Chapter 13 - The Last Lie
I stared at the message until the screen went dark.
He.
Eleanor knew I would think of Daniel.
I hated that she was right.
I forwarded the message to Mara and Ruiz.
Then I sat outside Lily’s bedroom and listened to her breathe.
By morning, I had almost convinced myself there must be something Daniel had left out.
He had known Eleanor longer than I had.
He had kept the recording.
He had inherited money.
Fear could turn ordinary facts into weapons if you let it.
When Daniel arrived that afternoon, I asked him directly.
“Did you ever help her with anything involving Grace’s estate?”
His face closed.
“What did she tell you?”
I showed him the message.
He read it twice.
Then he sat down.
“She offered me money.”
The room went cold.
“When?”
“After Grace died. She said she could speed up the trust distribution if I signed a statement saying Grace wanted Lily’s share reduced.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Do you have proof?”
He flinched.
I heard myself then.
Not asking.
Accusing.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Daniel looked toward the open closet beneath the stairs.
“She did this before.”
“What?”
“Made me feel like the only way to prove I wasn’t bad was to keep answering her.”
He pulled out his phone.
“I saved the emails.”
He sent them to Mara.
Then he stood.
“I’ll cooperate with everything. But I’m not going to spend my life auditioning to be someone you can trust.”
He walked toward the front door.
I stopped him with his name.
Not a hand. Not an order.
“Daniel.”
He turned.
“She knew exactly where to push,” I said. “And I let her.”
His jaw tightened.
“I lost three years with my sister because of her.”
“I know.”
“No,” he said quietly. “You know about it. I lived it.”
He left.
An hour later, Ruiz called.
They had identified the source of the new message. They were also reviewing another transfer Eleanor had attempted that morning.
“Do you know a woman named Celia Voss?”
“No.”
“She’s Eleanor’s sister.”
I closed my eyes.
May you like
The message hadn’t been a clue.
It had been a distraction.
