Chapter 5 - THE BRIDE’S REAL HUSBAND
The search for Eleanor’s vehicle continued through the night.
Roadblocks were established across three counties, but the mountains offered too many private roads and abandoned properties. The Sterlings had spent decades purchasing land through hidden companies.
They knew how to disappear without leaving Colorado.
My daughter remained in the neonatal unit.
I named her Grace.
Not Eleanor.
Not a Sterling family name.
Grace, because she had survived people who believed her birth was an inconvenience.
I sat beside her incubator while Diana coordinated the search from the hallway.
At dawn, Seraphina requested to speak with me.
She would not talk to investigators unless I was present.
Against medical advice, I was taken downstairs in a wheelchair to a secure interview room.
Seraphina sat at the table wearing a gray detention uniform. Without her wedding gown, jewelry, and carefully arranged hair, she looked younger than thirty.
She also looked furious.
“You destroyed everything,” she said.
“You locked me in a restroom while I was in labor.”
“That was Mother.”
“You watched.”
“It was my wedding.”
I stared at her.
She leaned back.
“Do not pretend you came to Sterling Ridge as an innocent wife. You were investigating us.”
“I did not begin investigating the estate until public money disappeared.”
“You were always waiting for a reason to hate us.”
“You never required my help.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I can tell you where Julian is going.”
“Then tell Diana.”
“I want a deal.”
“You shot Preston?”
She looked briefly surprised.
“I did not shoot him.”
“He said Julian did.”
“Preston lies whenever pain becomes inconvenient.”
“Who fired the gun?”
Seraphina smiled.
“The groom.”
I waited.
“Preston shot himself?” I asked.
“No. He fired first at Julian. The bullet ricocheted from the stone wall and struck him.”
“Why would Preston shoot Julian?”
“Because Preston wanted the drive.”
“For Marianne?”
Seraphina’s smile vanished.
Marianne Vale was not merely Preston’s mother.
She had once been Eleanor’s business partner.
Old corporate filings showed that Marianne owned twenty percent of Sterling Ridge before transferring it to a holding company controlled by Robert Sterling.
“What was Marianne’s role?” I asked.
Seraphina looked toward the observation glass.
“She arranged the public grants. Mother controlled the estate. Father controlled the contractors. Marianne controlled the people who approved everything.”
“And Daniel Rourke discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“Where is his body?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Lily?”
“With Mother.”
“Where is she taking her?”
Seraphina lowered her voice.
“To Saint Alder.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Diana entered the room.
“What is Saint Alder?”
“A private residential school near the Canadian border,” Seraphina explained. “It closed ten years ago, but the Sterlings still own the land.”
“Why take Lily there?”
“Because that is where Mother kept Laura Rourke.”
I felt cold.
“Laura didn’t die in the car accident?”
Seraphina shook her head.
“The body in the vehicle belonged to another woman.”
The Sterling family had staged a death exactly as carefully as they staged weddings.
“Is Laura alive?”
“She was when I last saw her.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why was she kept there?”
“Insurance.”
The same word Preston used for the drive.
“What kind of insurance?”
Seraphina looked at me.
“Laura knew where Daniel hid the original grant ledger. Mother could not kill her until she found it.”
“Then why did Eleanor keep Lily nearby?”
“To control Laura.”
I gripped the armrest of the wheelchair.
“Julian visited Lily.”
“He felt guilty.”
“Did he help imprison her?”
“He brought her books. Clothes. Medicine.”
“That is not rescue.”
“No. It was how Julian convinced himself he was kind.”
The description was painfully accurate.
My husband apologized privately while allowing harm publicly.
Even his kindness required no courage.
“Why are you helping now?” Diana asked.
“Because Mother planned to make me responsible for everything. The drive contains edited recordings designed to frame me.”
“You kept it for three years.”
“To protect myself.”
“Did you ever intend to expose the crimes?”
Seraphina gave a tired laugh.
“People in families like mine don’t expose crimes. We inherit them.”
She gave Diana the location of Saint Alder.
Agents prepared aircraft and ground teams.
Before we left the interview room, Seraphina called my name.
“Preston is not who you think he is.”
“He is a criminal who married into your family.”
“No. He was already married.”
I turned.
She slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Preston standing beside another woman at a courthouse ceremony five years earlier.
The woman was Lily’s mother.
Laura Rourke.
“Preston married Laura under the name Nathan Vale,” Seraphina said.
“That makes no sense.”
“He was assigned to watch her at Saint Alder. He claimed he fell in love with her.”
“And then he married you.”
“To gain access to my mother’s files.”
The extravagant wedding had not been a celebration.
It had been an infiltration.
Preston had joined the family to recover the evidence that could free Laura and expose Daniel’s death.
“Does Eleanor know?” I asked.
“She discovered the truth yesterday morning.”
That explained the chaos around the drive.
It explained Preston’s desperation.
But one question remained.
“Why would Laura trust the man guarding her?”
Seraphina looked away.
“Because Preston told her Daniel was still alive.”
My pulse quickened.
“Was he?”
“According to the drive, yes.”
She met my eyes again.
“My father did not kill Daniel seven years ago.”
“But Julian said Robert did.”
“Robert tried.”
“Where is Daniel?”
May you like
Seraphina’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“He has been inside Saint Alder the entire time.”
