Chapter 6 - The Bicycle Frame Held a Ledger
Ethan carried the bicycle into the kitchen.
Nathan stayed on video call.
Madeline stood beside him.
The red frame had been repainted years earlier.
Ethan noticed a seam beneath the rear reflector.
He had never seen it before.
Nathan guided him.
“Remove the two screws.”
Inside the hollow frame was a rolled strip of waterproof fabric.
Ethan pulled it out.
A miniature ledger.
Handwritten account numbers.
Dates.
Initials.
Sarah’s notes.
Madeline whispered, “She actually did it.”
Ethan looked at the final pages.
RH.
CH.
MC.
NG.
Madeline frowned.
“MC could be me.”
Nathan answered through the laptop.
“It isn’t.”
“Who?”
“Martin Cole.”
Ethan stopped.
His uncle.
Richard’s younger brother.
The man currently serving as executor of Richard’s estate.
Another trusted relative.
Another name.
Ethan almost laughed.
Nathan continued.
“Richard, Claire Holden, Martin Cole, and several shell-company directors moved investor money for years.”
Ethan looked at NG.
“Nathan Grant?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Nathan went silent.
Ethan stared.
“Who is NG?”
Madeline answered quietly.
“Nora Gray.”
Ethan frowned.
He knew the name.
Sarah’s mother.
Lily’s grandmother.
She had died before Lily was born.
Or so Ethan believed.
Nathan’s face appeared tense on the screen.
“Nora was an accountant at Cole Investments.”
Ethan stared.
“She worked for my father?”
“Yes.”
“And Sarah never told me?”
“She didn’t know until late.”
Madeline picked up the ledger.
“Nora found the first transfers.”
Nathan nodded.
“Richard paid her to stay quiet.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“So Sarah inherited the evidence.”
“And the problem.”
Nathan continued.
“Nora created Lily’s trust years before Lily existed.”
Ethan stared.
“How?”
“She created a dormant family vehicle. Sarah later named Lily as beneficiary.”
Madeline turned pages.
“So the house…”
“Was purchased with recovered money.”
Ethan frowned.
“Recovered from who?”
Nathan looked directly at him.
“Your father.”
Ethan felt the ground shift again.
This home.
The place he believed Richard had helped him buy.
Had actually been purchased using money Sarah and Nora had taken back from Richard’s hidden accounts.
Lily did own it.
Legally and morally.
Ethan stared at the ledger.
“Why would Sarah hide this from me?”
Nathan’s expression softened.
“Because you worshipped Richard.”
Ethan looked away.
It hurt because it was true.
His father had always been difficult.
But Ethan had defended him.
Explained him.
Excused him.
Sarah had probably known telling Ethan too early would force him to choose.
And she had not trusted which choice he would make.
That realization hurt more than any financial secret.
Then Madeline found a small notation beside Claire Holden’s initials.
CH - NOT ORIGINAL.
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Nathan leaned closer.
“I’ve never seen that.”
Ethan looked at the next line.
REAL CH = HIDDEN.
Madeline stared.
“Sarah thought Claire wasn’t the original CH?”
Nathan’s face went pale.
Ethan noticed.
“What?”
Nathan whispered.
“There was another Claire.”
Ethan waited.
“Our sister.”
Ethan stared.
“We don’t have a sister.”
Nathan’s eyes filled.
May you like
“Yes, we do.”
And for the first time, Ethan realized the family secret might be older than Richard himself.
