenly entered.
Her face was white.
“Rebecca.”
“What?”
“I found something in Dad's office.”
She held out an old envelope.
Inside was a train ticket.
Rebecca looked at the date.
The same day Thomas disappeared.
Then she saw the destination.
A coastal town.
The same town where Eleanor lived.
Rebecca looked at Claire.
“Why did Dad have this?”
Claire whispered.
May you like
“Because he didn't send Thomas away.”
“He followed him.”
