Chapter 5 - THE TWENTY-FOUR-MILLION-DOLLAR SECRET
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
Twenty-four million dollars.
My mother had never lived extravagantly.
She drove an old sedan, bought groceries on sale, and repaired clothes rather than replacing them.
I had grown up believing she left me a modest inheritance.
A sewing machine.
A few pieces of jewelry.
Her designs.
But apparently, she had also accumulated a fortune.
"Where did the money come from?" I asked.
Brittany shrugged.
"I don't know."
"How did Victoria find out?"
"She said Dad helped her."
I studied my sister.
She looked nervous.
Not guilty.
Nervous.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because Victoria is planning something."
"What?"
Brittany hesitated.
"She wants to announce that the Caldwell family has acquired Maison Hayes."
I stared at her.
"That's impossible."
"She said your company owes them money."
"We don't."
"She has documents."
My phone vibrated.
An email from Daniel.
Subject: URGENT — BANKING RECORDS.
I opened the attachment.
There were several transfers between a private account and a holding company controlled by Richard Hayes.
The first transfer had occurred five years earlier.
The total exceeded twenty million dollars.
The account name was Eleanor Hayes Family Trust.
My mother's trust.
I looked up.
"Brittany, did you know about these transfers?"
She nodded slowly.
"Victoria showed me some papers."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because she promised to give me a share."
The answer hurt more than I expected.
"How much?"
"Two million."
I stared at her.
"So you knew she was stealing from our mother, and you agreed to help her?"
Brittany began crying.
"I didn't think it was stealing!"
"What did you think it was?"
"An inheritance!"
"An inheritance that belonged to me?"
She said nothing.
I walked to the window.
For years, I had wondered why my father had become so generous toward Brittany.
He bought her an apartment.
Paid for her expensive vacations.
Covered her credit-card debts.
I had assumed he was simply trying to compensate for being an absent father.
Now I understood.
He might have been using my mother's money.
I turned back.
"Where are the original bank records?"
"Victoria has them."
"Where?"
"In her private office at Bellamere."
I picked up my phone.
"Daniel, I need you."
He answered immediately.
"What's happened?"
I explained.
His response was direct.
"Do not confront Victoria. We need the bank's original records and the trust administrator's confirmation."
I agreed.
But before I could leave, Brittany grabbed my wrist.
"Madison, please."
I looked at her hand.
"Let go."
She released me.
"Victoria said something else."
"What?"
"She said the wedding dress was supposed to contain a different clasp."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"She expected the crystal clasp to open. She thought the memory card would contain the ownership documents."
I felt a chill.
"How did she know about the clasp?"
Brittany looked away.
"Because Dad told her."
I stepped closer.
"My father knew about Mother's hidden compartment?"
"Yes."
"Then why did they steal the dress?"
Brittany hesitated.
"Because Victoria thought the documents were sewn inside it."
I suddenly understood.
The stolen dress wasn't simply about humiliation.
Victoria had been searching for something.
The wedding had provided the perfect opportunity to remove the gown without attracting suspicion.
But the memory card was only the first layer.
My mother had designed the compartment to protect a second object.
Something much smaller.
Something that wasn't inside the dress anymore.
I remembered the letter.
The one she had given me shortly before she died.
Never let anyone convince you that something you created belongs to them.
I had kept it inside an old sewing box.
I rushed to the cabinet and opened the bottom drawer.
Inside was the wooden box my mother had used for her most delicate needles.
Beneath the lining was a small envelope.
I had never opened it because I thought it contained another sentimental note.
But now I noticed a tiny brass key taped to the back.
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
I handed him the key.
He examined it.
"Do you recognize this?"
I shook my head.
He turned it over.
A number had been engraved on the metal.
A-17.
May you like
Daniel looked at me.
"Madison, I think your mother left us a much bigger trail than we realized."
