Chapter 4
Mark moved first.
“Lily, upstairs.”
The child immediately recoiled.
Richard saw it.
“Stay.”
Mark’s head snapped toward his father.
“She needs bed.”
“She needs adults to stop telling her where to disappear.”
Silence.
Richard crouched beside Lily.
“Which box?”
She pointed again.
Third shelf.
Red trunk.
No label.
Only the Bellacorte crest.
Mark stepped forward.
Richard raised one hand.
He stopped.
The attorney opened the trunk.
Inside were personal items.
A scarf.
A watch.
Several letters.
A photograph of Lily as a baby.
And a leather-bound notebook.
Richard recognized the handwriting before touching it.
Anna.
Mark’s first wife.
Lily’s mother.
She had died in a car crash twenty-six months earlier.
Richard looked toward his son.
“Why is this here?”
Mark’s jaw tightened.
“Because I put it here.”
“Why?”
“It belonged to my wife.”
“Then why does Lily call it Mommy’s box?”
No answer.
Richard opened the notebook.
Mark moved.
“Don't.”
Richard’s eyes lifted.
That single word carried too much fear.
He closed the book again.
Not because Mark told him.
Because Lily was watching.
“Take her upstairs.”
This time Lily allowed the physician to carry her.
After she disappeared, Richard opened the notebook.
Anna had kept notes.
Dates.
Names.
Amounts.
Private transfers.
Arguments with Mark.
One entry had been underlined.
MARK IS MOVING MONEY THROUGH RICHARD’S AUTHORIZATION. HE SAYS HIS FATHER NEVER READS WHAT HE SIGNS ANYMORE.
Richard’s fingers stopped.
Mark looked away.
Another entry.
CLAUDIA WAS HERE AGAIN.
Richard slowly raised his head.
Claudia went still.
The entry was dated four months before Anna died.
Richard’s eyes moved between Mark and Claudia.
“You knew her before Anna died.”
Claudia answered first.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
She crossed her arms.
“Family events.”
Richard looked back at the notebook.
Anna disagreed.
CLAUDIA SAYS MARK DESERVES HIS OWN HOUSE, HIS OWN MONEY, HIS OWN AUTHORITY. SHE THINKS I AM THE REASON HE WON’T STAND UP TO RICHARD.
Mark’s breathing became heavier.
Richard kept reading.
Then he reached the final page Anna had written.
Two days before her crash.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, LILY CANNOT STAY ALONE WITH MARK UNTIL RICHARD KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING.
The room changed completely.
Richard looked at his son.
Mark’s face had become stone.
Claudia whispered:
“Richard…”
He did not look at her.
“What was Mark doing?”
Neither answered.
Then the security chief entered holding an old insurance file.
Anna’s death had triggered a twelve-million-dollar policy.
May you like
The beneficiary was Mark.
Three million of that money appeared to have funded the hidden room.
