The Housekeeper’s Secret
Chapter 04 - The Housekeeper’s Secret
Police collected the vial, but the preliminary test revealed only distilled water. Vanessa used the result to turn suspicion against Clara.
“She planted a harmless bottle because she wanted it discovered,” Vanessa told Detective Maria Cole. “She has always wanted my place in this family.”
Clara denied it, yet she was hiding something. Alexander could hear it in every careful answer.
That evening, he confronted her in the servants’ wing. “If you know more, tell me now.”
Clara looked toward Lily’s bedroom and finally opened a locked drawer. Inside was an old photograph of Alexander’s father, Thomas Hawthorne, standing beside a young woman Alexander did not recognize.
“My sister,” Clara said. “Her name was Rose.”
Rose had worked as Eleanor’s personal assistant seventeen years earlier. She had discovered that a Hawthorne executive was stealing money through shell companies. Before she could expose him, she died in a car crash ruled accidental.
Clara had taken the housekeeping job because she believed Rose’s death was connected to the family business. Eleanor knew Clara’s identity and had quietly helped her investigate.
“Your grandmother called me three days ago,” Clara said. “She said she finally found the person who ordered the crash.”
Alexander struggled to breathe. “Who?”
“She refused to say over the phone. She planned to reveal everything after your engagement dinner.”
Clara handed him a sealed envelope Eleanor had entrusted to her. Inside was a handwritten note: If anything happens to me, do not trust the engagement contract.
Alexander had never seen an engagement contract.
Vanessa admitted that Eleanor had asked her to sign a prenuptial agreement, but claimed it was routine. Alexander contacted the family attorney and learned something else: a revised document had been submitted two days earlier. If Alexander married Vanessa and died without children, she would gain controlling interest in Hawthorne Global.
The signature looked like Alexander’s.
It was not.
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The attack on Eleanor was no longer an isolated crime. Someone had forged legal documents, invaded the security system, and reached deep into the company.
And Clara’s dead sister might have been the first person who tried to stop them.
