Chapter 4 - THE BOOK HIDDEN IN MY GRANDMOTHER’S BIBLE
I knew exactly what Vanessa meant.
My grandmother’s Bible.
I had brought it with me from Maine.
It was old.
Heavy.
Leather-bound.
And filled with handwritten notes.
I kept it in the bottom drawer of my dresser.
Adrian and I went to my staff room together.
Vanessa followed until he ordered a guard to keep her downstairs.
I opened the drawer.
The Bible was gone.
My stomach dropped.
“It was here.”
“When did you last see it?”
“Two nights ago.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
He called security.
Within minutes, the estate was locked down.
No one left.
No vehicles moved.
Every employee was questioned.
Vanessa denied touching it.
So did Helen.
Then the gatekeeper remembered something.
“Miss Whitmore sent a box out yesterday.”
Adrian turned.
“To where?”
“Her father’s office.”
Vanessa went pale.
Adrian looked at her.
“You stole Nora’s property?”
“It was mine.”
“No.”
“My father said Rose stole it.”
“That doesn’t make it yours.”
Vanessa’s voice rose.
“You don’t understand what’s in that book.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked at me.
“Your grandmother kept records.”
“Of what?”
“My father’s shipping accounts.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Charles Whitmore and Adrian Cole had been business partners for almost a decade.
If Rose had records from years earlier, they could expose things neither family wanted public.
“What kind of accounts?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian laughed coldly.
“You cut her hair, stole from her room, lied about her bloodline, and you expect me to believe you don’t know why?”
Vanessa slapped him.
Everyone froze.
Adrian did not move.
She seemed shocked by her own hand.
He looked at her.
Then removed the engagement ring from her finger.
Not violently.
Not dramatically.
He simply took her hand and slid it off.
“Get out.”
Her face went white.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“You can’t end our engagement over a maid.”
“I’m ending it because you’re cruel.”
Vanessa stared.
Adrian continued.
“And because you steal.”
Her eyes filled.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Probably.”
She laughed bitterly.
“My father will destroy you.”
Adrian looked tired.
“Then he can get in line.”
Vanessa was escorted upstairs to pack.
I stood near the staircase.
My hair still felt strange against my neck.
Adrian turned toward me.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“That nobody protected you in my house.”
I looked at him.
“You weren’t here.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters a little.”
He almost smiled.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man spoke.
“Adrian.”
Charles Whitmore.
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Where is Nora’s Bible?”
Charles laughed.
“So she finally knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That Rose kept evidence.”
“Give it back.”
“No.”
Adrian looked toward me.
“What do you want?”
Charles’s voice became colder.
“Nora.”
My blood ran cold.
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
“Try again.”
“Send her to me.”
“No.”
“Then tomorrow morning, every newspaper from Boston to New York gets copies of what’s inside.”
Adrian stared at the phone.
“What’s inside?”
Charles laughed.
“Proof that Thomas Cole built his empire with my money.”
A pause.
“And proof that Rose Bennett helped him steal it.”
Adrian looked at me.
Then Charles added:
“But that isn’t the part Nora will care about.”
My hand tightened around the banister.
“What part?”
May you like
Charles answered softly:
“The page where Rose confessed who killed Nora’s mother.”
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