Chapter 9 - THE STRANGER WHO KNEW MY MOTHER'S SECRET
Gabriel invited me to visit my grandfather's old house.
It stood outside Chicago, surrounded by mature oak trees.
I hadn't been there since I was nineteen.
The house smelled of cedar and old books.
Samuel met us in the library.
He handed me a small wooden box.
“Your grandfather wanted you to have this.”
Inside were letters.
Photographs.
And a journal belonging to my mother.
I stared.
My mother had died when I was twenty-one.
For years, I'd believed she knew little about Grandfather's financial affairs.
But the journal told another story.
She had known about the Bennett Legacy Trust.
She had also known that Charles Bennett feared the Ashford family might eventually attempt to gain control of the trust's assets.
One entry made my hands tremble.
If Evelyn ever marries into the Ashford family, Samuel must review the trust immediately.
I looked up.
Gabriel watched me carefully.
“Why would she write that?”
Samuel sighed.
“Because your grandfather had concerns about Robert Ashford's successors.”
I stared.
“Did they know Nathaniel?”
Samuel shook his head.
“Not personally.”
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I looked down at the journal.
Then whispered, “They were trying to protect me.”
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