Chapter 5 - His Children Wanted Me Gone
Breakfast the next morning felt like a trial.
Arthur’s son, Richard, sat at one end of the table.
His daughter, Victoria, sat opposite him.
Neither looked at me as family.
Richard looked at me like an invoice.
Victoria looked at me like a crime.
“How much?” she asked.
Arthur continued buttering toast.
Victoria leaned forward.
“How much did she demand?”
“I demanded nothing.”
She laughed.
“Women don’t marry dying eighty-one-year-old millionaires for romance.”
Arthur calmly replied:
“Neither did your mother.”
The table went silent.
Victoria’s face reddened.
Arthur’s late wife had married him before he was wealthy.
The remark was crueler than necessary, and Arthur seemed to regret it
immediately.
Then Richard asked about the estate.
Arthur told them nothing had transferred to me because of the marriage.
That surprised me too.
“What did you change?” Richard demanded.
Arthur smiled faintly.
“Exactly what you’re afraid I changed.”
That evening, someone searched my bedroom.
Nothing obvious was stolen.
But Caleb’s little wooden dinosaur had been moved from the windowsill to
my suitcase.
May you like
Under it was a note.
WHERE DID ROSE HIDE THE LEDGER?
