Chapter 9 - Emma Already Had the Ledger
Before the call ended, Emma sent Ethan one photograph.
The ledger was open to a page carrying Charlotte Hale’s name.
Below it was a transfer.
$11.4 million.
Authorized by Richard Hale.
Three years earlier.
Celeste stared at Richard.
“You moved her money?”
“It was temporary.”
She lunged at him.
Ethan stopped her.
“You stole from the daughter you told me was dead!”
Richard froze.
The words left no defense.
Emma called again.
She was at the old family boathouse.
A man was outside.
“He knows who I am,” she whispered.
Ethan drove there immediately.
Celeste followed.
Inside the boathouse, Emma was alive.
The man who had followed her was an elderly attorney.
Samuel Kessler.
Margaret recognized him.
He had handled Charlotte’s adoption.
Emma looked between all of them.
“What is happening?”
Samuel answered before anyone else could.
“Your birth name is Charlotte Hale.”
Emma laughed in disbelief.
Celeste started crying.
“I’m your mother.”
Emma stepped backward.
Richard whispered, “And I’m your father.”
Emma’s expression turned from confusion to fear.
May you like
Then she looked at the black ledger.
“If that’s true,” she said, “why does this say David Hale withdrew two million dollars three days before he died?”
