Chapter 4 - The Papers in the Fireplace
Judge Callahan allowed the boys to leave with my sister before the hearing continued.
I stepped into the hallway and called Lucas immediately.
He answered on the second ring.
“Mom?”
“Hey, buddy.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
That was a lie.
“Lucas, I need to ask you something.”
A pause.
“Okay.”
“You told Aunt Rachel something about Dad burning papers.”
Silence.
“Lucas?”
“He told us not to talk about it.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Last night.”
I closed my eyes.
“What happened?”
“Mason couldn’t sleep.”
In the background, I heard Mason say something.
Then the phone shifted.
“Mom?” Mason asked.
“I’m here.”
“We went downstairs for water.”
“And?”
“Dad and Chloe were in the library.”
My heart started pounding.
“What were they doing?”
“Dad had papers.”
“Chloe too?”
“She kept saying, ‘This is crazy.’”
I gripped the phone harder.
“What did Dad do?”
“He threw stuff in the fireplace.”
My chest tightened.
“How much?”
“A lot.”
Mason’s voice got smaller.
“Then he saw us.”
“What happened?”
“He yelled.”
I closed my eyes.
“He said it was private business and we should go upstairs.”
Lucas took the phone back.
“He said grown-up problems happen when people ask too many questions.”
Something inside me snapped.
“Listen to me. Neither of you did anything wrong.”
“We know.”
“No. I mean it.”
I looked through the glass doors toward the courtroom.
Tristan sat beside Carlton.
Calm.
Polished.
Controlled.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Are you mad?”
“At you? Never.”
“At Dad?”
I watched him laugh quietly at something Carlton said.
“Yes.”
I ended the call and told Leah.
Within fifteen minutes, she had formally informed the court.
Judge Callahan’s expression hardened.
“I am not treating statements from children as proof of document destruction.”
Carlton nodded.
“Thank you.”
“But I am treating them as sufficient reason to preserve potentially relevant evidence.”
Carlton’s relief disappeared.
The judge issued an immediate preservation order.
No company records could be destroyed.
No devices wiped.
No accounting files altered.
No major corporate assets transferred without notice.
And she authorized limited expedited forensic discovery.
Tristan finally reacted.
“This is insane.”
Judge Callahan stared at him.
“Would you like to repeat that?”
His face tightened.
“No, Your Honor.”
The judge turned to Carlton.
“The allegation of destroyed documents will be examined.”
Leah whispered to me, “Now we see what he was afraid of.”
We did not have to wait long.
At 4:18 that afternoon, while I was sitting inside Leah’s office, a forensic accountant named Simon Vale called.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The preservation order reached corporate headquarters forty minutes ago.”
“And?”
“Someone entered the records archive last night.”
I felt cold.
“What time?”
“3:14 a.m.”
“Who?”
“The primary security cameras were disabled.”
“Of course they were.”
Simon paused.
“One camera wasn’t.”
He sent us a still image.
A man pushed a large rolling bin down a service corridor.
Baseball cap.
Dark jacket.
Head down.
But I recognized him.
“Derek Hale.”
Tristan’s driver.
Leah leaned closer.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Simon sent another image.
This time Derek stood outside the archive room.
He wasn’t alone.
A woman stood beside him.
Older.
Silver-blond hair.
Black wool coat.
My breath caught.
“No.”
Leah stared at the image.
“Who is she?”
I already knew.
Margaret Pembroke.
Tristan’s mother.
A woman who had spent thirteen years telling me she knew nothing about business.
And suddenly I understood.
May you like
The lie wasn’t just Tristan’s.
It had a family.
