Chapter 7: The Truth Arthur Had Buried
I took one step back from the ledger.
“I have never opened that account.”
Martin pointed to a signature beside the transfer.
“This is supposed to be yours.”
“It isn’t.”
Agatha folded both hands over her cane.
“Perhaps the innocent bride is less innocent than she looks.”
Arthur seized the ledger.
“You moved Rose’s money into Eliza’s name so you could blame her.”
“Put that down.”
“You planned to accuse her of taking the tiara and the dividends.”
Agatha looked at Harris.
“He is making wild claims because a woman has turned him against his family.”
I faced her.
“You did that yourself.”
Martin photographed the page.
“The bank can identify who opened the account.”
Agatha’s driver began walking toward the garage.
Harris called after him.
“Mr.
Cole, please remain here.”
The driver stopped.
Agatha’s voice sharpened.
“He has work to do.”
Mr.
Cole turned around.
“Yesterday, Mrs.
Thorne asked me to drive her to Hartwell Bank.”
Agatha stared at him.
“You signed a confidentiality agreement.”
“I signed it as your driver, not as your scapegoat.”
“Who opened the account?” Harris asked.
“She did.
Martin’s assistant had prepared forms with Miss Mercer’s information.”
Martin’s head snapped up.
“Which assistant?”
“Caleb Ross.”
Martin called his office and put the phone on speaker.
His receptionist answered.
“Caleb cleared his desk an hour ago.
He said Mrs.
Thorne had arranged a position for him overseas.”
Agatha moved toward her car.
Harris closed the door before she reached it.
“You are staying until we document the ledger.”
“This is my property.”
“Then you should want a record of who touched it.”
My mother sat on the greenhouse bench.
Her face had gone gray.
I knelt in front of her.
“Mom, look at me.”
She gripped my wrists.
“I should have told you years ago.”
“You were threatened.”
“I was also ashamed.
Agatha made me believe accepting help with the house meant I had sold my right to speak.”
Agatha laughed from the driveway.
“You did sell it.”
Rose rose so suddenly that the bench rocked.
“No.
You bought my fear.
That was never the same as buying the truth.”
Lydia squeezed Rose’s shoulder.
“And you do not owe her another quiet day.”
My mother began to cry.
I held her, and Lydia wrapped both arms around us.
Arthur remained several feet away.
“Eliza,” he said, “there is something else.”
I wiped my face.
“Do not protect me from it now.”
“Six months ago, I found a reference to an addendum in Grandfather’s trust file.”
Rose looked up.
“What addendum?”
“It said any unpaid obligation to you had to be settled before a Thorne heir could receive controlling shares.”
Agatha’s cane stopped moving.
I stared at Arthur.
“You knew my mother’s name was in the trust?”
“I saw ‘Rose Mercer.’ Grandmother told me it was an old employee dispute.”
“And you believed her?”
“I wanted to.”
“That is not an answer.”
He opened his hand.
My ring lay against his palm.
“I chose comfort over asking why your mother’s name was hidden in my inheritance.
There is no answer that makes that decent.”
Agatha stepped closer.
“Do not grovel.
She came here ready to marry your money.”
Arthur turned on her.
“Eliza walked a mile and a half because her car failed.
You watched from a chauffeured car and let her arrive covered in dust.”
My breath caught.
“You saw me walking?”
Agatha said nothing.
Mr.
Cole lowered his eyes.
“We passed Miss Mercer near the gas station.
I asked whether I should stop.”
“And what did she say?” Arthur demanded.
The driver looked at Agatha.
“She said, ‘Let her learn what entering this family costs.’”
Arthur’s fingers closed around my ring.
I shook my head.
“I cannot marry you today.”
“I understand.”
“I love you.
That is what makes this hurt.”
“I know.”
He placed the ring in my hand instead of asking me to wear it.
“I will not ask you to trust a promise,” he said.
“I will show you what I do next.”
Martin’s phone rang.
He answered, listened, then held it away from his ear.
“It is June Kemp,” he said.
“She found a recording Edmund made with the trust addendum.”
Agatha took a sharp breath.
May you like
Martin looked at her.
“Edmund named you in it.”
