Chapter 3 - Rafael Hired Her Before He Died
I took the photograph to Victoria.
She looked at it once.
Then put it face down.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You recognized the pendant months ago.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Rafael was looking for Isabel’s family.”
“I knew he never stopped.”
“And Adrian?”
She looked toward the door.
“My son knew Rafael was obsessed with the old trust.”
“What trust?”
Victoria rubbed both hands together.
A nervous habit I had never seen.
“Isabel’s share.”
I sat across from her.
“Rafael’s will says there was a trust.”
“There was.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is a lie.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Do not speak to me like that.”
“You told me to disappear yesterday.”
“That was before—”
“Before you knew I owned voting shares?”
She flinched.
I continued.
“How much?”
Victoria stood.
Walked to the window.
“Enough.”
I laughed.
“Rich people love that word.”
She turned.
“Enough to change control of the company if the original ownership structure is restored.”
My pulse jumped.
“Restored?”
Before she could answer, Evelyn entered.
No knock.
No apology.
Her cane hit the floor twice.
“Show me the pendant.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Aunt Evelyn.”
“Be quiet.”
The eighty-seven-year-old woman sat beside me.
“May I?”
I unclasped the necklace.
She held it beneath the lamp.
Her thumb rubbed the three tiny scratches on the back.
“They are not scratches.”
Bell entered behind her carrying a magnifying glass.
He examined the metal.
Three marks.
Then a number hidden along the rim.
317.
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“Of course.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
Victoria said, “Don’t.”
Evelyn ignored her.
“Safe-deposit box.”
My chest tightened.
“Whose?”
“Isabel’s.”
Victoria whispered, “Evelyn.”
The old woman turned on her.
“You have had forty years to be a coward.”
Victoria’s face went white.
Evelyn handed me the pendant.
“Your grandmother hid the key reference in the necklace.”
“Why?”
“Because she was leaving.”
The room went still.
I said, “I was told she died.”
Evelyn looked at Victoria.
“She did.”
“That was not my question.”
Evelyn nodded.
“No.”
I turned to Victoria.
“You knew?”
She pressed one hand against the window.
“I was seventeen.”
“What happened?”
“Isabel was pregnant.”
“I know.”
“Our father told her she would lose everything if she stayed with the man.”
“So she left.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
Victoria’s voice broke slightly.
“She came to me the night before.”
“With the pendant?”
“Yes.”
“She said anything?”
Victoria looked at the blue stone in my hand.
“She said Rafael would fix it when he was old enough.”
My skin tightened.
Bell said, “And Box 317?”
Victoria’s mouth closed.
Evelyn answered.
“She hid documents.”
“What documents?”
Victoria whispered, “Ownership.”
I looked at her.
“Of what?”
“Montenegro Holdings.”
My heart kicked.
Then Evelyn added:
“Your branch’s share.”
I stared.
Victoria said, “The box may be empty.”
“Why?”
Her face changed.
Because she knew something else.
I stepped closer.
“Why?”
She finally looked at me.
“Because Adrian asked about 317 three days after Rafael’s funeral.”
May you like
CUT.
