Chapter 4: The Night Elise Died
Victor read the message three times.
Ask Grace what she did the night Elise died.
Daniel reached for the phone.
“Don't delete anything.””
Victor handed it over.
“You think Serena sent this?””
“The timing says yes.””
“Then why mention Grace?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Victor already knew why.
Because Serena wanted him to doubt her.
The problem was that it worked.
Grace had been with the Blackwood family before Noah was born.
She had been there the night Elise died.
Victor remembered that night in fragments.
Rain against hospital windows.
A doctor removing his glasses.
Noah sleeping in Grace's arms.
Elise's wedding ring in a plastic hospital bag.
The official explanation had been simple.
A late-night car accident.
Wet road.
Loss of control.
Victor had accepted it because grief had left no room for questions.
“Bring Grace up here,” he said.
Ten minutes later, Grace entered with a bandage across her forehead.
She looked exhausted.
Victor placed his phone on the table.
“Read it.””
Grace did.
The color drained from her face.
Victor noticed.
So did Daniel.
“What happened the night Elise died?”” Victor asked.
Grace's lips parted.
“Mr. Blackwood…”
“Don't call me that. Answer me.””
Grace sat slowly.
“I should have told you years ago.””
Victor's heartbeat became heavy.
“Told me what?””
“Elise wasn't supposed to be driving alone.””
Victor frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“She called me around ten that night.””
Victor remembered being in London.
A merger negotiation.
His phone had been off during dinner.
“What did she say?””
Grace looked toward the floor.
“She was frightened.””
Victor's voice sharpened.
“Of what?””
“She didn't tell me over the phone. She said she had discovered something and needed to leave the house.””
“With Noah?””
“No. She asked me to stay with him.””
Victor stared at her.
“Why wasn't this in the police report?””
“Because I lied.””
Silence filled the room.
Daniel leaned forward.
“What exactly did you tell police?””
“That Mrs. Blackwood went out to meet a friend.””
Victor's chair moved back.
“You lied about my wife's final hours?””
Grace began crying.
“I was scared.””
“Of whom?””
Grace looked at him.
“Serena.””
Victor stopped.
“Serena wasn't part of our lives then.””
“Yes, she was.””
The words landed harder than a shout.
Victor shook his head.
“No.””
“I saw her.””
“Where?””
“At the mansion.””
Victor's face went blank.
Grace wiped her eyes.
“Elise asked me to take Noah upstairs. About twenty minutes later, I heard arguing near the study.””
“Who was arguing?””
“Elise and Serena.””
Victor stood so abruptly that the table shook.
“That is impossible.””
“I know what I saw.””
“How did Serena get inside?””
“I don't know.””
Victor turned away.
He had met Serena publicly eleven months after Elise's death at a charity auction.
At least, that was what he believed.
“She knew my wife?””
Grace nodded.
“Apparently.””
“Why didn't Elise ever mention her?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel spoke.
“What were they arguing about?””
Grace looked at him.
“Money.””
Victor turned back.
“What money?””
“I couldn't hear everything. But Elise said, ‘Victor will find out.’”
Victor felt his skin turn cold.
“And Serena?””
“She said, ‘Not if you keep your mouth shut.’”
Victor stared at Grace.
“What happened next?””
“Elise came upstairs. She hugged Noah for a long time.””
Grace's voice broke.
“She kissed him and told me not to leave him alone.””
Victor closed his eyes.
He could almost see Elise doing it.
“What did she tell you?””
“That if anything happened to her, I should find a blue envelope.””
“Where?””
“She never finished telling me.””
“Why?””
“The doorbell rang.””
Grace swallowed.
“Elise left immediately.””
“And Serena?””
“I thought she'd already gone.””
“You thought?””
“I never saw her leave.””
Daniel and Victor exchanged a look.
Victor asked, “When did you learn about the crash?””
“Forty minutes later.””
“Who called?””
“The police.””
Victor paced toward the window.
For five years, he had believed Elise died because of rain.
Now every memory felt contaminated.
Daniel opened his laptop.
“We can verify parts of this.””
“How?””
“Archived security backups.””
Victor shook his head.
“The system was replaced after Elise died.””
“The active system was. But Blackwood Security automatically backed up gate-access logs to your corporate servers.””
Victor stared at him.
“Find them.””
Daniel began typing.
Grace suddenly spoke.
“There was something else.””
Victor looked at her.
“What?””
“The morning after Elise died, I found mud inside the rear hallway.””
“So?””
“It wasn't near the main entrance.””
Grace's hands trembled.
“It led from the private garage.””
Victor's chest tightened.
“Whose garage?””
“Elise's.””
Daniel stopped typing.
Victor remembered the police report.
Elise had supposedly left through the front gates alone.
Daniel turned his laptop.
“I found the archived access logs.””
Victor stepped closer.
“Open the date.””
Daniel entered the date of Elise's death.
Rows of data appeared.
10:02 p.m. — Elise's vehicle exited.
Victor stared.
“That's consistent with the report.””
Daniel scrolled.
Then stopped.
10:07 p.m. — Secondary garage opened manually.
10:09 p.m. — Unregistered vehicle exited service gate.
Victor leaned closer.
“Can you identify it?””
“Maybe from archived camera footage.””
Daniel searched another server.
One file appeared.
Corrupted.
He tried another.
Nothing.
Then a small thumbnail loaded.
A dark sedan near the service gate.
Daniel enhanced the frame.
The license plate was partially visible.
Victor read the first characters.
Grace covered her mouth.
“Oh God.””
“What?”” Victor demanded.
“I've seen that car.””
“Where?””
Grace looked directly at him.
“Serena drove it the first time she came to this house.””
Victor's phone rang.
Daniel immediately traced the incoming number.
Victor answered.
“Serena.””
For several seconds, only wind came through.
Then her voice.
“You've been busy.””
“Where are you?””
“You really don't remember me, do you, Victor?””
His expression changed.
“What are you talking about?””
Serena laughed quietly.
“Elise remembered.””
Victor gripped the phone.
“If you had anything to do with her death—”
“You're asking the wrong question.””
“What question should I be asking?””
A pause.
Then Serena said:
“Ask why Elise was running from your house that night.””
Victor's pulse hammered.
“She was running from you.””
“No.””
Serena's voice became almost gentle.
“She was running from what she found in your study.””
Victor looked toward Daniel.
“What did she find?””
Serena whispered four words.
“Your father's second will.””
The call disconnected.
Victor stood motionless.
His father had died six months before Elise.
There had only ever been one will.
At least, that was what Victor had been told.
Then Daniel's computer chimed.
A previously corrupted archive had recovered.
One final security frame appeared from the night Elise died.
Victor leaned toward the screen.
Elise stood beside her car.
She wasn't alone.
A man was standing beside her.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Impossible.
Victor whispered his name.
May you like
“Dad?””
His father—supposedly dead for six months—was looking directly into the security camera.
