Eleanor’s Sealed Letter
Chapter 04 - Eleanor’s Sealed Letter
Eleanor remained unconscious for three days. During that time, her attorney, Samuel Price, arrived at the hospital carrying a sealed envelope.
“She instructed me to deliver this if she became incapacitated before the merger,” he told Lucas.
Inside was a handwritten letter dated six weeks earlier.
Lucas, if you are reading this, someone has moved beyond greed and into danger. Do not sign any agreement involving Ashford Capital until you examine the Marlowe accounts. Trust Rosa. Listen to the child. And remember that love which demands blindness is not love.
Lucas read the final sentence twice.
Samuel explained that Eleanor had discovered irregular payments hidden inside a hotel renovation project in Marlowe, Massachusetts. Millions of dollars had been transferred to consulting companies with no employees. The companies were linked to Ashford Capital, the firm run by Camille’s father.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Lucas asked.
“She tried. You accused her of disliking Camille.”
The memory shamed him. Eleanor had warned that the engagement was moving too quickly and that Camille seemed more interested in voting rights than wedding plans. Lucas believed his grandmother was being controlling.
Samuel opened a second document. Eleanor had recently amended her will. If the merger occurred through fraud or coercion, her controlling shares would transfer to a charitable trust rather than Lucas.
Camille would gain nothing.
Unless Eleanor died before the amendment was filed.
“Was it filed?” Lucas asked.
Samuel hesitated. “The original disappeared from my office two days ago.”
The copy he carried could be challenged in court. Without the signed original, Camille’s family could claim Eleanor never completed the amendment.
Back at Whitmore Hall, Lucas searched Eleanor’s study. The safe had not been forced, but one folder was missing. He also found a calendar note for the morning of the poisoning: Tell Lucas everything before rehearsal dinner.
Camille entered holding two glasses of wine.
“We need to stop living like enemies,” she said. “Postpone the merger, if that is what you want. But please don’t postpone us.”
She placed a glass beside him and rested her hand over his.
Lucas noticed that she had removed her engagement ring.
“Where is it?”
“At the jeweler. The setting was loose.”
The ring contained a rare yellow diamond insured for two million dollars. Eleanor had once joked that Camille watched it more lovingly than she watched Lucas.
He did not drink the wine.
After Camille left, Sophie appeared in the doorway holding a small velvet pouch.
“I found the shiny lady’s ring,” she said.
May you like
Inside the pouch was not the diamond ring.
It was Eleanor’s missing office key.
