Chapter 5 - THE NAME IN THE LEDGER
Roman did not argue when I demanded answers. He opened a safe in his
study and removed a leather ledger wrapped in a cloth cover.
“My mother kept this,” he said. “After she died, I found it among her
private papers. I never understood every entry.”
The pages were filled with dates, names, and amounts. Some names were
familiar from the old audit. Others were marked with a small star.
Then I saw it.
Grace Turner.
My mother’s name.
Beside it was a date from twenty years earlier and a note:
rehabilitation fund, piano program, emergency assistance.
I touched the page.
“What is this?”
Roman sat opposite me. “My mother funded a program for families who
couldn’t afford long-term rehabilitation. Your mother worked as a
physical therapy assistant at the hospital where Elena was treated as a
child.”
Elena looked up. “I remember Grace. She used to bring me books.”
I turned toward her.
“My mother never told me.”
“She helped me after a childhood surgery,” Elena said. “She used to sit
with me when I was afraid. She taught me to count breaths when pain made
me panic.”
Roman turned another page.
“After my mother’s death, someone continued sending small payments to
people listed in this ledger. The envelopes may have come from that
fund.”
“Why were they sent to me?”
“Your mother had left instructions that if you ever needed help, the
money should be offered without conditions.”
I shook my head. “Then why hide it?”
“Because the fund was being drained. Someone had been using the same
account to make payments to people connected to the old businesses. My
mother may have separated the legitimate assistance from the rest.”
Elena looked at the ledger. “She would have wanted Maya to have it.”
I felt tears rise, but I was angry too.
“My mother knew I was struggling?”
“Not after she died,” Roman said gently. “But she planned for the
possibility that you might need help.”
I looked at the entries. The four envelopes were not payment for a
favor. They were a promise my mother had made before she was gone.
“Then why did Caleb know about it?”
Roman turned to a page marked with Victor Sloane’s name.
“Sloane managed the fund after my mother died. He was supposed to
protect the money. Instead, he used it to pay intermediaries. Caleb was
one of them.”
“So the envelopes were sent by Sloane?”
“Possibly. Or someone who took over his records.”
Daniel entered with a new report. Sloane had recently transferred money
to an account linked to a company that owned the building where I lived.
The company had also purchased the debt from the original lender.
“He owns the debt now?” I asked.
Daniel nodded. “Through a holding company.”
Roman’s expression turned cold. “He may be using the debt to pressure
her.”
I stared at the ledger.
My mother had created a small fund to help people. Someone had turned it
into a weapon.
“I want to see the rest of the records,” I said.
Roman nodded. “You will.”
“And I want to help Elena finish the song.”
May you like
Elena smiled faintly.
“Then tomorrow,” she said, “we do both.”
