Chapter 3 - THE SECRET IN THE WALLThe next morning, Nathan moved Grace and Lily to a private guesthouse owned by an old family friend.
No one knew the address.
No phones were allowed to remain connected overnight.
Daniel stayed nearby.
Nathan barely slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Grace on the kitchen floor.
He saw Lily crying.
He saw Victoria holding the hockey stick.
But there was something else.
A question he couldn't stop thinking about.
Who was controlling Victoria?
At sunrise, Nathan returned to his father's mansion.
Daniel followed.
They searched the study again.
“There has to be more,” Nathan said.
Daniel nodded.
“Your father didn't trust digital storage.”
They examined every drawer.
Every cabinet.
Every book.
Then Grace called.
“Nathan?”
He answered immediately.
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
Nathan's heart raced.
“What?”
“Lily was drawing.”
“So?”
“She drew your father's study.”
Nathan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She drew a wall.”
Nathan understood.
“Send me a picture.”
Grace did.
It showed a child's crude drawing.
A desk.
A bookshelf.
A small black rectangle on the wall.
Nathan looked around.
“The painting.”
“What?”
“There's a painting behind the desk.”
Daniel moved it.
Nothing.
Then he knocked on the wall.
Hollow.
He looked at Nathan.
“Stand back.”
Daniel pushed hard.
A section of wood opened.
Inside was a metal box.
Nathan pulled it out.
The lock had three numbers.
Daniel looked at him.
“Try Lily's birthday.”
Nathan entered it.
The box opened.
Inside were bank records.
Photographs.
A passport.
And a letter.
Nathan opened the letter.
His father's handwriting filled the page.
Nathan,
If you found this, the truth has become dangerous.
Richard was not the only person involved.
There is someone above him.
Someone who has controlled several companies through hidden accounts.
I never discovered his true identity.
But I learned one thing.
He fears the Cole family.
And he fears the child even more.
Nathan looked at Daniel.
“The child.”
Daniel nodded.
Nathan continued reading.
Lily is not merely my granddaughter.
She is the legal heir to a trust I created before my death.
A trust containing assets Richard never knew existed.
Nathan stared.
“How much?”
Daniel looked at the documents.
“Enough to destroy them.”
Grace arrived moments later.
Nathan showed her the papers.
She looked stunned.
“Why would your father put everything in Lily's name?”
“Because he knew she would be born.”
Grace shook her head.
“He knew I was pregnant?”
Nathan nodded.
“My father knew.”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“He tried to protect us.”
Nathan took her hand.
“He failed.”
“No.”
Grace looked at him.
“He gave us a chance.”
Then the door opened.
Lily entered carrying a stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy?”
Nathan smiled.
“Come here.”
She ran to him.
He picked her up.
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Then Lily whispered,
“Mommy.”
Grace looked at her.
“The lady called.”
Nathan froze.
“What lady?”
Lily pointed toward the phone on the table.
“It rang.”
Grace checked the phone.
There was no missed call.
Lily frowned.
“She said she was sorry.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“Who?”
“Pretty Lady.”
Victoria.
Grace grabbed the phone.
A message had appeared.
CHECK THE TRUST.
Nathan opened the documents.
One account showed a transfer.
$12,000,000.
Transferred that morning.
Nathan's blood ran cold.
“Someone is moving the money.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust requires two signatures.”
Nathan stared.
“Whose?”
“Yours and Lily's legal guardian.”
Grace's face went pale.
“Me.”
Daniel nodded.
“If someone forged Grace's signature, they could access the account.”
Nathan immediately called the bank.
The banker confirmed the transfer.
Nathan demanded the authorization documents.
They arrived electronically.
Grace stared at the signature.
It looked exactly like hers.
“I didn't sign this.”
Nathan believed her.
Then he noticed something.
A tiny mark.
A symbol beside the signature.
“What is that?”
Daniel looked closer.
His face changed.
“What?”
Daniel whispered,
“I've seen that symbol before.”
“Where?”
“On Victoria's father's old files.”
Nathan stood.
“So Victoria is stealing Lily's inheritance.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not Victoria.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Then who?”
Daniel pointed to the signature.
“This was done by someone who has access to the original trust documents.”
Grace whispered,
“Someone inside the family.”
A noise came from upstairs.
Nathan immediately put Lily behind him.
Daniel drew a flashlight.
They moved toward the staircase.
A bedroom door slowly opened.
Nobody was inside.
But on the bed sat a small stuffed rabbit.
Lily gasped.
“That’s mine.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You left it at the guesthouse.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at the rabbit.
“That one isn't mine.”
Daniel picked it up.
Something rattled inside.
He opened the seam.
A tiny recording device fell out.
Nathan stared at it.
Then a voice came through the speaker.
Victoria.
“You keep searching, Nathan.”
A pause.
“That's exactly what he wants.”
Nathan's face hardened.
Victoria continued.
“But when you discover who he is…”
Her voice became almost a whisper.
“…you'll wish I had killed Grace when I had the chance.”
The recording ended.
Nathan looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked terrified.
“What?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I know that voice.”
“Whose?”
May you like
Daniel whispered,
“My father's.”
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