Chapter 4 - THE KEY IN LILY'S RABBIT
Lily refused to sleep at Rachel's apartment.
She sat on the couch in her pale blue wedding dress, holding her stuffed rabbit, Button, against her chest.
Rachel tried to offer her pajamas and warm milk.
“I want Mommy.”
“I know, sweetheart. The doctors are helping her.”
“Is Daddy going to marry Vanessa?”
“No,” Rachel said firmly. “The wedding is over.”
Lily looked down at Button.
“Uncle Ethan said Mommy was a bad person.”
Rachel froze.
“When did he say that?”
“When I was looking for my rabbit in the garden. He said Mommy didn't love us anymore and that Daddy needed a new family.”
Rachel sat beside her.
“Did he say anything else?”
Lily nodded.
“He gave Vanessa a little key. I saw it because it was shiny. Then he told her to put it where the flowers were.”
Rachel's stomach tightened.
“Where did you see the key?”
Lily pointed to Button.
“I kept it.”
Rachel stared at the stuffed rabbit.
“Where?”
Lily opened the loose seam beneath its left arm. A small brass key slid into her palm.
Rachel immediately called Daniel.
By the time he arrived, Detective Harris was already at the apartment. He examined the key and photographed it before placing it in an evidence bag.
“Do you recognize it?” Daniel asked.
The detective studied the shape.
“Could be for a storage cabinet or an older lock. We'll check it.”
Lily climbed into her father's lap.
“Daddy, I didn't break the flowers because I wanted to be bad.”
Daniel kissed her forehead.
“I know.”
“I heard Mommy. I knew she was there.”
“You did the right thing.”
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel's throat tightened.
“Never.”
She leaned against him.
“Can we go see her now?”
“In the morning, sweetheart.”
Rachel brought over a blanket. Lily fell asleep within minutes, still holding Daniel's hand.
The detective took the key to the station.
The next morning, he called.
It opened a locked storage cabinet in the hotel's event-preparation area. Inside were two burner phones, a roll of heavy-duty tape, a set of zip ties, and a small digital recorder.
The recorder contained several audio files.
The first was a conversation between Vanessa and Ethan.
The second was a call between Ethan and a man named Peter Shaw, the company's outside accountant.
The third was Olivia's voice.
She was asking Ethan why money from the children's foundation had been transferred into an account in the Cayman Islands.
Then Ethan answered.
“Because Daniel will sign the new documents on Saturday. Once he does, the trust will be under my control. Olivia won't be able to stop anything.”
The recording continued.
Vanessa asked, “And if she talks?”
Ethan replied, “She won't.”
Daniel listened to the file twice.
He remembered his father's foundation. It had funded pediatric clinics, scholarships, and emergency housing programs. If Ethan had been diverting money, the people who depended on those programs might have lost support without ever knowing why.
The detective called again.
“We found another item in the cabinet,” he said. “A copy of the trust amendment your fiancée wanted you to sign.”
Daniel looked at the document.
His signature line was blank.
The amendment would have transferred control of Lily's inheritance to a new management company. Ethan's name appeared as its sole administrator.
May you like
Daniel closed the folder.
“Then we know what the wedding was really for.”
