Chapter 2 - WHAT ANNA WROTE ON THE BACK
For several seconds, Ethan did not speak.
Sophie remained pressed against his chest, one thin arm wrapped around his neck and the photograph trembling between his fingers.
Celeste stood halfway down the staircase.
Richard had stopped behind her.
Nobody moved.
Ethan read the message again.
His late wife Anna's handwriting was unmistakable.
Small.
Precise.
Slightly tilted to the right.
ETHAN — IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, DO NOT LET RICHARD OR ANYONE CONNECTED TO THE VALE TRUST TAKE SOPHIE OUT OF THE COUNTRY. CHECK THE BLUE ROOM. TRUST NO SIGNATURE YOU DID NOT WATCH ME MAKE.
Below that, in smaller handwriting:
THE HOUSE IS SOPHIE'S. NOT YOURS. NOT MINE. HERS.
Ethan looked up slowly.
Richard's face changed.
Celeste saw it.
"What does it say?" she asked.
Ethan folded the photograph.
"Why don't you tell me?"
"I have no idea."
Richard stepped down one stair.
"Ethan, this has clearly become emotional."
Ethan almost laughed.
"Emotional?"
He looked at the suitcase.
Then at Sophie.
"My six-year-old daughter was locked inside luggage."
Celeste immediately raised her hands.
"She climbed into it herself."
Sophie shook her head violently.
"No!"
Celeste's face tightened.
"Sophie, sweetheart—"
"Don't call her that."
Ethan's voice was quiet.
Celeste froze.
Sophie whispered:
"She told me we were going on a surprise trip."
Ethan looked at the airline tickets.
New York to Geneva.
Departure:
That evening.
Two passengers.
Celeste Vale.
Sophie Mercer.
No Ethan.
No return date.
His blood went cold.
"You were taking her to Switzerland?"
Celeste's mouth opened.
Richard answered.
"It was temporary."
Ethan turned toward him.
"You don't get to answer questions about my daughter."
Richard buttoned his shirt.
That simple movement almost pushed Ethan over the edge.
Richard Vale had been Ethan's friend for fifteen years.
College roommate.
Business attorney.
Best man at Ethan and Anna's wedding.
Godfather to Sophie.
After Anna died two years earlier, Richard was one of the people who encouraged Ethan not to isolate himself.
He also introduced Celeste to the family.
Six months later, Ethan married her.
Now Richard had apparently been upstairs with Ethan's wife while Celeste prepared to take Sophie out of the country.
"Why Geneva?"
Celeste said:
"My family has a residence there."
"Your family?"
"The Vale family."
Richard looked at her sharply.
Too late.
Ethan noticed.
"What Vale trust?"
Silence.
Sophie tugged his collar.
"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"Mommy said blue room."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Anna's message.
CHECK THE BLUE ROOM.
There was no blue room in the mansion.
At least not anymore.
Before Sophie was born, Anna had designed a small sitting room upstairs in pale blue.
After Anna died, Ethan could not enter it.
Celeste eventually redecorated.
White walls.
New furniture.
Different paintings.
She called it the morning room.
Ethan looked toward the second floor.
Celeste stepped down another stair.
"Ethan, don't."
That was the wrong thing to say.
He carried Sophie upstairs.
Celeste followed.
"Whatever Anna wrote was two years ago. She was sick. She was taking medication."
Ethan stopped.
"Be very careful."
"I'm not insulting her."
"You just questioned the mind of my dead wife."
Richard stepped in.
"Anna was under tremendous stress."
Ethan stared at him.
"You too?"
Richard exhaled.
"We're saying context matters."
Ethan entered the former blue room.
Everything Anna chose had been removed.
Except the built-in bookshelves.
Sophie pointed.
"Mommy's bird."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
Anna loved small brass animal figures.
Years earlier, she'd placed a brass swallow on one bookshelf.
Ethan had forgotten it.
Celeste hadn't removed it because it looked decorative.
Sophie walked toward it.
"Mom told me if I ever got scared, the bird remembers."
Ethan's chest tightened.
Anna told Sophie that?
She had been four when Anna died.
He approached the swallow.
It was heavier than expected.
He turned it.
Nothing.
Then Sophie touched the base.
"It twists."
Click.
The entire lower bookshelf released from the wall.
Celeste gasped.
Behind it was a narrow safe.
Ethan stared.
"I didn't know that was there."
Richard stepped backward.
Again, Ethan noticed.
"You did."
Richard shook his head.
"No."
"You reacted before Celeste did."
"I was surprised."
Ethan looked at the safe.
Four-number code.
Sophie said:
"My birthday."
It opened.
Inside were three folders.
A sealed letter.
A flash drive.
A property deed.
And a small leather book.
Ethan took the deed first.
The mansion.
But not exactly.
Two months before Anna's death, the mansion had been transferred into the Sophie Anne Mercer Irrevocable Residence Trust.
Beneficiary:
Sophie Mercer.
Trustee:
Ethan until Sophie's twenty-fifth birthday.
Successor trustee:
Not Celeste.
Not Richard.
A woman named Margaret Hale.
Ethan's attorney from before Richard joined the family business.
Richard whispered:
"That isn't valid."
Ethan turned.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"You recognized the document from six feet away."
Richard's expression tightened.
Ethan opened the next folder.
Vale Family Settlement — Unauthorized Amendment Attempts.
His stomach dropped.
Inside were emails.
Copies of legal filings.
Letters between Anna and Margaret Hale.
Anna had discovered someone attempting to insert Richard Vale as a successor trustee to a trust Ethan never knew existed.
A trust funded by Anna's family.
Thirty-four million dollars.
All for Sophie.
Celeste sat down.
Ethan looked at her.
"You knew."
"No."
"Geneva."
She said nothing.
He continued:
"You were taking Sophie to the country where the Vale family has private banking relationships."
Richard snapped:
"That's enough."
Ethan turned.
"No."
Richard's calm finally disappeared.
"You have no idea what Anna was involved in."
"Then educate me."
Richard stared at Sophie.
Ethan immediately shifted her behind him.
"Look at me."
Richard did.
"Why was Anna investigating you?"
Silence.
Then Celeste said:
"Because Anna believed Richard was stealing from the foundation."
Richard looked at her.
"What are you doing?"
"What you should've done months ago."
She was crying now.
"Tell him."
Richard's face hardened.
Ethan's heartbeat slowed.
Something worse was coming.
"Tell me what?"
Celeste whispered:
"Anna didn't die from the illness you were told she had."
The room went completely silent.
Ethan stared at her.
"Anna had leukemia."
"No."
Celeste shook her head.
"Anna had a treatable blood disorder."
Ethan forgot how to breathe.
"What?"
"The diagnosis was changed."
May you like
Ethan looked at Richard.
And this time Richard did not deny it.
