Chapter 4 - THOMAS LEFT A WARNING
The photograph made my hands cold.
Thomas had been dead for four years, but grief was not a door one shut and locked.
It came back without invitation whenever I saw his name written by a stranger.
Daniel reached for the envelope.
"We should have security review this."
"Yes," I said, "but first tell me who delivered it."
Sofia explained that a courier had dropped it at the desk without leaving a name.
The envelope bore no return address.
I turned it over twice, looking for a familiar crease or handwritten flourish.
Nothing.
Adam's eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
"Someone's trying to scare you," he said.
"Perhaps."
"Probably an employee. You make enemies when you're rich."
I looked at him.
"How long have you known I was rich?"
His silence was so sudden that even Vanessa noticed.
"Everyone knows the family has assets," she said quickly.
"Assets are not the same as access," I replied.
Thomas had never believed in handing down power as if it were a birthday present.
He built his first catering business with borrowed kitchen equipment, and I kept the books at night after teaching school.
When Bellavita nearly closed following its kitchen fire, he mortgaged our house to save the staff's jobs.
Later, we bought more restaurants, always through companies whose names avoided attention.
Adam knew we owned investments.
He did not know the full structure.
Or so I had believed.
Helen arrived carrying the small blue ledger inside a sealed archival bag.
She hugged me once, briefly, then placed it on the table.
"I checked the account impersonation," she said.
"The sender registered the false domain three weeks ago."
Three weeks.
Exactly when Vanessa had told me Mother's Day was only for her side of the family.
The timing was not proof, but it was a pattern.
Daniel closed the blinds of the private room.
Helen opened the ledger at the page Thomas had marked with a green ribbon.
I recognized his handwriting immediately.
Beneath a list of account numbers, he had written one sentence:
IF ADAM ASKS FOR THE FOUNDERS' ACCOUNT, CHECK THE SECOND BOOK.
I stared at the words.
Thomas had never shown me this page.
Helen shook her head.
"He asked me to keep it sealed unless something happened with your son's access."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he wanted you to have peace."
I felt anger rise, not at Helen, but at the idea that protecting me meant leaving me ignorant.
"What second book?" I asked.
Helen opened a smaller compartment of her document case.
It was empty.
Her composure cracked for the first time.
"It was there this morning."
We all looked at one another.
Someone had reached the archive before she did.
May you like
And the missing book was the one Thomas had specifically told us to find.
