CHAPTER 8: The Envelope From the Rain
Victoria froze with Daniel’s hand around her wrist.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
Daniel stared at her as if seeing a stranger. “Stopping you.”
Samuel handed the envelope to Edward. Inside were copies of medical records, a birth certificate, a private investigator’s note, and a small USB drive wrapped in tissue.
Edward’s eyes moved from page to page.
At first, he looked confused.
Then wounded.
Then furious.
The birth certificate listed Lily Anna Hart as the child of Clara Anna Ashborne. The father’s name had been left blank, but the hospital record carried the same date as the accident that supposedly killed Clara. Another page showed a transfer of foundation money into shell accounts connected to a consulting company Victoria had once owned under her maiden name.
But the worst page was a letter.
Dear Dad,
If Samuel is right, someone inside the family is paying people to watch me. I don’t know who to trust. I was told you signed the papers cutting me off, but I know your signature. This isn’t yours. If I disappear, protect my daughter. Her name is Lily. She is the only thing in my life that was never stolen from me.
Edward read the last line three times.
Around him, the gala had turned from celebration to courtroom.
Victoria pulled her wrist free. “Fake. All of it.”
Samuel coughed, exhausted. “Then you won’t mind playing the drive.”
The media screens behind the stage had been showing donation totals. Daniel looked at the hotel technician and nodded.
Victoria shouted, “Do not touch that system.”
No one obeyed.
May you like
A minute later, the screen went black.
Then Clara Ashborne’s face appeared.
