Chapter 5 - THE HOUSE BEHIND THE RED GATE
The Vermont address belonged to an abandoned hotel overlooking a frozen lake.
According to public records, the building had been closed for twenty-seven years. Before that, it had operated as a private retreat called Northstar House.
Seraphina traveled there with Mara and Marcus while Theo remained with a trusted nanny under court-approved protection.
They arrived shortly before sunset.
A rusted red gate blocked the driveway.
Beyond it stood a three-story building with boarded windows and a collapsed section of roof. Snow covered the grounds, but fresh tire tracks led toward the entrance.
“We are not the first people here,” Mara said.
Marcus examined the tracks.
“They may belong to whoever maintains the property.”
“No one has maintained this place in decades.”
They left the car near the gate and continued on foot.
Inside, the hotel smelled of dust, wet wood, and old smoke.
Most of the furniture had been removed, but faded outlines remained on the walls where paintings once hung.
Seraphina found the red room on the second floor.
The walls were covered in dark crimson fabric. A large empty space above the fireplace matched the dimensions of the portrait in Edmund’s video.
Marcus moved toward a cabinet in the corner.
“This is where I saw it.”
“When?”
“Thirty-three years ago. Your father brought me here after Arthur Bellamy died.”
“Why?”
“He needed help reviewing private company records.”
“Records connected to Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
Seraphina waited.
Marcus sighed.
“Arthur Bellamy and Evelyn’s mother founded the original business together. Her name was Helena Ward.”
“Then why was the company called Bellamy Holdings?”
“Because Helena did not want her identity made public.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked toward the boarded windows.
“She was married to a powerful politician. At the time, married women in her social circle were expected to remain invisible in business. She provided most of the original capital while Arthur became the public founder.”
“What did she receive in return?”
“Half the company.”
Mara understood first.
“The first Bellamy agreement.”
Marcus nodded.
“The contract was supposed to protect Helena’s ownership and transfer it to her descendants.”
“What happened to it?” Seraphina asked.
“It disappeared after Helena died.”
“And Evelyn is her descendant?”
“Her granddaughter.”
Seraphina stepped back.
“Then why is her name Bellamy?”
“Arthur had a son with Helena.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“My grandfather had another family?”
“Not exactly. Helena’s son was born before she met Arthur. But Arthur raised him privately and allowed him to use the Bellamy name.”
“Did my father know?”
“Yes.”
“Did Grant?”
“I don’t know.”
A door slammed somewhere below them.
Mara motioned for silence.
Footsteps moved through the lobby.
More than one person.
Marcus switched off his flashlight.
They waited in darkness.
A man’s voice carried through the corridor.
“Search the red room first.”
Victor Hale.
Seraphina recognized him immediately.
Mara pulled them behind a damaged wall panel that concealed a narrow service passage.
They moved quietly through the passage while Victor and two men entered the room.
“The portrait is gone,” one of the men said.
“It has been gone for years,” Victor replied. “Find the ledger.”
Seraphina stopped.
Marcus touched her arm and urged her onward.
They reached a hidden staircase leading to the basement.
The basement was partially flooded.
Rows of metal storage cabinets stood against the walls. Most had been forced open.
One cabinet remained locked.
Its door bore the Bellamy crest.
Mara tried several keys without success.
Seraphina remembered the brass key Marcus had given her.
Grant had taken it with the black box.
Then she thought of Theo’s wooden train.
Edmund had hidden one compartment inside it. Perhaps he had hidden something else.
She removed the small wooden engine from her bag. Theo had insisted she take it for luck.
Inside the memory-card compartment was a tiny metal strip.
Seraphina unfolded it.
A second key.
It fit the cabinet.
Inside was a red leather ledger and a stack of photographs.
The first photograph showed Arthur Bellamy beside Helena Ward.
The second showed Edmund as a young man standing with Marcus.
The third showed a woman in a red gown holding a baby.
Evelyn.
On the back, someone had written:
Evelyn and Adrian, 1987.
Seraphina looked at Mara.
“Adrian Cole?”
Before Mara could answer, Victor’s voice echoed from the staircase.
“They are in the basement.”
Marcus grabbed the ledger.
Mara pushed open a narrow emergency door leading outside.
They ran through knee-deep snow toward the frozen lake.
A vehicle appeared near the rear of the building.
Its headlights swept across them.
Seraphina expected Victor’s men.
Instead, Delaney stepped out from behind the wheel.
“Get in!”
They entered the vehicle seconds before Victor emerged from the hotel.
Delaney drove across the rear access road and disappeared into the forest.
No one spoke until Northstar House was miles behind them.
Finally, Seraphina held up the photograph.
“Why is Adrian Cole in this picture?”
Delaney looked at it in the rearview mirror.
“Because Adrian is Evelyn Bellamy’s son.”
“The gala host is part of the other Bellamy family?”
“Yes.”
“Does Grant know?”
“He knows Adrian has a claim. He does not know how strong it is.”
Marcus opened the red ledger.
The first pages contained handwritten ownership records from the earliest years of the company.
The final page held two signatures.
Arthur Bellamy.
Helena Ward.
Below them was a clause granting Helena’s descendants the right to reclaim half of Bellamy Holdings if the Bellamy family ever transferred control to an outside party.
Grant’s merger with Vale Meridian had triggered that clause.
Mara turned toward Delaney.
“Why are you helping us?”
Delaney’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Because Grant is not trying to control Bellamy Holdings anymore.”
“What is he trying to do?”
“Sell it.”
“To whom?”
May you like
Delaney looked at Seraphina through the mirror.
“Northstar.”
