Chapter 4 - The Other Fortune
The number made no sense.
Nine hundred million dollars.
The Hale estate was substantial.
Richard’s businesses, property holdings, investment accounts, and trusts were worth several hundred million.
But Caroline had never possessed anything close to nine hundred million dollars.
At least Richard had never believed she had.
David explained.
Victoria’s biological father, Harrison Langley, had founded a pharmaceutical company decades earlier.
After a bitter divorce, Victoria and Martin had become estranged from him.
Harrison remarried.
He had no other children.
Three years before Caroline died, Harrison changed his estate plan.
Almost everything would pass to any biological grandchild who had not been raised or controlled by Victoria or Martin.
Richard stared at David.
“That is absurdly specific.”
“There was a reason.”
“What reason?”
“Harrison believed Victoria and Martin had been stealing from him.”
Richard remembered Caroline’s letter.
Them.
Not her.
Them.
“If Maya is biologically Victoria’s daughter…”
“She is Harrison’s biological granddaughter.”
“And if Victoria gains custody?”
“Harrison’s trust contains a clause requiring an independent trustee if Victoria or Martin exercises substantial control.”
“So Victoria cannot simply take the money.”
“No.”
Richard narrowed his eyes.
“Then why does she want Maya?”
David looked uncomfortable.
“Because trustees can be changed.”
“How?”
“Through incapacity proceedings.”
Richard felt the pieces beginning to connect.
“If I were declared unfit…”
“Maya could be placed under alternate guardianship.”
“And Victoria could influence the guardian.”
“Yes.”
Richard thought about the previous year.
Victoria had encouraged him to take sleeping medication after long business trips.
She had complained that he worked too much.
She had told friends that Richard was exhausted.
Once, she had even suggested he speak to a psychiatrist because he was still grieving Caroline.
At the time, it had sounded compassionate.
Now it sounded like preparation.
Richard looked at David.
“You helped her.”
“No.”
“You knew about this.”
“I knew pieces.”
“And kept them from me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Richard laughed without humor.
“Everyone who lies to me seems to use that sentence.”
He left.
At the guesthouse, Maya ran into his arms.
Richard held her tightly.
Martin Cross had disappeared before estate security reached the gate.
But he had left something behind.
A small white envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Caroline.
She was sitting at a restaurant table with Martin.
On the back were three words.
ASK HOW SHE DIED.
Richard read them twice.
Caroline had died after a sudden cardiac event following months of illness.
Doctors had attributed it to complications from an autoimmune condition.
Richard had accepted that explanation.
Now everything felt unstable.
That evening he brought the flash drive from Caroline’s safe-deposit box to his technology chief, Alan Pierce.
“Can you open it?”
“It’s encrypted.”
“How long?”
“I’ll start now.”
Richard returned to Maya.
She had fallen asleep beside Grace.
For the first time since the staircase incident, Richard allowed himself to think about what could have happened.
One shove.
One second.
One fall.
He pushed the thought away.
At 1:17 a.m., Alan called.
“We opened part of the drive.”
“What did you find?”
“Audio files.”
Richard sat upright.
“From Caroline?”
“Yes.”
“And Richard?”
Alan paused.
“You should hear this yourself.”
Richard drove to the office.
Alan played the first recording.
Caroline’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re hearing this, I finally accepted that Richard may never believe me until it’s too late.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Caroline continued.
“Victoria has been watching Maya.”
“She says she only wants what belongs to her.”
“But I know what she means.”
“There are financial records proving she and Martin stole from Harrison.”
“Edmund knows too.”
“He made a deal with them.”
Richard opened his eyes.
His father had made a deal with Victoria.
The recording continued.
“I think Richard’s father helped them hide the money.”
Alan glanced at Richard.
Then Caroline said something neither man expected.
“And I think Edmund’s death was not an accident.”
The recording ended.
Richard stared at the silent computer.
His father had died after crashing his car on a mountain road.
Police had concluded he fell asleep while driving.
Alan clicked another file.
Static.
Then Caroline’s voice.
“David came today.”
“He begged me to stop asking questions.”
“I told him no.”
“He said if I continued, Richard would lose everything.”
Richard whispered, “Play the rest.”
Alan tried.
The file stopped.
Corrupted.
But another folder had opened.
Inside was a scanned document.
A laboratory report.
Richard read the heading.
TOXICOLOGY SCREENING.
Patient: Caroline Hale.
The date was eight days before her death.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
This substance should not be in her system.
Richard’s fingers went numb.
He turned to Alan.
“Call my security chief.”
“Why?”
Richard stared at Caroline’s report.
May you like
“Because tomorrow morning we are going to find out who killed my wife.”
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