Chapter 2 - THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
“His name is Victor Hale,” Eleanor whispered.
I looked at her.
“Who is Victor Hale?”
She didn't answer.
Julian did.
“Nobody.”
Darcy gave a quiet laugh.
“Nobody doesn't usually have dinner with your husband nine times.”
Julian glared at her.
“You don't understand the situation.”
“I understand it perfectly,” Darcy replied.
She opened another folder.
Victor Hale had once been a financial adviser.
Ten years earlier, he had been investigated for fraudulent investment schemes involving several wealthy families.
The investigation disappeared.
The charges were never filed.
And shortly afterward, Victor moved to another state.
But six years ago, he returned.
The same year Julian and I got married.
I felt a chill.
“Why was he meeting Julian?”
Darcy looked at me.
“That is what we're trying to establish.”
Julian suddenly laughed.
“You're making this sound like some conspiracy.”
“You told me last night that if I didn't give you $28,000, I should leave,” I said.
His smile disappeared.
“You've been lying to me for years.”
“I never lied.”
“Then explain the $40,000.”
He said nothing.
“Explain the hotel suite.”
Still nothing.
“Explain the jewelry.”
Eleanor suddenly interrupted.
“Enough.”
I turned toward her.
She looked frightened.
Not angry.
Frightened.
“Mom,” Julian said quietly.
She shook her head.
“We need to go.”
Darcy stood.
“No. You need to stay.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Victor Hale isn't the only person involved.”
Darcy placed another photograph on the table.
This one showed Eleanor.
She was entering the same private club.
Seven years earlier.
My stomach dropped.
Eleanor stared at the picture.
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
She looked at Julian.
He looked back at her.
And suddenly I understood something.
They weren't protecting each other.
They were terrified of each other.
Darcy continued.
“Seven years ago, Eleanor opened a private investment account.”
“That was personal,” Eleanor snapped.
“Using funds from the same company Julian later joined.”
Julian stood.
“You promised you'd never bring this up.”
Eleanor's face went white.
I stared at both of them.
“What did you do?”
Neither answered.
Darcy slowly removed one final document.
It was a bank transfer.
The amount was $125,000.
The recipient was Victor Hale.
The sender was Eleanor.
The date was six days before my grandmother died.
My heart stopped.
“What does my grandmother have to do with this?”
Eleanor looked at me.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked genuinely terrified.
“I didn't know she would leave you the inheritance.”
I froze.
“You knew about my grandmother's money?”
Julian closed his eyes.
And Darcy said quietly:
“They knew before you did.”
That sentence changed everything.
Because suddenly, my husband's demand for $28,000 wasn't about a vacation.
It wasn't even about his mother.
They had been waiting for something.
May you like
And I was beginning to realize that my grandmother's inheritance wasn't merely money.
It was the reason they had entered my life in the first place.
