Chapter 5 - AMELIA’S LAST WEEK
Ethan did not sleep that night.
Sophie did.
But only after he placed a chair beside her bed and promised he would stay there.
She fell asleep holding Amelia’s photograph against her chest.
Ethan sat in the darkness and remembered the last week of his first wife’s life.
Amelia had been different.
Distracted.
Watchful.
She had checked the locks twice.
She had asked Ethan strange questions about international accounts.
She had wanted to change Sophie’s guardianship documents.
Ethan had been consumed with a merger.
He kept telling her they would discuss everything after the deal closed.
They never got the chance.
At three in the morning, Sophie stirred.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here.”
“Did Mommy know she was going to die?”
Ethan’s heart tightened.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Then why did she hide things?”
He looked at the photograph.
“Maybe she knew someone was doing something wrong.”
Sophie thought about that.
“Celeste?”
“Maybe.”
“She never liked when I talked about Mommy.”
Ethan looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“She said Mommy was gone and I had to stop pretending she was still part of our family.”
Ethan felt guilt flood him.
“Did she say that often?”
Sophie nodded.
“She took Mommy’s things out of the bedroom.”
“Where did she put them?”
“The basement.”
Ethan stood.
The basement storage rooms had barely been touched since Amelia died.
At sunrise, detectives returned.
Ethan told Collins what Sophie had said.
They searched the basement.
Behind boxes of Christmas decorations, officers found six sealed containers labeled DONATION.
Inside were Amelia’s clothes.
Her books.
Her jewelry boxes.
Her handwritten journals.
Celeste had never donated them.
She had hidden them.
Detective Collins handed Ethan the first journal.
The final pages covered Amelia’s last month.
September 28.
“Richard has moved another $1.8 million.
Celeste claims the transfer was approved.
It was not.”
October 2.
“Victor says I am imagining things.
I do not trust him anymore.”
October 5.
“I changed the trust.
Sophie must be protected.”
October 9.
“Celeste asked why I was reviewing the Zurich accounts.
I never told her there were Zurich accounts.”
Ethan’s hand began to shake.
Then he reached October 13.
The night before Amelia died.
“If something happens to me, it will not be an accident.
Richard knows I copied the records.
Celeste knows about the trust.
Victor knows I am afraid.”
Ethan closed the journal.
For seven years, he had mourned an accident.
Now he was reading his wife’s warning that it had not been one.
Detective Collins spoke carefully.
“We’ll reopen the death investigation.”
Ethan nodded.
Then an officer entered.
“Detective?”
“What?”
“We found something in the bottom of the box.”
He placed a small digital recorder on the table.
Its battery was dead.
The label on the back was written in Amelia’s handwriting.
“FOR ETHAN.”
Ethan looked at Collins.
She called for an evidence technician.
Two hours later, the audio played.
Static filled the room.
Then Amelia’s voice.
Ethan shut his eyes.
He had not heard her voice in seven years.
“Ethan, if you are listening to this, I was right to be afraid.”
He opened his eyes.
Sophie stood in the doorway.
And Amelia’s recorded voice continued.
“Celeste and Richard are stealing from the foundation.”
“But that is not the worst thing I discovered.”
A pause.
May you like
Then Amelia said the words that stunned everyone in the room.
“Victor Hale has been changing medical records for them.”
