Chapter 7: The Account With My Name
I read the sentence again.
Then again.
The money wasn't under the house.
It was under my name.
I looked at Richard.
“What does that mean?””
He didn't answer immediately.
Eric did.
“It means your father put assets into a trust.””
“No.””
Eric's eyes met mine.
“I knew about the trust.””
Richard turned toward him.
“You knew about the trust?””
Eric swallowed.
“I knew there was something.””
“Something?””
“I never had the details.””
I looked at him.
“Then why did you try to sell the house?””
“Because I thought the documents were inside.””
“The hidden room?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Eric looked down.
“Because your father left instructions.””
“What instructions?””
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Eric.””
His shoulders dropped.
“Your father left a letter for me.””
“When?””
“After you were pregnant.””
My heart stopped.
“You had a letter from my father?””
“Yes.””
“Where is it?””
“Diane burned it.””
I turned toward her.
She looked exhausted.
“I thought it was dangerous.””
“What did it say?””
Diane shook her head.
“I don't remember every word.””
“Try.””
She looked at Richard.
Then at me.
“It said the trust would become fully protected if you had a child.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
Richard nodded.
“That was the condition.””
“So Emma…”
“Made the protection permanent.””
I looked down at my daughter.
She had stopped crying.
Her tiny fingers curled around mine.
Eric sat heavily in the chair.
“I needed access before that happened.””
“Why?””
“Because I was already in trouble.””
“How much?””
He stared at the floor.
“Three point four million.””
The number hung in the air.
I closed my eyes.
“That's what you stole.””
“I borrowed.””
“You stole it.””
“I intended to replace it.””
“With my house.””
“Yes.””
I stepped back.
“How could you do this?””
He looked at me.
“Because I thought I had no choice.””
“There is always a choice.””
“You don't understand what they would have done to me.””
“Who?””
Eric didn't answer.
Richard did.
“The people who financed his business.””
I turned.
“What people?””
Richard opened the black notebook.
“Your father had been tracking them.””
He turned several pages.
Names.
Companies.
Amounts.
Dates.
Then I saw one name repeated again and again.
*Harlan Voss.*
“Who is that?””
Richard's expression hardened.
“The man who controls the private lending network your husband used.””
I looked at Eric.
“You borrowed from him?””
Eric nodded.
“At first it was legitimate.””
“And then?””
“Then I couldn't pay.””
“So you stole from the company.””
“Yes.””
“And when that wasn't enough, you targeted my house.””
“Yes.””
I felt sick.
“What did Voss threaten?””
Eric rubbed his face.
“He said he'd take everything.””
“He already tried.””
Eric looked at me.
“He wasn't trying to take the house.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“He wanted what was inside the trust.””
I looked at the notebook.
Richard nodded.
“Your father discovered that Voss had been trying to locate the trust for years.””
“Why?””
“Because the trust contains controlling interests in several companies.””
I stared at him.
“How many?””
“Seven.””
I couldn't speak.
Richard continued.
“Your father built those holdings over decades.””
“Then why did he make me the beneficiary?””
“Because he trusted you.””
I laughed bitterly.
“He trusted me with something worth…”
“Far more than three million.””
I looked at Eric.
“You knew.””
“Not how much.””
“But you knew there was money.””
“Yes.””
“And you married me knowing that.””
He flinched.
“No.””
I stepped closer.
“Did you marry me because of my father?””
“No.””
“Did you know about the trust before our wedding?””
Silence.
That silence was enough.
My chest tightened.
“Eric.””
He finally whispered:
“Yes.””
The room went completely quiet.
I stared at the man I had loved for seven years.
“You knew.””
“I didn't know what it contained.””
“You knew.””
“I loved you.””
“You knew.””
“I did love you.””
“Then why?””
He looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“Because I thought I'd become your partner in everything.””
“You became my thief.””
He lowered his head.
Richard closed the notebook.
“We need to leave.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because Voss knows the trust survived.””
“How?””
Richard pointed at the front window.
A black sedan sat across the road.
Its engine was running.
The headlights were off.
“That's been there for twenty minutes.””
My pulse jumped.
“Call the police.””
Richard shook his head.
“Not yet.””
“Why not?””
“Because if Voss sent them, we need to know whether they're watching the house or watching you.””
Eric stood.
“I'll go outside.””
“No,” I said.
He stopped.
“You've done enough.””
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
*Megan, you have something that belongs to me.*
Another message appeared.
*Your husband knows where it is.*
I looked at Eric.
He shook his head.
“I don't.””
The phone buzzed again.
*Ask him about the blue room.*
My stomach dropped.
I looked toward the hallway.
There was no blue room.
Not anymore.
But my father had once painted a small nursery upstairs blue.
A room we had converted into an office years ago.
I looked at Eric.
“What's in the blue room?””
He said nothing.
May you like
Richard did.
“Apparently, the last thing your father hid.””
