Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
When I got home, Leah was sitting on the stairs.
She had one hand over her mouth.
The photograph lay on the dining table.
I picked it up.
It showed my mother leaving a bank.
The date was six months earlier.
Beside her was a man I recognized immediately.
Our family attorney.
But that wasn't what frightened me.
It was the person standing behind them.
A woman in a black coat.
Leah pointed at her.
“Do you know her?”
“No.”
She zoomed in on the image.
“I've seen her before.”
“Where?”
“At your parents' house.”
My heart sank.
“How long?”
“Several times.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I thought she was a consultant.”
I turned the photograph over.
There was another message.
YOUR GRANDFATHER KNEW.
I sat down.
Leah came closer.
“Jake…”
I looked at her.
“What do you know?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Then why is your company receiving money from my family's trust?”
Her face drained of color.
“What?”
I showed her the transfer.
Leah stared at the screen.
“That company isn't mine.”
“It's registered in your name.”
“No.”
She stood abruptly.
“I've never heard of Northbridge Holdings.”
I believed her.
Because Leah was many things.
A brilliant architect.
A terrible liar.
And completely incapable of hiding fear when she was telling the truth.
She opened her laptop.
“Give me five minutes.”
Five minutes later, she found something.
The company had been created four years ago.
The registered mailing address was our old apartment.
The filing used a digital signature that looked like Leah's.
But she hadn't signed it.
Then she noticed the attorney of record.
My mother's attorney.
Leah whispered:
“He created it.”
I called him.
He didn't answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then my brother arrived.
He had brought copies of the trust documents.
“We have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“The trust isn't worth what Dad said.”
He put a document on the table.
“The lake house is worth about $2.3 million.”
I nodded.
“And?”
“The trust owns more.”
“How much?”
He looked at me.
“Almost twelve million.”
I stared at him.
“Where did the rest come from?”
“Grandfather's company.”
I remembered that company.
It had been sold before I was born.
At least, that's what I'd been told.
Ethan flipped another page.
“It wasn't sold.”
“What?”
“It was transferred.”
“To whom?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“Northbridge Holdings.”
Leah sat down.
“So my name was used to control your grandfather's company?”
“Apparently.”
I felt something inside me shift.
My family hadn't been fighting over my parents' bills.
They had been fighting over an estate worth millions.
And somehow, my wife had been placed at the center of it.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said:
“You're looking in the wrong direction.”
“Who is this?”
“You think your mother stole the money.”
“Didn't she?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
The man paused.
“Your father.”
My eyes moved toward Ethan.
The caller continued.
“Your mother has been covering for him for years.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed he was protecting the family.”
I gripped the phone.
“What did he do?”
The voice became quieter.
“He didn't steal your grandfather's money.”
“He stole something much worse.”
The call ended.
I looked at Ethan.
“What could be worse than twelve million dollars?”
Before he could answer, a notification appeared on my phone.
A security camera alert.
Someone was standing outside our house.
May you like
And I recognized him.
My father.
