Chapter 4 - THE VEILED LEDGER
The silence in the study was thick enough to choke on.
Dominic didn’t look away from me. He was waiting for my answer. Victor stood in the doorway, his eyes locked onto mine, a silent, deadly promise hanging in the air.
My mother.
“No, Mr. Caruso,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “I didn't see a watch. I was just getting Emma’s coat.”
Victor smiled. It was a small, victorious smirk.
“Thank you, Lena,” Dominic said, though his voice sounded hollow, disappointed. “You can go to Emma now.”
I practically ran out of the room, my stomach twisting with guilt. I had lied to the only man in this house who actually cared about his daughter, all to protect my own family.
Upstairs, I read Emma two chapters of Charlotte’s Web. She fell asleep with her hand resting on the blue purse, the insulated bag of food sitting safely on her nightstand for tomorrow.
The next morning, the house felt entirely different. The suffocating presence of Vivienne was gone, but a new, darker shadow had taken its place. Victor had moved into one of the guest suites, claiming he needed to "help Dominic sort out the financial mess Vivienne left behind."
I was dusting the library when I saw my chance.
Victor had left his briefcase sitting on one of the leather reading chairs. He was outside in the garden, smoking a cigar and talking on his cell phone.
I knew I was crossing a line that could get me killed, but I couldn't let him destroy Dominic and Emma. I crept over to the chair and popped the gold latches on the briefcase.
Inside were neatly organized folders. I flipped through them quickly. Nothing but standard contracts.
But beneath the folders was a small, black leather ledger.
I opened it. It wasn't typed; it was entirely handwritten in Victor’s sharp, slanted script.
I scanned the columns. Elmwood Care Facility - Paid. Police Union - Paid. Catering - Redirected.
Then, my eyes caught a section at the very back. It was titled The Inheritance.
Underneath it was a list of names. The first name was Dominic Caruso. Next to it was a date. Next Friday.
The second name was Emma Caruso. Next to it was a single word: Orphanage.
My blood ran cold. This wasn't just embezzlement. Victor wasn't stealing to get rich; he was organizing a hostile takeover of the entire family. He was planning to eliminate Dominic by next Friday.
I pulled out my phone and quickly snapped photos of the ledger pages. My hands were shaking so badly the first two pictures were blurry.
As I flipped to the final page, a small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor.
I picked it up. It was a receipt from a private aviation company. A one-way flight booked for next Saturday. But it wasn't booked under Victor’s name.
It was booked under the name Vivienne Stone.
Victor wasn't framing Vivienne. They were working together. The entire fight at the dinner table had been a performance. A staged breakup to make Dominic think he had solved the problem, leaving him completely blind to the real knife at his back.
I shoved the receipt back into the ledger, closed it, and locked the briefcase just as I heard the heavy oak doors of the library creak open.
I grabbed my duster and spun around, pretending to polish a bookshelf.
But it wasn't Victor who walked in.
It was Emma. She was wearing her school uniform, carrying her backpack. And she looked terrified.
“Lena,” Emma whispered, running over to me and grabbing my apron. “I saw something.”
“What is it, baby? What did you see?” I asked, kneeling down.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, crumpled photograph.
“I found this in Uncle Victor’s car when the driver took me to school,” she said.
May you like
I took the photo. It was a picture of my mother, sitting in a wheelchair at Elmwood, sleeping. On the back, written in red ink, were three words.
Tell the maid.
