Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE
Vanessa wasn’t at the Connecticut estate.
But she had been.
Police found fresh tire tracks.
Food still warm on the kitchen counter.
A fireplace still burning.
And one glass of champagne beside an open laptop.
Vanessa had left minutes before they arrived.
Someone had warned her.
Detective Ruiz immediately suspected a leak.
Elena suspected Margaret.
By morning, Elena was discharged from the hospital under strict instructions to rest.
She did not go home.
Daniel took her to a secure apartment owned by Ruiz’s department.
Two officers remained outside.
Daniel sat across from Elena at the small kitchen table.
The billionaire heir who had grown up surrounded by servants now looked lost in a two-bedroom apartment with chipped cabinets.
Elena almost found it funny.
Almost.
Then Daniel placed a folder on the table.
“What’s that?”
“My father’s trust.”
Elena opened it.
Richard Howard had died eighteen months earlier.
His will transferred control of Howard Holdings to Daniel.
But there was a condition.
If Daniel had a biological child, forty percent of the family voting shares would be placed into an irrevocable trust for that child.
Margaret’s influence over the company would effectively disappear.
Elena looked up.
“So that’s it.”
Daniel nodded.
“My mother has controlled the board since my father got sick.”
“And after our baby is born?”
“She loses that control.”
Elena turned another page.
Something caught her attention.
“Who drafted this amendment?”
“Dad’s attorney.”
“Samuel Price?”
“Yes.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
“Samuel Price met Vanessa three days ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“One of my cameras recorded her phone conversation.”
Elena opened another file.
Vanessa’s voice played.
“Samuel, I don’t care how you do it.”
“I need the amendment gone before the child is born.”
A male voice answered.
“That document is registered.”
“Then unregister it.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“Everything works like that when enough money is involved.”
Daniel clenched his fist.
“Samuel has represented my family for thirty years.”
Elena looked at him.
“That seems to be becoming a theme.”
The apartment buzzer sounded.
Both froze.
Ruiz entered with two officers.
Behind him was Thomas.
His face was bruised.
Daniel stood.
Thomas couldn’t look at him.
“You stole the server.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Margaret told me Elena was blackmailing the family.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“And you believed her?”
“I saw documents.”
“What documents?”
“Bank transfers.”
Thomas looked at Elena.
“They showed payments from Howard Holdings into accounts connected to you.”
Elena stared at him.
“I don’t have accounts connected to Howard Holdings.”
“I know that now.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where is the server?”
Thomas lowered his head.
“I gave it to Margaret.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Daniel slammed his palm against the table.
“Damn it!”
Thomas flinched.
“She told me she only wanted to remove private family recordings.”
“You believed that too?”
“I was stupid.”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“You were paid.”
Thomas said nothing.
Daniel understood.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Daniel stared at the man he had trusted for fourteen years.
“You sold my wife for two hundred thousand dollars?”
Thomas looked sick.
“I didn’t know Vanessa was going to hurt her.”
“But you knew something was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“And you did it anyway.”
“Yes.”
Daniel turned away.
Elena studied Thomas.
“Where did Margaret take the server?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must know something.”
Thomas hesitated.
“She called Samuel Price.”
Daniel turned.
“What did she say?”
“She told him they had until midnight to finish what Richard should have finished before he died.”
Elena frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas reached into his jacket.
The officers immediately moved.
Ruiz raised a hand.
Thomas slowly removed an envelope.
“Richard gave me this six months before he died.”
Daniel stared at it.
“My father?”
“He told me not to give it to you unless something happened to Elena.”
Daniel took the envelope.
His name was written across the front.
He tore it open.
Inside was a single handwritten page.
Daniel read silently.
His face changed.
“What?”
Elena asked.
Daniel handed it to her.
Richard Howard had written only six lines.
Daniel,
If your mother ever tries to remove your wife from this family, do not believe her reasons.
Find the original 1998 incorporation ledger.
Your mother has spent twenty-five years hiding what is inside it.
Samuel knows.
Trust no one on the board.
Elena read it twice.
“What’s the 1998 ledger?”
Daniel whispered:
“The year my parents took control of Howard Holdings.”
Ruiz looked at Thomas.
“Where is it?”
Thomas shook his head.
“No idea.”
Then Elena noticed something on the back of Richard’s letter.
A faint indentation.
She held it toward the light.
Numbers.
A combination.
Daniel recognized them.
“That’s my father’s old safe.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked at Elena.
“In the mansion.”
Ruiz shook his head.
“The mansion is still a crime scene.”
“Then we go with you.”
Two hours later, they entered Richard Howard’s study.
Daniel approached the portrait of his father.
Behind it was a wall safe.
He entered the numbers.
The lock clicked.
Daniel opened the door.
The safe was empty.
Except for one object.
A photograph.
It showed Richard Howard standing beside a young Margaret.
Beside Margaret stood Samuel Price.
And in Margaret’s arms was a newborn baby.
Daniel stared at it.
“That isn’t me.”
Elena turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
May 14, 1998.
Below it were three words.
FOR DANIEL — SOMEDAY.
Daniel’s birthday was November 2, 1998.
Six months later.
Elena looked at her husband.
Daniel looked like the floor had disappeared beneath him.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
May you like
“You were never supposed to see that.”
Margaret Howard stood behind them.
