Chapter 3: The File My Grandmother Left
“Because your grandmother was lying to you.””
Daniel’s words hung in the hospital room.
Nobody moved.
Even Lauren stopped touching her diamond ring.
I looked at Daniel.
“Lying about what?””
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Nathan held the door wider.
“You should leave.””
Daniel ignored him.
“Rebecca, Margaret hated me.””
“My grandmother barely knew you.””
A strange laugh escaped him.
“That’s what you think.””
My skin prickled.
Lauren stepped closer to Daniel.
“You told me Rebecca hadn't spoken to her grandmother in years.””
“She hadn't.””
“Then why are you acting like this?””
Daniel finally looked at her.
“Lauren. Outside.””
“No.””
His expression hardened.
“I said outside.””
“And I said no.””
For the first time, I saw the balance between them shift.
Lauren wasn't just his mistress.
She was his CFO.
Whatever Daniel feared, she wanted to understand it too.
Nathan stepped between Daniel and my bed.
“This conversation is over.””
Daniel pointed at me.
“Don't trust him, Rebecca.””
“Get out.””
“Your grandmother manipulated people. That's what she did.””
“You threw me out while I was in labor.””
“That has nothing to do with this.””
“It has everything to do with whether I trust your judgment.””
Daniel flinched.
Good.
I pointed toward the hallway.
“Leave.””
His eyes stayed on me for another second.
Then he turned.
Lauren followed.
Before she crossed the doorway, she looked back at me.
Not with triumph this time.
With uncertainty.
The door closed.
Gloria released a long breath.
“Well,” she said, “that was disturbing.””
Nathan locked the door.
I looked at him.
“Open the file.””
“Rebecca—”
“Now.””
Nathan studied my face.
Then he returned to the chair and placed the leather briefcase on his knees.
He removed the thick envelope.
My grandmother's handwriting stared back at me.
REBECCA.
Nathan handed it over.
My fingers trembled as I broke the seal.
Inside was a handwritten letter and a black folder.
I unfolded the letter first.
My dearest Rebecca,
If you're reading this, I waited too long to tell you the truth.
I swallowed.
The handwriting blurred.
I blinked until the words became clear again.
Nathan sat silently.
Gloria came closer.
I continued reading.
My grandmother wrote that our estrangement had not begun because she disapproved of Daniel, as I had believed.
It had begun because she had discovered something about him.
Six months before my wedding, Daniel had approached her privately.
He wanted money.
Not an investment.
A personal loan.
Three hundred thousand dollars.
I looked up.
“He told me she refused to attend our wedding because she thought he wasn't good enough for me.””
Nathan nodded slowly.
“That was not the reason.””
I kept reading.
Margaret had refused Daniel's loan request.
Then Daniel had threatened her.
Not physically.
He threatened to tell me she had tried to bribe him to leave me.
“He did tell me that,” I whispered.
The memory came back with sickening clarity.
Daniel sitting beside me on our old apartment sofa.
His hands shaking.
His voice wounded.
Your grandmother offered me money to disappear, Rebecca. She thinks I'm trash.
I had called Margaret that night.
I had screamed at her.
She denied it.
I didn't believe her.
I never spoke to her again.
“Oh, God.””
Gloria touched my shoulder.
“He isolated you.””
I looked at the next page.
My grandmother had included copies of emails.
One was from Daniel.
$300,000 and Rebecca never needs to know we spoke.
Another:
If you interfere with our relationship, I will make sure she believes you were the one who tried to destroy it.
My stomach turned.
“He planned it.””
Nathan nodded.
“Margaret kept everything.””
“Why didn't she show me?””
“She tried.””
I remembered unopened birthday cards.
Letters returned to sender.
Packages Daniel said he had sent back because Margaret was “trying to manipulate me.””
I closed my eyes.
“He handled the mail.””
Gloria whispered, “Rebecca…”
I kept going.
The black folder contained financial records.
Bank transfers.
Corporate documents.
Emails.
A cap table from the earliest days of Daniel's company, Halcyon Analytics.
One name appeared repeatedly.
MW Holdings.
“What is MW Holdings?””
Nathan leaned forward.
“A private investment entity your grandmother controlled.””
I stared at him.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“Daniel told me his seed funding came from a private investor in Boston.””
“It did.””
My heartbeat quickened.
“Margaret?””
Nathan nodded.
“She invested through MW Holdings after Daniel's initial funding collapsed.””
“That makes no sense. Why would she fund him after what he did?””
“She wasn't funding Daniel.””
Nathan's gaze held mine.
“She was protecting you.””
I looked down at the documents.
MW Holdings had invested $1.8 million.
The figure beside it was even more confusing.
31%.
I pointed to the number.
“What does that mean?””
“At the time of that agreement, MW Holdings received thirty-one percent of Halcyon.””
I stared at him.
“Thirty-one percent?””
“Subsequent financing diluted the position.””
“To what?””
“Just under eighteen percent.””
My mind struggled to catch up.
Daniel had spent years telling everyone that he built Halcyon from nothing.
That he owned his success.
That nobody had handed him anything.
“What happened to Margaret's shares?””
Nathan didn't answer immediately.
I understood before he spoke.
“They're mine.””
“Yes.””
Gloria sat down heavily.
“So Rebecca didn't just inherit twenty million dollars.””
“No,” Nathan said.
“The Halcyon stake is separate from the preliminary estate valuation I gave her yesterday.””
I stared at him.
“How much is it worth?””
“That depends on the company's actual valuation.””
“Daniel told me Halcyon was valued at sixty million last year.””
Nathan's expression darkened.
“That figure may be unreliable.””
“Why?””
He pulled another document from the folder.
A spreadsheet.
Several lines had been highlighted.
Vendor payments.
Consulting fees.
Licensing agreements.
Millions of dollars moving through companies I had never heard of.
I looked at Nathan.
“What am I looking at?””
“Your grandmother became suspicious two years ago. She believed Halcyon's financial statements did not match its underlying business.””
“Meaning?””
“Meaning somebody may have been inflating revenue.””
Gloria whispered, “Fraud?””
Nathan chose his words carefully.
“Potentially.””
My stomach tightened.
“And Daniel knows she discovered this?””
“We don't know exactly what Daniel knows.””
A knock sounded at the door.
All three of us froze.
“Rebecca?””
Lauren.
Nathan frowned.
I called, “What do you want?””
Her voice came through the door.
“I need to talk to you.””
“Daniel isn't welcome.””
“He isn't here.””
I looked at Nathan.
He shook his head.
But something in Lauren's voice bothered me.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
I unlocked the door.
Lauren slipped inside and immediately closed it behind her.
Her face was pale.
The diamond ring was gone.
She looked at the black folder on my bed.
Then at me.
“Did Margaret leave you the shares?””
I said nothing.
Lauren's eyes filled with panic.
“Rebecca, listen to me.””
“Why?””
“Because Daniel just called the office.””
Nathan stood.
“What did he ask them to do?””
Lauren swallowed.
“He ordered our legal department to destroy every document connected to MW Holdings.””
The room went cold.
Nathan reached for his phone.
But Lauren wasn't finished.
“And there's something else.””
She looked directly at me.
“Daniel doesn't own your house.””
I frowned.
“What?””
May you like
Lauren's next words made my blood run cold.
“According to the company records, Halcyon does.””
