Chapter 6 - Rachel's Warning
Rachel’s letter was dated three days before her death.
It wasn't proof of murder.
Marcus repeated that several times.
Neither of us wanted grief, anger, or fear to turn allegations into facts.
But the letter was evidence of something.
Rachel described financial pressure strikingly similar to what I had experienced.
Daniel demanding signatures.
Evelyn insisting that married couples shouldn't keep separate assets.
Accounts Rachel didn't recognize.
Documents presented as routine paperwork.
Threats that she would lose Sophie if she left.
I read the letter twice.
Then a third time.
Near the bottom was a name.
Graham Vale.
The same adviser.
My skin went cold.
This wasn't something Daniel invented after marrying me.
It was a system.
Rachel had discovered it years earlier.
She wrote that Vale had prepared documents giving Daniel control over property Rachel had inherited from her grandmother.
When she refused to sign, the marriage deteriorated rapidly.
The parallels were impossible to ignore.
Then came the final paragraph.
Rachel believed Evelyn had been accessing accounts without authorization.
She intended to take the evidence to Helen Mercer.
She never arrived.
The next night, she died.
Again, that did not establish what caused her crash.
But it established what she had feared before it.
Sophie sent another file.
A spreadsheet.
Marcus leaned closer.
“These are transactions.”
Large amounts moved through companies I didn't recognize.
Some dated back more than a decade.
One company appeared repeatedly.
Vale Strategic Holdings.
Another appeared recently.
Vance Meridian Trust.
My proposed trust.
My future prison.
The realization was sickening.
They weren't simply after my inheritance.
They may have intended to use it to cover something.
Marcus made copies of everything and transmitted them through appropriate legal channels.
Then Sophie's messages stopped.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Thirty.
“Sophie?”
No response.
An hour passed.
Then Daniel called.
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
“You shouldn't have involved her.”
My blood turned cold.
“Where is Sophie?”
“Sleeping.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“You've turned my daughter against me.”
“She contacted me.”
“Because you manipulated her.”
“How?”
Silence.
He had no answer.
Then he said, “Tomorrow. Noon. Sign the trust.”
“No.”
“You haven't even heard what happens if you refuse.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
“Is Sophie safe?”
“She is my daughter.”
“That wasn't my question.”
The call ended.
I looked at Marcus.
“We're done waiting.”
He nodded.
“So are the authorities.”
Something had shifted.
May you like
Daniel thought noon was his deadline for me.
He had no idea it was becoming a deadline for him too.
