Chapter 9 - The Second Ledger
We did not go alone.
Federal agents positioned themselves around Briar Hill before Jasmine and I entered.
Aaron hated the plan.
“You're not bait.”
“No,” I told him. “I'm the person Thomas thinks can find what he wants.”
“That makes you bait.”
“It makes me useful.”
His jaw tightened.
Three years ago, that expression would have started an argument.
Now he simply said:
“Come back out.”
It was not an order.
It was a request.
“I intend to.”
Inside, Thomas Cole was waiting.
He was older than the photographs.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
Ordinary.
That disturbed me most.
Monsters should not look ordinary.
But they often do.
Jasmine stopped.
“Dad.”
Thomas smiled.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
She began crying.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I protected you.”
“You destroyed me.”
His smile disappeared.
He looked at me.
“Claire Hale Prescott.”
“Just Claire Hale soon.”
He almost laughed.
“Edward would appreciate that.”
“You knew my grandfather.”
“I knew everyone.”
“Did you kill my grandmother?”
Jasmine inhaled sharply.
Thomas looked almost offended.
“No.”
“Did William?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Thomas stared toward the staircase.
“Evelyn killed herself.”
I knew instantly it was a lie.
“Try again.”
He smiled.
“You do sound like Edward.”
He demanded the second ledger.
I told him I didn't know where it was.
He didn't believe me.
Then he said something that made me understand.
“The music room.”
My grandfather had forbidden anyone to alter the old piano.
For decades.
I remembered crawling beneath it as a child.
A brass plate.
Initials carved underneath.
E.H.
Not Edward Hale.
Evelyn Hale.
We went to the music room.
Inside the piano bench was a hidden compartment.
There really was a second ledger.
But it wasn't financial.
It was Evelyn's diary.
Thomas's face changed when he saw it.
Fear.
Real fear.
I opened it.
Evelyn had documented everything.
William.
Thomas.
The accounts.
Threats.
And one final entry.
Thomas came tonight. He says William wants the documents returned. I told him no. If anything happens to me, Thomas Cole knows why.
Jasmine stared at her father.
“You were there.”
Thomas backed away.
“It proves nothing.”
“It proves you lied.”
He reached inside his coat.
Agents moved immediately.
“Federal agents! Hands where we can see them!”
Thomas grabbed Jasmine.
A gun appeared.
Everything happened at once.
Aaron, who had been waiting outside, entered behind the agents.
Thomas saw him.
The gun shifted.
I shouted.
Jasmine drove her heel down onto her father's foot and twisted away.
Agents tackled him.
The gun slid across the floor.
Aaron reached me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He pulled me against him.
For one second, I let him.
Only one.
Thomas Cole was arrested inside the room where my grandmother had once played piano.
And when investigators later compared Evelyn's diary with the financial records, the final truth emerged.
Thomas had arranged the sabotage of Evelyn's car.
William had known afterward.
Instead of exposing him, William helped conceal it.
Two powerful men had protected each other.
Their children inherited the consequences.
But the cycle was finally broken.
I thought that would be the end.
It wasn't.
Because two days later, Nathan called.
“Claire, Prescott Global's board has scheduled an emergency meeting.”
“Why?”
“Richard is resigning.”
“That isn't surprising.”
“No.”
Nathan paused.
“What comes next is.”
“What?”
“Hale Meridian's debt position gives it substantial leverage in the restructuring.”
“I told you I'm not using my assets against Aaron.”
“You don't have to.”
“Then what's happening?”
“The board wants you there.”
“Why?”
“Because someone nominated you for a temporary independent oversight seat.”
“Who?”
Nathan laughed softly.
“Your husband.”
And once again, Aaron Prescott had done something I never expected.
May you like
Except this time, he wasn't asking me to save him.
He was giving me the power to decide whether his family deserved saving at all.
