Chapter 5 - MY FATHER'S LAST LIE
Thomas Vale didn't enter the room.
He simply stood in the doorway.
“I don't want a fight,” he said.
Marcus stepped between us.
“Then leave.”
Thomas smiled.
“I've spent twenty years keeping this family alive.”
Dad looked at him.
“You've spent twenty years protecting yourself.”
Thomas ignored him.
He turned to me.
“Your mother trusted me.”
“Then why did she write that I shouldn't trust you?”
His smile disappeared.
“Because she discovered the truth too late.”
“What truth?”
Thomas placed the folder on the table.
“Your father didn't tell you everything.”
I looked at Dad.
He closed his eyes.
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“Before tonight.”
“You've had twenty years.”
“I was afraid.”
I shook my head.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Thomas spoke quietly.
“Fear is how Vivian controlled this family.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did you work for her?”
“I didn't.”
“You moved money.”
“I moved money to protect it.”
“Thirty-eight million dollars?”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He opened the folder.
A map appeared.
The money had been distributed across four trusts.
One belonged to the hospital.
One belonged to the Whitmore Foundation.
One belonged to a private research institution.
And the fourth had my name.
I stared.
“My trust?”
Thomas nodded.
“Your mother created it.”
“When?”
“Three months before she died.”
I felt a strange mixture of relief and anger.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew Vivian was stealing.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she believed you were being watched.”
My stomach tightened.
“By whom?”
Thomas looked at Dad.
“Your father.”
I turned.
“Dad?”
He swallowed.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You were monitoring me?”
“Not like that.”
“There are photographs of me.”
“I hired someone to watch you.”
My eyes burned.
“You became exactly like Vivian.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He looked devastated.
“I was trying to make sure she couldn't reach you.”
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
Thomas interrupted.
“There's something more important.”
He pulled out a second photograph.
It showed my mother entering a bank.
Beside her was Arthur Whitmore.
But Arthur was supposed to have died thirty years earlier.
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
Thomas shook his head.
“It was taken six months before your mother's death.”
I looked at Dad.
“Did you know?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“Is Grandpa alive?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“He was dying.”
“Then why fake his death?”
“Because someone was trying to kill him.”
“Who?”
Dad whispered:
“Vivian's father.”
I felt like the entire family history was unraveling.
Thomas continued.
“Arthur discovered that Vivian's family had been siphoning money from the hotel.”
“So this started before Vivian?”
“Yes.”
“Then why marry her?”
Dad looked at me.
“Because your mother believed Vivian could be redeemed.”
I almost laughed.
“She was wrong.”
“Yes.”
Thomas sighed.
“Your mother made one mistake.”
“What?”
“She believed love could overcome greed.”
He handed me a key.
“What is this?”
“Your mother gave it to me.”
“Where does it lead?”
“The hotel.”
My heart raced.
“Where?”
“The original basement.”
I had never seen it.
The hotel had been renovated several times.
Entire sections were sealed.
Thomas looked at Dad.
“Tell her.”
Dad shook his head.
“You tell her.”
Thomas nodded.
“Your mother didn't hide the deed in a safe.”
“Then where?”
“Under the hotel.”
I stared.
“The original deed isn't a legal document.”
“What is it?”
“A recording.”
I frowned.
“Your mother recorded a confession.”
“About what?”
Thomas lowered his voice.
“About who killed Arthur.”
My grandfather.
The man who supposedly died naturally.
The man whose name had been erased from the hotel's history.
I looked at Dad.
“Who killed him?”
Dad whispered:
“Vivian's father.”
Then Thomas added:
“And your mother had proof.”
I tightened my grip around the key.
“Where is the recording?”
Thomas pointed toward the window.
“Inside the Whitmore Crown.”
At that exact moment, my phone buzzed.
A message from Vivian.
YOU THINK YOU WON?
Another message followed.
COME TO THE HOTEL ALONE.
May you like
Then a final one.
BRING THE KEY.
