Celia looked at me as though she had been waiting decades for this moment.<\/p>\n
I couldn't speak.<\/p>\n
Neither could Margaret.<\/p>\n
Arthur was the first to move.<\/p>\n
\u201cCelia.\u201d<\/p>\n
She flinched at the sound of her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn't have come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
She gave a bitter smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither should you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is my sister?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia's eyes moved to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The relief hit so hard that my knees nearly buckled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger returned instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know who took her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia looked at Arthur.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia took a slow breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means the person controlling this is no longer working for the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone who believes the trust belongs to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel's daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel had a daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was never part of the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would she care?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she believes her father was murdered.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Celia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe died of a heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter someone threatened him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I recoiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother threatened Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe confronted him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout the transfers?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia walked toward the library.<\/p>\n
We followed.<\/p>\n
She stopped beside an old bookshelf.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother discovered the false beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't know why they existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia pulled a book from the shelf.<\/p>\n
A hidden compartment opened.<\/p>\n
Inside was a photograph.<\/p>\n
My mother stood beside a little girl.<\/p>\n
The girl was about eight.<\/p>\n
I looked at Celia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel's daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I studied the child's face.<\/p>\n
She had Daniel's eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew my mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loved your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would she hurt Chloe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she believes your mother destroyed her family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother didn't kill anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia looked toward Arthur.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she knew who did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent.<\/p>\n
Arthur looked away.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Celia did.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel wasn't the person stealing from the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart sank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone using him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him.<\/p>\n
Julian's face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia's voice became almost a whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't steal the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe moved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the ledger.<\/p>\n
The transactions suddenly made sense in a different way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transfers weren't theft.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where did the money go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia pointed to the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the dates.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
The transfers occurred shortly before the trust was supposed to be audited.<\/p>\n
My mother had moved the money into temporary accounts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she discovered someone was preparing to empty the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Arthur.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I wasn't sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia laughed quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were never good at uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur ignored her.<\/p>\n
I turned to Julian.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew your mother was moving money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you help her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's why your initials are in the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did the letter name you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your mother needed you to distrust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew someone would find the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would she make me distrust you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the person who found the letter would likely be someone she didn't trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe planted false clues.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my mouth.<\/p>\n
Nothing came out.<\/p>\n
The name in the letter.<\/p>\n
Julian.<\/p>\n
It had been deliberate.<\/p>\n
A false trail.<\/p>\n
My mother had expected someone to search the safe.<\/p>\n
She had expected the ledger to be found.<\/p>\n
She had expected whoever came after it to believe Julian was involved.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your mother asked me not to reveal the code.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil when?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil Chloe was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you knew she was in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the night your mother disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned away.<\/p>\n
I didn't know whether to be angry or relieved.<\/p>\n
Then Celia spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother didn't leave the hospital because she forgot who she was.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't she tell me everything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she was afraid the person watching the hospital would hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe person who took Chloe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia's eyes darkened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer name is Rebecca Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel's daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she has Chloe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe already knows about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the pages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother made two copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The realization hit me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA decoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the book.<\/p>\n
All those pages.<\/p>\n
All those names.<\/p>\n
All those transfers.<\/p>\n
A decoy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the real one?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia looked at Arthur.<\/p>\n
He said nothing.<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Arthur said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia pointed toward the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
We followed her into the cellar.<\/p>\n
Behind an old furnace was a steel panel.<\/p>\n
Celia opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside was a narrow compartment.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
Arthur swore under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone already took it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Chloe's scarf.<\/p>\n
Someone had been here before us.<\/p>\n
Someone had taken the ledger.<\/p>\n
Someone had taken Chloe.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
Rebecca's voice came through.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found Celia.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the woman beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she was the one who betrayed my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Rebecca continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring me the real ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Chloe?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
Then I heard my sister's voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nearly dropped the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cChloe!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca came back on the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me speak to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou'll see her when you bring me the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe place where your mother first learned the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat place?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've already been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
I looked at Celia.<\/p>\n
She whispered one word.<\/p>\n
\u201cBellamy's.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celia looked at me as though she had been waiting decades for this moment. I couldn't speak. Neither could Margaret. Arthur was the first to move. \u201cCelia.\u201d She flinched at … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4171,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159\/revisions\/4171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}