Chapter 5 - ELENA’S SECRET
I drove home furious.
Not at Elena.
At the possibility that Margaret had found one more weapon.
Elena knew the second I walked in.
“What happened?”
“Dad saw her burn the will.”
She closed her eyes.
“God.”
“He says there may be a copy.”
“That’s good.”
“Mom said something else.”
Elena’s expression changed.
“What?”
“Where did the money for your townhouse come from?”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Silence.
My stomach tightened.
“Elena?”
She sat down.
“I wanted to tell you.”
I laughed once.
“Those are never comforting words.”
“It wasn’t illegal.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Lily was upstairs with headphones on, building a dollhouse.
I lowered my voice.
“Where did the money come from?”
“Arthur.”
I stared at her.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before we got engaged.”
“Why?”
Elena rubbed her palms together.
“He asked me to meet him.”
“About what?”
“You.”
I sat across from her.
Arthur had always liked Elena.
I had never known how much.
“He knew your mother hated that I came from a normal family,” Elena said.
“Normal?”
“You know what I mean.”
I did.
Margaret called anyone without inherited money “ordinary.”
“What did Arthur want?”
“He wanted to make sure I could walk away from you.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“He said no woman should stay with a Whitmore because she felt financially trapped.”
That sounded exactly like him.
“He gave me enough for the townhouse down payment.”
“Why hide it?”
“Because he made me promise.”
“Why?”
“He said if Margaret knew, she’d accuse me of marrying you for money.”
I sat back.
“She did that anyway.”
“I know.”
There was more.
I could see it.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Elena looked toward the stairs.
Then back at me.
“Arthur gave me a sealed envelope.”
My pulse jumped.
“When?”
“The same day.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never opened it?”
“He told me not to unless you ever had to choose between your mother and your child.”
My whole body went cold.
“Where is it?”
She stood.
“Upstairs.”
“Elena.”
“I forgot about it until last night.”
“You forgot about a letter from my grandfather?”
“I put it in Lily’s adoption paperwork box because Arthur specifically mentioned a child.”
She rushed upstairs.
Thirty seconds later, she returned with a small gray lockbox.
Inside were birth certificates.
Adoption records.
Court orders.
And one yellowed envelope.
My name was written across the front.
DANIEL.
The handwriting was Arthur’s.
My fingers shook as I opened it.
The first sentence made Elena cover her mouth.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, Margaret has finally forced you to choose between keeping peace and protecting your family.
I kept reading.
Arthur described trust accounts.
Shell companies.
Missing rental income.
Fake maintenance contracts.
Then he named three people.
Margaret Whitmore.
Brooke Whitmore.
And a man named Victor Dane.
I knew that name.
Victor was my mother’s financial adviser.
The letter ended with a warning.
Do not confront Margaret until you have the blue ledger.
I looked at Elena.
“What blue ledger?”
She shook her head.
I read the last line again.
If the ledger is still where I left it, The Anchor will know where to look.
I closed my eyes.
The Anchor.
Again.
Then I remembered the old boathouse.
When I was twelve, Grandfather had taken me there during a storm.
He had shown me a rusted ship anchor mounted above the door.
“Every family needs one,” he had said.
“Something that keeps it from drifting.”
I grabbed my coat.
Elena caught my arm.
“You are not going there alone.”
“It’s on the estate.”
“Exactly.”
Before I could answer, our doorbell rang.
I checked the camera.
Rebecca stood outside.
She was crying.
I opened the door.
My sister rushed inside.
“Daniel, Mom knows about Arthur’s letter.”
I froze.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
May you like
Then she looked at Elena.
“But she sent Victor to the boathouse twenty minutes ago.”
