Chapter 2 - THE DRAWER THAT WAS NEVER EMPTY
Seraphina waited until after midnight.
Grant had returned home shortly before dinner, acting as if their argument in the lobby had never happened. He brought Theo a wooden train and poured Seraphina a glass of wine.
He spoke about the upcoming Bellamy charity gala and suggested that she remain home.
“The press has been watching you,” he said.
“For what?”
“For instability.”
Seraphina slowly set down her glass.
“Whose instability?”
Grant smiled.
“You know how journalists are. They see grief, isolation, and a few emotional moments, and suddenly they create a story.”
“What emotional moments?”
“You raised your voice at headquarters today.”
“After you disabled my access.”
“I was trying to prevent exactly that kind of scene.”
Theo sat at the other end of the table, pushing peas around his plate.
Seraphina did not want to argue in front of him.
She waited until Grant went upstairs and the house became quiet.
Edmund’s private study had remained untouched since his death.
Grant disliked the room. He said the dark wood and heavy curtains made it feel like a mausoleum. Seraphina had refused to change anything.
She entered without turning on the main light.
The brass key fit the bottom drawer of the writing desk.
Inside was a black metal box.
Seraphina lifted it onto the desk and opened the lid.
The box contained no money, jewelry, or company certificates.
Only a voice recorder, a stack of financial summaries, and a handwritten letter.
Seraphina recognized her father’s writing immediately.
My dearest Sera,
If you are reading this, then Grant has made his first serious move against you.
Do not confront him with what you find here.
Do not tell him Marcus contacted you.
Most importantly, do not sign anything else.
I hope I am wrong about him. I hope these precautions make you angry and nothing more. But love should never require blindness, and I fear you have mistaken Grant’s attention for devotion.
Before he met you, Vale Meridian Logistics was close to collapse. Its debts exceeded its real assets. Several creditors were preparing legal action. Three weeks after Grant began courting you, those creditors were quietly paid through companies connected to Victor Hale.
The source of those funds remains hidden.
Grant did not build his company from nothing. Someone built it for him.
Find out who.
The final sentence had been underlined twice.
Seraphina unfolded the financial summaries.
Her father had documented loans, shell companies, and transfers involving Vale Meridian. Some records went back eight years, long before Seraphina met Grant.
One company appeared repeatedly.
Northstar Advisory Group.
No listed employees.
No physical office.
No identifiable owner.
Every time Vale Meridian faced a financial crisis, Northstar sent money.
Every time Bellamy Holdings pursued a major acquisition, Northstar seemed to know about it in advance.
Seraphina pressed play on the recorder.
Her father’s voice filled the room.
“If you are hearing this, I am either dead or unable to protect you directly.”
Seraphina closed her eyes.
For a moment, she was a little girl again, sitting beneath his desk while he worked.
“I began investigating Grant after your engagement,” Edmund continued. “I found evidence that he lied about his finances and his relationship with Victor Hale. I also discovered that someone within Bellamy Holdings had been providing them with confidential information.”
The recording crackled.
“I intended to confront him, but then I became ill. The timing may be coincidental. Marcus believes it is. I am less certain.”
Seraphina’s hand tightened around the recorder.
Her father had died from an aggressive neurological disease. Every specialist had told her it was natural, incurable, and impossible to predict.
The recording continued.
“I placed the controlling shares of Bellamy Holdings into a protected succession trust. Grant cannot access them through marriage, divorce, coercion, or any document you sign without independent counsel.”
Seraphina opened her eyes.
That made no sense.
Grant had repeatedly told the board he controlled the majority vote through the agreements she had signed.
“Until Theo reaches adulthood, you remain the sole protected beneficiary,” Edmund said. “But the trust contains one condition. You must formally accept the chairmanship before the sixth anniversary of my death. If you do not, an alternate succession clause will activate.”
Seraphina glanced at the date on the recorder.
Her father had died five years and nine months earlier.
She had less than three months.
“What alternate clause?” she whispered.
The recorder answered with silence.
Then Edmund’s voice returned.
“The identity of the alternate beneficiary is sealed. Even I was advised not to include the name in this message. The person who established the original Bellamy trust insisted upon it.”
Seraphina replayed that sentence.
The person who established the original Bellamy trust.
She had always believed Edmund created the trust.
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Seraphina stopped the recording.
The study door opened.
Grant stood in the doorway.
He wore no jacket, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone.
“What are you doing in here?”
Seraphina placed one hand over the open letter.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
Grant entered.
His eyes moved from her face to the metal box.
“What is that?”
“Old family papers.”
He approached the desk.
Seraphina closed the lid.
“Since when do old family papers require a locked box?”
“Since my father decided they did.”
Grant held out his hand.
“Give me the key.”
“No.”
It was the first time she had refused him without explaining herself.
Grant’s expression remained calm, but something cold entered his eyes.
“Seraphina.”
“This room belonged to my father.”
“This house belongs to us.”
“The desk belongs to me.”
“There is no you and me when it comes to property. We are married.”
She stood.
“Then why was I locked out of Bellamy headquarters?”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“You are creating an argument.”
“No. I am asking a question.”
He looked at the box again.
“What did Edmund leave you?”
Before Seraphina could answer, a small voice came from the hallway.
“Mom?”
Theo stood near the door holding his blanket.
Seraphina immediately walked toward him.
“I’m here.”
“I had a bad dream.”
She knelt and pulled him close.
Behind her, Grant reached for the metal box.
Theo saw him.
“Daddy,” the boy said, “Grandpa said that box is only for Mommy.”
Grant’s hand stopped.
Seraphina slowly turned.
Grant stared at his son.
“When did Grandpa tell you that?”
Theo looked confused.
“In the video.”
“What video?”
“The one he made in the red room.”
Seraphina’s heart began beating faster.
There was no red room in the Bellamy mansion.
Grant knelt in front of Theo.
“What else did Grandpa say?”
May you like
The child stepped backward and held his mother’s hand.
“He said not to tell you.”
