Chapter 6 - The Truth Buried Beneath the EstateThomas Vale chose a small private room inside a hotel near O'Hare Airport.
He was seventy-two, thin, and visibly nervous.
When Lydia entered with Grant, he stood immediately.
“Daniel's daughter.”
Lydia nodded.
“You knew my father?”
“I did.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Thomas looked at Grant before answering.
“Your father discovered the fraud. Richard wanted to confess, but Celeste had already moved the money. She convinced him that admitting the truth would destroy the company.”
“Why blame my father?”
“Because Daniel had access to the accounts. He was the only person who could prove the transfers weren't authorized.”
Lydia gripped the edge of the chair.
“And my mother?”
Thomas lowered his eyes.
“Your mother found a ledger. She copied everything.”
“What happened to her?”
“She was supposed to meet a journalist. She never made it.”
Grant leaned forward.
“Are you saying Celeste arranged her death?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I can't prove that.”
“Then what can you prove?”
Thomas opened a leather folder.
Inside were bank records, handwritten notes, and copies of internal company emails.
“One week before her death, your mother sent this to Richard.”
Lydia read the email.
If you don't tell the truth, I will.
She looked up.
“Why didn't my father go to the police?”
“He tried. But someone had already filed a complaint accusing him of stealing the money. His lawyer advised him to stay quiet until the investigation ended.”
“And then?”
Thomas's voice cracked.
“Then his lawyer disappeared. His accounts were frozen. He lost everything.”
Lydia felt sick.
All those years.
All those Christmases when her father worked two jobs.
All those nights when he pretended he wasn't hungry so she could eat.
All because someone had decided that an innocent man was easier to sacrifice than a wealthy family.
Grant took the documents.
“Who has the original ledger?”
Thomas looked at Lydia.
“Your father.”
She shook her head.
“He never mentioned one.”
“He may have hidden it somewhere only you would recognize.”
Lydia thought about the letter.
The photographs.
The small wooden box.
Then she remembered something.
Her mother had owned a music box.
It had been the only thing Lydia kept after the funeral.
The music box had disappeared shortly before her father died.
“Where is it?” Grant asked.
“I don't know.”
Thomas leaned forward.
“Find it. The original ledger is inside.”
Before anyone could ask another question, the hotel room door opened.
Two men entered.
Grant immediately stood in front of Lydia.
“Who sent you?”
One of the men pulled a gun.
“Mr. Vale, you're coming with us.”
Grant's bodyguard moved.
The room erupted into chaos.
A chair overturned.
A gunshot shattered a lamp.
Grant pushed Lydia behind the heavy table as his security team forced the men toward the hallway.
When the shooting stopped, Thomas was gone.
One of the attackers lay unconscious.
The other had escaped.
Grant checked Lydia.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
Then she noticed the blood on his shirt.
“Grant!”
“It's not mine.”
But his bodyguard was holding his side.
An ambulance arrived.
As they waited, Grant received a message.
A photograph of the estate's front gate.
Taken minutes earlier.
Beneath it were six words:
Your mother has the ledger. Come alone.
Lydia read the message over his shoulder.
“She's threatening you.”
Grant slipped the phone into his pocket.
“I'm handling it.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“She has my mother's secrets, my father's records, and the truth about your family. You can't keep making decisions without me.”
Grant studied her face.
For the first time, he saw something different in her.
Not fear.
Resolve.
“Then we do this together,” he said.
But neither noticed the second message arriving on his phone.
May you like
It came from Margaret.
Sir, Mrs. Holloway has returned to the estate. She is carrying a small wooden music box.
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