Chapter 4 - Charles Had Been At Rose House
Charles admitted he had volunteered at Rose House as a teenager.
His mother sent him there after school.
He stocked food.
Painted rooms.
Drove donated supplies when he was old enough.
Victoria stared at her husband.
“You told me you met my family in college.”
“I met you in college.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Charles looked toward Sophie.
Laura understood.
“Take Sophie outside?”
Sophie immediately protested.
“No.”
Laura almost smiled despite everything.
The adults had hidden enough.
But some details belonged away from an eight-year-old.
Laura crouched.
“You deserve the truth about the necklace. You don’t need every adult
financial argument tonight.”
Sophie considered that.
“Will you tell me later?”
“What’s appropriate, yes.”
Henry’s assistant took Sophie to a nearby sitting room with hot
chocolate.
Only then did Charles continue.
He had known Margaret before he married Victoria.
Margaret had once helped his own mother, Diane, when Diane fled an
abusive relationship.
Rose House gave them temporary shelter.
Charles never forgot it.
Years later, when Rose House began losing money, he was twenty-three and
working at his father’s investment firm.
Margaret came to him for help.
“She thought someone was stealing.”
“Who?” Laura asked.
“She didn’t know.”
“Did you investigate?”
“I tried.”
He found transfers routed through a vendor called Bellweather Services.
The company appeared legitimate.
It was not.
Before Charles could trace it, Margaret confronted Eleanor.
Eleanor had approved several invoices.
Eleanor insisted Margaret had changed payment instructions.
Their friendship collapsed.
“Where were the pearls?” Victoria asked.
Charles looked at the necklace.
“Eleanor took them from the Rose House safe.”
Laura’s anger surged.
“So she did steal them.”
“No.”
Charles shook his head.
“Margaret told her to.”
Victoria froze.
“What?”
“The night before the center closed, your mother called Eleanor and told
her to remove the pearls before whoever was stealing money found them
too.”
Victoria sat down.
“That’s not what Mom told me.”
“She changed the story later.”
“Why?”
Charles looked toward Henry.
Henry answered.
“Because Margaret believed the thief was someone in her own family.”
Victoria’s face changed.
Her father, Edward Sterling, had served on the Rose House board.
May you like
And unlike Margaret, Eleanor, or Charles, Edward had become extremely
wealthy soon after the center collapsed.
