Chapter 6: The Company That Didn't Exist
I read the message again.
Then I looked at my brother.
“Tell me that's not your company.””
Gregory's face became expressionless.
Marcus turned his phone toward him.
“The company received a transfer from Lily's trust. We need an explanation.””
Gregory laughed once.
It was a short, hollow sound.
“You don't understand how these things work.””
“Then explain them.””
“It's an investment company.””
“Registered under Rebecca's maiden name?””
He shrugged.
“She had a business idea before she died. I continued it.””
I looked at him in disbelief.
“Rebecca never told me about a business.””
“Because she didn't tell you everything.””
Marcus examined the message.
“How much was transferred?””
He read the figure aloud.
Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“That money belongs to Lily.””
Gregory adjusted his jacket.
“And it's still invested.””
“Where?””
“That's private.””
Marcus placed his phone on the table.
“Not when the funds may have been improperly withdrawn from a child's trust.””
Gregory looked at Vanessa.
She was standing near the window, shaking her head.
“Don't involve me,” she whispered.
I turned toward her.
“You signed the amendment.””
“I didn't receive the money!””
“You helped arrange it.””
“I thought Gregory was handling the investment!””
Gregory snapped.
“Stop pretending you knew nothing!””
Vanessa recoiled.
Marcus immediately stepped between them.
“Both of you need to understand that these statements are being documented. I recommend you stop making accusations and allow the investigation to proceed.””
Gregory grabbed his jacket.
“I'm leaving.””
I moved aside.
“Go.””
He stopped.
“You're letting me walk out?””
“I'm not your jailer.””
He looked surprised.
I continued.
“But don't confuse that with forgiveness.””
Gregory shook his head.
“One day you'll realize I was trying to help.””
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“You watched my daughter lose her mother's hair while your wife was trying to steal her inheritance. Don't ever tell me you were helping.””
He walked out.
The front door slammed.
For a moment, the house was silent.
Then Vanessa sat down.
“Darius, please.””
I didn't look at her.
“Marcus, I want every document preserved. Every email, every recording, every financial record. And I want the trust administrator notified immediately that no further withdrawals are authorized until the situation is reviewed.””
“Already underway,” he replied.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“What happens to me?””
I finally turned.
“You need to stay away from Lily while we establish what happened.””
“You can't do this.””
“I can make sure she's protected.””
She stood.
“I am your wife!””
“And she's my daughter.””
Vanessa stared at me.
Then she did something unexpected.
She reached into her purse and removed a small photograph.
It was a picture of Rebecca holding Lily in the hospital.
She placed it on the table.
“I didn't hate your daughter,” she whispered.
I looked at the photograph.
“Then why did you treat her like someone you wanted to erase?””
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Because every time I looked at her, I saw Rebecca.””
“That wasn't Lily's fault.””
“I know.””
Her voice broke.
For the first time, she sounded less angry than exhausted.
“I wanted to be the woman you loved. I wanted you to look at me the way you looked at Rebecca.””
I said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“But you kept her everywhere. Her photographs. Her clothes.
Her recipes. Even her stupid hairbrush.””
I closed my eyes briefly.
“That hairbrush belonged to Lily.””
“I know.””
“You knew?””
She nodded.
“I threw it away once. Lily found it in the trash and brought it back.””
My stomach tightened.
“You threw away her mother's brush?””
“I was angry.””
“And when Lily cried?””
Vanessa lowered her head.
“I told her she was being dramatic.””
I looked at her for a long moment.
Then I said the words I had been avoiding.
“You're leaving this house tonight.””
She stared at me.
“Darius—”
“Marcus will help arrange the appropriate separation of belongings. You will not be alone with Lily, and you will not contact her privately while the situation is being assessed.””
Vanessa began crying harder.
“Where am I supposed to go?””
“Your sister's house.””
She looked at me.
“After everything I've done for you?””
I almost laughed.
“You've done nothing for my daughter except make her afraid of her own home.””
Vanessa grabbed her purse.
At the doorway, she turned around.
“You think this is over?””
I said nothing.
She looked toward the staircase.
“You have no idea what Rebecca left behind.””
My attention sharpened.
“What do you mean?””
Vanessa hesitated.
Then she spoke.
“Gregory didn't tell you everything.””
Marcus moved closer.
“What else is there?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Ask him about the hospital.””
“What hospital?””
She opened the door.
“The night Rebecca died.””
My heart began pounding.
I had been at Rebecca's hospital bedside that night.
Gregory had been there too.
He had told me he arrived after the doctors called.
But Vanessa's next sentence destroyed that memory.
“Your brother wasn't visiting Rebecca, Darius. He was meeting someone in the hospital records department.””
She walked outside before I could stop her.
I turned toward Marcus.
“Call Gregory.””
Marcus dialed immediately.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then went to voicemail.
I tried again.
Nothing.
Finally, Marcus received a message from the trust attorney.
He read it silently.
Then his face changed.
“What?””
He handed me the phone.
The message contained an attachment.
A scanned hospital document.
It showed that on the night Rebecca died, someone had requested access to her confidential medical records.
The request was signed by a family member.
Gregory Hale.
But it wasn't the request itself that frightened me.
It was the note written beneath it.
*Patient requested emergency contact change. Original contact removed. New contact authorized.*
I stared at the page.
Rebecca had never asked to remove me as her emergency contact.
Never.
I remembered the night clearly now.
The nurse had told me there had been a delay contacting the family because the hospital had been unable to reach the person listed on the file.
I had assumed it was an administrative mistake.
But the document showed something else.
Someone had deliberately changed the contact information.
And the new emergency contact wasn't Gregory.
It was Nicole.
Marcus looked at me.
“Darius, we need to find out what happened that night.””
I nodded.
Then my phone rang.
It was Mrs. Carter.
I answered immediately.
“What's wrong?””
Her voice was trembling.
“Sir, Lily is asking for you.””
“Is she okay?””
“She found something in her bedroom. Something Mrs. Vanessa left behind.””
“What?””
There was a pause.
Then Mrs. Carter whispered:
“It's a small recording device hidden inside her teddy bear.””
I gripped the phone.
“Don't touch it. I'll be right there.””
But before I could move, Mrs. Carter said one more thing.
“Sir, it's still recording.””
I froze.
“Recording what?””
Her answer made my blood run cold.
“Your daughter has been talking to someone through it.””
And from the staircase above me, I heard Lily's frightened little voice.
“Daddy?””
I looked up.
May you like
She was holding the teddy bear.
“Daddy, why does Uncle Gregory keep asking me where Mommy hid the blue envelope?””
