Chapter 6: Eleanor’s Last Letter
Daniel’s family attorney arrived at the hospital carrying a sealed document box.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Tell them, Mr.
Bennett.
Tell Hannah what Eleanor did.”
The attorney placed the box on a table.
“Mrs.
Vale instructed me to open this only if both children were threatened or if the trust transfer was challenged.”
“I never knew about any of this,” I said.
“I believe you,” he replied.
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
“How convenient.”
Mr.
Bennett removed a letter and handed it to Daniel.
Daniel read the first line aloud.
“‘My dear son, if this letter has been opened, then I was right to be afraid.’”
“Afraid of whom?” Daniel asked.
The attorney looked at Vanessa.
“Your wife and her brother.”
Marcus moved toward the door.
An officer stepped in front of him.
Daniel continued reading.
“‘Hannah Reed is the daughter of my late nurse, Mary Reed.
Mary cared for me when my own family considered me a burden.
Hannah receives ten percent of my personal estate—not for becoming guardian, but because kindness should not disappear without being answered.’”
I covered my mouth.
“My mother never told me.”
“She died before Eleanor changed the will,” Mr.
Bennett said.
Vanessa pointed at me.
“There.
She had a financial motive.”
“No,” the attorney replied.
“Hannah receives her share whether she works for this family or not.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
Mr.
Bennett opened a second envelope.
“The children’s trust becomes permanent at midnight tonight.
After that, neither parent can withdraw its principal.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“You needed Noah gone and Lily missing before midnight.”
“I was protecting our future.”
“By destroying theirs?”
“You were giving everything away!” Vanessa shouted.
“The houses, the company shares, the investments—all locked up for children who cannot even read.”
“They are their grandmother’s assets.”
“I am your wife!”
“And they are your children.”
Vanessa stepped toward me.
“You walked into my home knowing his mother preferred you.”
“I walked in because you hired me.”
“She watched me.
She judged everything I did.”
“Eleanor isn’t here,” I said.
“You chose that balcony.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
“Be careful, Hannah.
Lily follows you everywhere.
People may start wondering why.”
“Is that another threat?”
“It is advice.
Leave tonight.
I’ll give you half a million dollars.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You’re trying to buy her silence in front of the police?”
“I’m trying to save this family.”
“No,” I said.
“You’re trying to save yourself.”
Marcus suddenly seized the laptop and swung it against the edge of the table.
The screen broke apart.
The officer grabbed his arm.
“You have the wrong people!” Marcus shouted.
“The recordings were staged!”
Mr.
Bennett lifted his phone.
“The trust server keeps access logs.
Someone using Marcus Vale’s office computer opened the children’s accounts eleven times this month.”
Marcus stopped struggling.
Vanessa looked at her brother.
“You said you used a public terminal.”
Daniel’s head snapped up.
“So you admit he accessed the accounts?”
“I admit nothing.”
The attorney turned his screen around.
Two transfer requests showed Marcus’s electronic signature.
“You attempted to move six million dollars before the trust became permanent,” he said.
Marcus pointed at Vanessa.
“She told me Daniel had approved it.”
“You liar,” Vanessa whispered.
“You promised me two million!”
She rushed at him, but the officers separated them.
A nurse carried Noah into the corridor.
I reached for him, then stopped.
Daniel noticed.
“Take him, Hannah.”
“He is your son.”
“He is reaching for you.”
Noah stretched both arms toward me.
I held him, and his crying softened against my shoulder.
Vanessa watched us.
“You think this means you’ve won?”
A hospital administrator approached the officers.
“Mrs.
Vale’s attorney has obtained an emergency order.
Until a judge reviews the recordings, she cannot be detained.”
Vanessa straightened her coat.
Then she looked at Lily and smiled.
May you like
“Come along, sweetheart,” she said.
“The order also says your mother retains custody.”
