Chapter 4 - THE CLOSET
Adrian couldn’t breathe for a second.
He kept his voice calm because Sophie was watching him closely.
“Why did she lock you in there?”
Sophie pulled her blanket higher.
“She said I needed to stop being dramatic.”
“What happened before that?”
“I asked where Mommy’s blue sweater went.”
Adrian knew the sweater.
Emily’s favorite.
Soft blue cashmere.
She wore it in half the photographs Sophie kept beside her bed.
“What did Vanessa say?”
“She said she donated it.”
Adrian’s stomach turned.
“She didn’t have permission.”
“I told her that.”
“And then?”
Sophie looked down.
“She said dead people don’t need clothes.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Just for one second.
When he opened them again, Sophie was watching him with fear.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“At Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Really mad?”
“Really mad.”
Sophie thought about that.
Then she reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“I wrote stuff down.”
Adrian stared at it.
“What kind of stuff?”
“Things she did.”
He unfolded the paper.
The handwriting was uneven.
Some words were misspelled.
But the list was clear.
Vanessa threw away Mom’s pictures.
Vanessa said Dad would love me more if I stopped crying.
Vanessa locked me in Mom’s closet.
Vanessa told me if I told Dad he would think I was lying.
Vanessa said I ruined her wedding.
Adrian’s hands started shaking.
Then he saw the final line.
Vanessa took Mom’s necklace.
He looked at Sophie.
“What necklace?”
“The heart one.”
Emily’s heart-shaped sapphire pendant.
The necklace Adrian had given her on their tenth anniversary.
After Emily died, Adrian had placed it in a locked box for Sophie.
For her eighteenth birthday.
He stood.
“Stay here.”
He went straight to the master bedroom.
The box was hidden inside the back compartment of a safe.
He entered the code.
Opened it.
Empty.
Adrian stared at the velvet indentation where the necklace had been.
A sound came from behind him.
Sophie stood in the doorway.
“I saw her wearing it.”
Adrian turned.
“When?”
“Last week.”
“Where?”
“In your bathroom.”
His jaw tightened.
“She saw me looking.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“She told me you gave it to her.”
Adrian knelt.
“I did not.”
Sophie’s face crumpled.
“I knew it.”
He hugged her.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
Adrian answered immediately.
“What did you find?”
His attorney’s voice was grim.
“The foundation account wasn’t the only thing Vanessa accessed.”
Adrian held Sophie closer.
“What else?”
“Your life insurance documents.”
A cold silence filled the room.
Daniel continued.
“And she tried to change the beneficiary.”
Adrian looked at his daughter.
“To who?”
May you like
Daniel hesitated.
“To herself.”
