Chapter 17 - Secrets Inside the Safe|
A few days later, while cleaning out the basement to renovate it into a playroom for Lily, I accidentally discovered a secret compartment behind Richard’s old bookshelf.
My heart pounded as my hand brushed against a small metal safe covered in layers of dust. I tried Emily’s birthday. Beep. Incorrect. I tried our wedding anniversary. Beep. Incorrect.
On the third try, I punched in the sequence of numbers marking the founding date of his first company.
Click.
The safe door popped open. Inside, there was no gold, silver, or jewelry. Only a thick file sealed with red wax, and a handwritten letter addressed to me.
My hands shook as I opened the letter. Richard’s familiar handwriting stood out clearly:
"Dearest Margaret, my beloved wife, If you are reading this letter, it means Emily’s trust fund has been activated and the Vales have been eliminated. I knew Patricia Vale long before Emily met Brandon. She used to be a business partner of mine, and she scammed me into a massive debt with the underground world. Her forcing her son to marry Emily was no coincidence. It was revenge."
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I froze. Everything in my head turned upside down. My daughter’s marriage had been a carefully calculated trap from the very beginning.
"But that’s not the worst of it," the letter continued. "I hid a list of secret shadow bank accounts belonging to the people pulling Patricia’s strings. They won't rest easy knowing the 10 million dollars slipped out of the Vale family's hands."
