Chapter 6: The Person I Trusted
Michael caught my arm before I fell.
“Mom!””
I couldn't speak.
The ballroom blurred around me.
The man in the photograph had been standing behind Michael at the altar.
He had smiled during the vows.
He had congratulated me.
He had even kissed my cheek.
Michael followed my stare.
His expression changed.
“Who?””
I pointed.
Slowly.
Toward the other side of the ballroom.
Michael turned.
So did David.
So did Sabrina.
The man we were looking at immediately began walking toward us.
It was Arthur Bell.
Eighteen years older.
Still polished.
Still charming.
Still wearing the same expensive silver watch.
Michael stared at him.
“Arthur?””
Arthur smiled.
“Michael. Congratulations.””
Michael stepped forward.
“Don't.””
Arthur stopped.
“What is this about?””
Michael held up the photograph.
Arthur's smile faded.
“You've been in our house.””
“I don't know what you're talking about.””
“You're wearing the same watch.””
Arthur glanced at his wrist.
“So?””
David stepped forward.
“Because that watch appears in a photograph taken inside the guest room this morning.””
Arthur looked at me.
Then at my shaved head.
For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.
“You've made a mistake,” he said.
I shook my head.
“No.””
He looked toward the exit.
David blocked his path.
“Stay.””
Arthur laughed nervously.
“This is ridiculous.””
Michael's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Did you enter my mother's room?””
“No.””
“Did you shave her head?””
“No.””
“Did you attempt to move twenty-two million dollars?””
Arthur stared at him.
“Michael, you need to calm down.””
“Answer me.””
Arthur said nothing.
Sabrina stepped beside Michael.
“You know he did.””
Arthur looked at her.
“You should be careful what you say.””
Her chin lifted.
“You threatened my father.””
Arthur's face hardened.
“Your father made his own choices.””
“And you made yours.””
He stepped toward her.
“You have no idea what you're involved in.””
“I know enough.””
Michael looked at Sabrina.
“You knew Arthur was behind this?””
“I suspected.””
“Since when?””
“Last month.””
His face fell.
“You knew for a month?””
“I was trying to get evidence.””
“And you let my mother sleep in that house?””
“I didn't know he'd move that quickly.””
Arthur suddenly laughed.
“You really think this was my idea?””
Everyone went silent.
David frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Arthur looked at me.
“I was hired too.””
“By whom?””
Arthur's eyes moved toward the stage.
I followed his gaze.
There was a woman standing behind the curtain.
Michael's aunt.
My late husband's younger sister.
Claudia.
She was holding a champagne glass.
She smiled.
I felt the world tilt.
Claudia had been sitting at our family table for eighteen years.
She had attended every birthday.
Every Thanksgiving.
Every anniversary.
She had cried at my husband's funeral.
And she had spent years telling Michael that his father would have been proud of him.
Michael turned.
“Aunt Claudia?””
Claudia slowly walked toward us.
Nobody stopped her.
She placed the champagne glass on a nearby table.
“Evelyn,” she said.
My voice was barely audible.
“You?””
She sighed.
“I never wanted it to come to this.””
David stepped in front of me.
“Why?””
Claudia looked at him.
“Because she wasn't supposed to survive long enough to find out.””
Michael recoiled.
“What did you just say?””
Claudia looked at him.
“I said your mother was never supposed to find the documents.””
My hands went numb.
“What documents?””
“The original will.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Tell them.””
Claudia glared at him.
“You were always a coward.””
“And you were always greedy.””
Michael looked between them.
“What will?””
Claudia laughed bitterly.
“Your father changed it three days before he died.””
I whispered, “No.””
“Yes.””
She looked directly at me.
“He left everything to you.””
Michael frowned.
“Everything?””
“Every company. Every investment. Every hidden account.””
David's face tightened.
“That would explain the transfers.””
Claudia nodded.
“The twenty-two million wasn't the inheritance.””
Michael looked at me.
“Then what was it?””
Claudia smiled.
“It was the first installment.””
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel opened his briefcase.
Inside was a thick black folder.
“The real estate holdings alone are worth more than sixty million.””
Michael stared.
“And my mother owns all of it?””
Claudia shook her head.
“No.””
She looked at me.
“Not anymore.””
I felt my phone vibrate.
A new message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
There was no text.
Only a photograph.
My husband's grave.
Taken minutes earlier.
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Beneath it was one sentence:
*Come alone if you want to know who really killed him.*
